Minneapolis — A smoke shop located near Hiawatha Ave and 46th was robbed just before closing. One of the two robbers got a little extra something he didn’t likely count on.
The owner of the USA Smoke Shop said this:
Two guys walked in with a gun and tried to rob [my employee], but he has a concealed weapon and he pulled it out and tried to defend himself. The guys took off, he chased them.
The employee chased the alleged robbers and fired upon their car as they drove off. The passenger was hit, who then later stumbled into a convenience store, apparently barely conscious about one mile from where the shooting occurred just a few minutes later.
The convenience store owner called the police and an ambulance for help, was brought to the hospital, and was subsequently treated for injuries that are considered to be non life-threatening.
The smoke shop owner had one more thing to say before we get to the important takeaway, and that is:
I wasn’t worried at all about the store or the products or the money. I was worried about my friend, you know. But when I heard he’s safe, that gave me a lot of relief, you know.
And the shop owner thinks that his employee did a great thing. Here’s a video with the interviews:
All of that is great. Except, ya know, that little part about his friend discharging his weapon at a fleeing individual on a busy street once the threat of serious bodily injury, kidnapping, death, or rape was over.
That is generally frowned upon.
In fact, it’s generally NOT a good idea to shoot at anyone unless yours or someone else’s life is in danger. In other words, the time for him to pull the trigger was not when the bad guy was fleeing, but at some point when he felt his life was threatened.
This is even truer when you take into account the fact that the shooting took place out in the open on the street. This is compounded idiocy.
While I haven’t looked at Minnesota gun laws, I’d say there is a good chance that the shop employee broke some laws, himself.
