Crosby, TX — A 79-year-old gun store owner exchanged gunfire with men who broke into his shop at about 4:30 in the morning, killing one of the men, according to Harris County Sheriff, Ed Gonzalez.
The store owner had been sleeping in his home in the 2000 block of Kennings Road when he heard what sounded like someone breaking into the shop he owned. He woke up and saw two cars parked in the road and went outside to investigate.
When he got to his store, that doubled as a barber shop and gun store, he saw a few men who had pulled the front door open using their car and chains. They saw the gun shop owner, and opened fire. They missed the 79-year old man who took cover behind a nearby tree (the bullets struck the tree trunk), and returned fire.
At some point after this time, the burglars fled the scene of the crime, but the shop owner spotted blood on the ground indicating that at least one of them had been hit.
Then, about 15 minutes after the shooting occurred, a man was found shot to death roughly 10 miles away from where the initial incident took place with two other men, allegedly his accomplices, giving him CPR.
Those men were taken into custody and Sheriff Gonzalez said they found three guns near the area on the road.
At this time, the gun shop owner is not facing any charges.
We don’t know at which point the man called the police. It’d be great news if he called them before going to investigate, but it’s not indicated.
Something that happened that is great is the fact that the man was able to use cover appropriately as he hid behind a tree and returned his fire from there. That proper use of cover likely saved the man’s life.
Finally, for some extra reading if you’ve got the time, is an article we wrote a while ago about the most common places for crime. Believe it or not, gun stores are on that list and are robbed quite frequently.
Some criminals don’t even wait for night time, though. They just go in and, for some stupid reason, expect the owner of a gun store to not be armed.
In all reality, it’s a requirement to be armed in any gun shop I’ve ever been in. If you’re planning to rob a gun store, keep that in mind. In fact, just don’t. Don’t rob anywhere. Just go get a job and contribute to society.
Because, when you play stupid games, at some point you’ll win stupid prizes.
