While pro-gun laws like the one in Greenleaf are mostly symbolic, to the extent that they actually make a difference, it is likely to be a positive one.
In two separate instances in the last couple of weeks, local business owners in LV have shot and killed armed robbers. Bang, bang, good stuff. I'm glad that self protection is legal here, and feel sorry for people who live in areas where it's not...
reviewjournal.com
Store owner recounts incident in which intruder was killed
By ANTONIO PLANAS and FRANCIS McCABE
REVIEW-JOURNAL
The knocking on the back door of La Corona Furniture in North Las Vegas on Thursday night was unsettling to Javier.
"I knew there was something that wasn't quite right," said the 38-year-old owner of the small business, located in a strip mall at Lake Mead Boulevard and Civic Center Drive.
t was just after 8 p.m., and the store was already closed. Javier, who would not give his last name, was waiting for an employee to drop off keys after making a delivery, he said.
When Javier asked who was at the door, the answer did not sit well with him. The man gave the nickname of a former employee. But he didn't sound like that person.
Knowing the shops in the strip mall are often targeted for snatch and grab burglaries and armed robberies, Javier grabbed his .380-caliber handgun.
Javier checked the peephole, but the person on the other side moved out of view.
Though it was counter to his intuition, Javier opened the door.
In burst a man dressed in dark clothes, with a hooded sweatshirt over his head and a bandana over his face. He was swinging a 2-foot-long steel pipe in the air, Javier said in Spanish on Monday.
The man stood at least 5 feet 10 inches tall, towering over Javier, who is at least 5 inches shorter.
"I shot him three times," Javier said. "If I didn't shoot, he would have killed me."
The would-be attacker stumbled slowly to the floor. Javier could see him breathing. Blood trickled out of the side of his mouth, Javier said.
No words were exchanged.
Javier's adrenaline was pumping so fast that he cannot recall many of the details, he said.
He called 911. When his call wasn't answered immediately, he hung up. Then a 911 operator called him back, and Javier explained that he had shot a man who had attacked him and who was apparently trying to rob his store.
He followed the directions of the operator, put the gun away and walked outside, where North Las Vegas police were waiting for him.
Javier said he was handcuffed, questioned and eventually released by police later that night.
The robbery suspect, whose name was withheld by police, was taken to University Medical Center, where he died about 9 p.m. Javier has not been charged with any crime.
Javier didn't know the intruder, but he suspects the man knew employees at his store because he identified himself by a former employee's nickname. "He was probably looking for money, but I don't keep lots of money here," Javier said. "Business has been slow."
On Monday, some customers came into the store and browsed the showroom floor as Javier recounted his tale.
Three stores down from La Corona Furniture, a clothing store employee was assaulted and several articles of clothing were stolen during a snatch and grab about 3 p.m., the employee said. That employee, who did not give her name, said she didn't call the police because she didn't want any more trouble.
The furniture store shooting was the second case in recent weeks in which a North Las Vegas businessman has used a gun against armed robbers. On Jan. 5, two robbers were shot, one fatally, by the manager of American Mini Market at 2564 Las Vegas Blvd. North, near Carey Avenue. They had allegedly tied up the manager and several customers during a holdup.
As for the furniture store owner, although the incident scared him, Javier won't be selling the business or looking for another job. "All jobs are dangerous in one way or another," he said. |
