Police: Security Guard Fatally Shoots Getaway Driver

[HK4U]

This happened about 1/2 mile from me. I shop on occasion at this store. This neighborhood has grown much more dangerous over the years sense moving here in the early 1970's. And people wonder why we carry a gun,(or two).


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Police: Security Guard Fatally Shoots Getaway Driver

POSTED: 6:49 am CDT May 20, 2008
UPDATED: 7:04 am CDT May 20, 2008


FORT WORTH, Texas -- Police said the man suspected of driving the getaway car during a robbery is dead after being shot by a security guard.

Police said a person tried to leave the Sack-N-Save grocery store in the 3400 block of Altamesa Boulevard without paying for items. The store manager and a security guard went outside and saw the person get into a white truck.

The security guard at the store fired one shot at the driver of a truck after he said the driver tried to hit him at about 8:25 p.m. Monday, police said.

Police said someone dropped a dead man off at Huguley Hospital. Police said the man died from a single gunshot wound.

Investigators said they are looking for the man responsible for the robbery. They said the dead man dropped at the hospital was linked to the robbery.

 

[whiskey]

too bad...

....that the thieves didn't go to a food bank. Too bad that the guard placed himself in front of the van. Too bad he didn't get the plate and a general desciption instead. Someone stealing food is desperate. Blocking a desperate person's escape is forcing one of you to employ violence.

Bottom line: someone got shot for stealing :mp230603212458Murde

 

[toreskha]

....that the thieves didn't go to a food bank. Too bad that the guard placed himself in front of the van. Too bad he didn't get the plate and a general desciption instead. Someone stealing food is desperate. Blocking a desperate person's escape is forcing one of you to employ violence.

Bottom line: someone got shot for stealing :mp230603212458Murde

It's the fault of the thieves for making the decision to steal in the first place. Even if I were a LEO I wouldn't shoot someone for shoplifting, but if I stole something from a store, I would definitely expect that someone else (security guard, clerk, LEO, bystander) would shoot at me. I tend to assume others are less conscious of liability and less forgiving than I am, and thus more willing to shoot.

In almost any situation, there are correct choices and there are easy choices. The correct choice would have been to go to a social services organization, appeal to a church, etc. The easy choice is to shoplift.

 

[HK4U]

Not everyone that steals is destitute. Some people steal just because they think they can get away with it or it is easier than working. What this person's reason was who knows but one thing is for sure is he made the wrong choice.

 

[Scarecrow]

the system probably would have gone too easy on him anyway if they had just gotten caught.. that is usually the case afterwhich they will continueing with crime.. maybe getting into more serious crimes. maybe he did not deserve to get shot for what he did... but let it strike the rest of the bg's there with fear.. who knows maybe they'll think twice next time

 

[whiskey]

It's the fault of the thieves for making the decision to steal in the first place. Even if I were a LEO I wouldn't shoot someone for shoplifting, but if I stole something from a store, I would definitely expect that someone else (security guard, clerk, LEO, bystander) would shoot at me. I tend to assume others are less conscious of liability and less forgiving than I am, and thus more willing to shoot.

In almost any situation, there are correct choices and there are easy choices. The correct choice would have been to go to a social services organization, appeal to a church, etc. The easy choice is to shoplift.

...really??

 

[toreskha]

...really??

Yes. I've seen enough of those bread-and-circus surveillance footage shows to know that if some thief goes bolting out of a 7-11 with a case of beer, and there's an aggressive (or just POed) clerk behind the counter with a firearm, there's probably a 5% chance he's going to go charging out the door and blow the guy away. It doesn't happen often, but it's definitely possible, especially in an already seedy area of town.

Most grocery stores I go into have at least one LEO hanging around at all hours. They can credibly give chase in a shoplifting situation, and at that point, all bets are off. A shoplifter could easily get shot if they think they might have been reaching for a gun.

So, yes...if you go running out of the store with something, you're running a very real risk of getting yourself shot, or more possibly severely beaten. Teenage girls trying to walk out with something under their clothes and getting caught at the door is one thing, but running out and leaping into a car is asking for trouble. It stimulates the aggressive chase instinct in others, and more or less guarantees that someone is going to try and run you down.

Obviously, the best policy is not to endanger oneself over some stupid property. I couldn't be paid enough to either engage in crime or to chase down people; it's simply not worth it. The only exception I would make would be in preventing a crime on a person such as kidnapping or murder; the only thing worth risking one's life for is that of another.