ARMED CITIZEN 1997
45 Cases
July Releases:
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A bandit claiming to be armed strolled into a Frederick, Maryland, liquor store and attempted to rob a lone
female cashier. Undaunted, the clerk reached for her own gun and pointed it at the suspect. No shots were
required to send the man dashing from the store. Witnesses called police, who apprehended the criminal
within blocks of the crime scene. (The News-Post, Frederick, MD, 03/11/97)
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With her spouse struggling with a man they had caught breaking into their car, a St. Louis, Missouri,
woman ran back into her home, called 911 and got a .38-cal. handgun. Meanwhile, the burglar produced a
box-cutter and proceeded to slash the husband several times before the woman returned and loosed a fatal
shot at the attacker. (The Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, 03/15/97)
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An errant eight-point buck crashed through the window of a busy Brandon, Mississippi, clinic, scattering
patients and staff. Panicked and confused, the whitetail trashed a couple of exam rooms and kicked a hole
in a wall. When it became apparent there was no way to get the deer to settle down, a doctor retrieved a gun
from his car and put the animal down before anybody was hurt. (The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS,
03/06/97)
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After hearing a late-night knock at the door of his Wichita, Kansas, home, Harvey Green went to
investigate with his Smith & Wesson .357 revolver in hand. It was a good thing, too, as a pair of men asked
to use the phone, then brandished a rifle and attempted to force their way inside after Green politely refused
their request. "I fired one shot through the glass of the front door, and I hit one of them", Green said. The
suspects fled and a wounded 18-year-old male was later admitted to an area hospital, where police
apprehended him. Gree, a champion pistol shot with a house full of trophies to prove it, said, "I could have
finished him pretty easily. I still had five rounds left. But he was running away. I no longer considered him
a threat. Guns sometimes save people's lives." (The Eagle, Wichita, KS, 04/26/97)
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Two robbers picked the wrong house when they entered a Newport News, Virginia, residence. After
hearing a commotion outside his bedroom door, a 20-year-old man readied himself with his .22 rifle for a
confrontation. When his door was kicked down by an armed and masked man, he shot the intruder. The
crook's accomplice fled. The two men had robbed the man's roommate of cash and ransacked his room.
(The Daily Press, Newport News, VA, 04/03/97)
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Ruth Gray, 86, of Augusta, Georgia, came in from her backyard to find her home being ransacked. She
crept to where she kept her .38 handgun and began looking for the intruder. "He thought he was going to
get out the back door... but I locked it". She shot the would-be burglar in the hand and he fled the home. He
was apprehended a month later by police. At the crook's hearing, the judge said to the woman, "I hope
when I'm 86 I can shoot as well as you can". (The Chronicle, Augusta, GA, 11/02/96)
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Three masked men entered a Moulton, Alabama, home in an attempt to rob the family living there. After
one of the intruders placed a pistol to the head of a man in the house, a female resident said she needed to
go into a back room to get her baby. Instead, she returned with a pistol and began firing at the intruders.
Two of the men fled, while the third was held for police. One suspect turned himself in. The third was still
at large, but police knew his identity and an arrest was expected. All of the bandits had criminal histories,
including one who was awaiting trial for rape at the time of the home invasion. (The Daily, Decatur, AL,
04/21/97).
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After hearing his back door being kicked in, Michael Carter, of Kansas City, Missouri, grabbed his gun.
Confronted by an invader, he pleaded with the man to leave. Instead, the intruder charged, forcing Carter to
fatally shoot him in the chest. The break-in was the second for Cater in less than a week. Police said of the
incident, "You have [here] a perfect example of the appropriate use of a firearm in the home". (The Star,
Kansas City, MO, 04/10/97)
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Herbert Reese, 65, of Montgomery, Alabama, knows the value of having a firearm for personal protection.
He owns a convenience store that has been robbed six times since 1989. The last robbery proved fatal for
the thug. After closing his shop, Reese, a concealed-carry permit holder, was approached by the young
crook, who displayed a pistol and demanded his wallet. Reese complied, but then drew his .38 revolver and
shot the robber dead. In four of the previous incidents, a firearm had been used to prevent a robbery, and
Reese has never been charged for defending himself. "You would have thought people would know not to
rob around here by now," he said. (The Advertiser, Montgomery, AL, 03/18/97)
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Car thieves are rarely caught in the act, but that was not the case for an alleged thief who tried to take Jesse
Ramierez's car. Ramierez, of San Antonio, Texas, awoke to find his car being hot-wired early one morning.
He grabbed his 9 mm Beretta pistol and dashed outside to pursue the fleeing suspect in another vehicle.
After a brief chase, Ramierez apprehended the suspect and held him for police. Police said Ramierez will
not be charged. (The Express News, San Antonio, TX, 04/10/97)
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An alert postman in rural Reno County, Kansas, rounded up a posse of sorts after witnessing a suspicious
vehicle cruising up the driveway of a home where he knew the owners were away. The postal worker and
four armed, local residents returned to the home to find it being burglarized by two men. They ordered the
pair to lie on the ground and alerted sheriff's deputies, who soon arrived on the scene. (The Eagle, Wichita,
KS, 01/01/97)
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June Releases:
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Five hoodlums strolled brazenly into a Miami, Florida, Burger King in the middle of the morning and
ordered the cashiers to give then the money in the registers. While two of them held their guns on the
employees and customers, two other suspects jumped across the counter. A brief scuffle ensued and the
men ran from the restaurant. As one of the suspects exited the building, he turned to shoot. It proved to be
his undoing. By that time, manager Ulysses Williams had unholstered his own gun. He fired first, striking
the suspect dead. Police were still searching for the other four suspects. (The Herald, Miami, FL, 12/12/96)
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A brief crime spree came to a quick end when a Houston, Texas, bandit attempted to carjack a carry permit
holder. A man was fueling his car when a gun-toting robber approached him and demanded his wallet,
keys, and car. Unable to find the right car key, the crook ran into the intersection and pointed his gun in the
window of Robert Eichelberg’s van. Eichelberg, a concealed carry permit holder, fired a shot at the suspect.
He then stepped from the van in an attempt to run to safety, but was confronted by the carjacker. The
assailant fired several shots a Eichelberg but missed. Eichelberg returned the fire and didn’t. The wounded
thug was apprehended a block away. (The Chronicle, Houston, TX, 02/18097).
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The burglar evidently believed the first break-in of 57-year-old Floyd Williams’ Lovington, New Mexico,
home had been such an easy job that he returned just a week and a half later. During the first incident, the
suspect beat Williams with a pipe, laying a three-inch gash across his head. But in the second burglary,
Williams was ready, armed with a .25-cal. Pistol. When the intruder broke through the front door, the
homeowner fired, striking him in the leg. The wounded house-breaker ran to a car, and he and his
accomplice fled the scene. Two months later, police discovered the body of the fatally wounded suspect in
a ditch, where it was allegedly dumped by his accomplice after the man died from Williams shot during
their getaway. The accomplice was found and arrested. (The Avalanche-Journal, Lubbock, TX, 01/31/97)
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Dubbing Marty Killinger, 61, andDorthy Cunningham, 75, the "Pistol Packing Grandmas," Grant County,
Washington, Sheriff Bill Wiester honored the two women for defending themselves against four young
thugs who had forced their way into the women’s rural home after cutting the phone lines to the house. As
the punks struggled with Killinger in an attempt to get her car keys, Cunningham retrieved a Luger pistol
from her bedroom and chased the intruders into the yard, where they turned and began shouting taunts.
Cunnigham then loosed several shots over the heads of the suspects, who finally decided it was best to
leave. "This is a clear message to criminals that senior citizens won’t tolerate this type of behavior from
these young punks," Wiester said. (The World, Wenatchee, WA, 02/16/97)
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Thugs, one of them armed with a pistol, ambushed 56-year-old Roberta Andrews and her daughter Leashea
in a Gainesville, Florida, mall parking lot. The mother was trapped outside the car, but Leashea was able to
jump into the driver’s seat, where she fished around in the darkness and pulled out her .38 revolver - the
sight of which sent the assailants packing. (The Sun, Gainsville, FL, 03/22/97)
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A 67-year-old Spartanburg, South Carolina, liquor store clerk was behind the counter when a robber strode
in, pulled out a large butcher knife, and demanded cash. The woman told him "No," pulled a .38 from
behind the counter, and ordered him to leave. Doubting her conviction to use the gun, the knife-wielding
bandit threatened her. The woman replied with a single gunshot. A sudden believer, the man immediately
ran from the store, empty-handed but unhurt. A search of the area by police turned up nothing. (The
Herald-Journal, Spartanburg, SC, 02,05,97)
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Mulberry, Arkansas, citizens are discussing the possibility of holding a festival to commemorate a foiled
heist at the town’s bank. An ex-con just three weeks out of prison was chased down by Mulberry’s mayor
and the public works director after the crook robbed the bank of more than $50,000 in February. Using a
.22 rifle handed to them by a citizen, the two chased the suspect to a railroad bridge where law enforcement
officers arrested the culprit. (The Democrat Gazette, Little Rock, AR, 03/16/97)
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Deacon Bob McMillan grew suspicious of the 18-year-old man who had asked him to pray with him
following services at a church in Apache Junction, Arizona. During a break in prayer, McMillan retrieved
the .32-cal. pistol he kept in his car. Upon returning, his suspicions were confirmed as he found the stranger
waving a handgun at his wife and two best friends, demanding the weekly offerings. McMillan pushed his
wife out of the way and quickly shot the man, wounding him. He then called police. McMillan said later, "I
felt I only had a split second to live." (The Tribune, Mesa, AZ, 03/19/97).
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Defense Secretary William Cohen’s brother, Robert, opened the door to his Bangor, Maine, home and
found himself facing the same man he had filed a police report on for harassing him in a bar two weeks
earlier. The man charged through the door and slashed Robert Cohen, who fought back with a single shot
from a .22 pistol. Cohen attempted to back up the stairs, but again his six-foot, seven-inch attacker came
after him, cutting the homeowner on the face. Cohen fired a second shot that sent the intruder tumbling
down the stairs. Police arrested the wounded man at the scene. Two accomplices were also later
apprehended. (The Daily News, Bangor, ME, 03/01/97)
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April Releases:
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Marty and Angelique Hite were standing in the parking lot of the Raleigh, North Carolina, Pizza Hut where
Angelique is a manager when they noticed a man wearing a mask, gloves, dark clothes and holding a pistol
approaching from the darkness. The Hites hurried back into the restaurant and attempted to close and lock
the door, but were hampered when the robber shoved the barrel of his gun into the opening. He threatened
to kill then, at which time, Marty, a concealed-carry permit holder, pulled his .38 from a hip pocket and
shot the assailant. The wounded man fled to some nearby woods where he was discovered by police an
hour later. Police declined to charge Marty Hite, citing his right to defend himself. Many in the
community also applauded Hite’s actions. (The Observer, Raleigh, NC, 12/12/96)
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"It’s as justifiable a shooting as I’ve seen," said Lanthrup Village, Michigan, Police Chief Robert Jones,
concerning a pizzeria manager who shot on of two would-be bandits. The two masked robbers stormed into
the restaurant, accosted the manager and began pistol-whipping him. During the scuffle, the manager was
able to pull the handgun he carried and fired three shots, two of the fatally striking one of his attackers. The
other suspect disappeared unscathed into the night. The dead suspect had a criminal record, and police
suspect the pair may have been responsible for other robberies in the area. (The Daily Tribune, Oakland
County, MI, 01/14/97)
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A New Paltz, New York, delivery driver entered an apartment building to deliver a pizza when he was
grabbed by two masked thugs who had placed the order. A scuffle broke out, and the driver was able to get
a hold of the gun he was carrying. He fired several shots at his ski-masked-clad assailants as they hastened
off into the night. It was unknown whether either man was hit.(The Times Herald Record, Middletown,
NY, 01/25/97)
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The robber yelled for everyone to "hit the floor" in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, tavern and began firing.
A few shots hit the ceiling, and one struck bartender Natalie Biggs in the hip. When his gun jammed, a
sounded Biggs grabbed a .38. Several of her shots found here attacker who staggered from the building. He
was found dead nearby slumped behind the wheel of his car. Police said the dead man had a history of
arrests involving offenses that included rape and aggravated assault. (The Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA,
01/23/97).
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Two men wearing ski masks and holding revolvers burst through the door of Stoneys package store in
Tampa, Florida, and shoved their guns into owner John Swetland’s face. They threatened to kill him if he
didn’t give them enough money. Swetland begged for his life and the suspects temporarily offered him a
reprieve, deciding to leave the store. One of the bandits accidentally ran into another room and upon
backtracking, fired two shots at Swetland. By then, the owner had been able to retrieve his own semi-automatic
handgun and returned fire, wounding his tormentor. The injured man later turned himself into
police, who continued to search for his accomplice. (The Times, Tampa, FL, 01/08/97)
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Jaime Espinosa was working in the rear of the El Monte, California, hamburger stand he owned when he
heard his wife, working as a clerk, scream. He ran to the front to find his wife bleeding from her hand, and
a man holding a knife and wanting cash. Espinosa gave him $107 then followed the knife-wielding thug
outside. There he pulled a fun and confronted the man, firing three shots into the ground. The man
promptly handed the money back to Espinosa then ran off. Police were still searching for the crook. (The
Valley Tribune, San Gabriel, CA, 01/01/97)
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When the two men entered the Hampton, Virginia, lounge-one wearing a mask and grasping a pistol the
manager quickly grabbed his 9mm and confronted the masked intruder. A scuffle ensued in which the
manager shot the robber, critically wounding him. The accomplice ran from the bar but was quickly
arrested by police. A dancer who worked at the bar and was present during the holdup was charged with
helping plan the robbery. (The Daily Press, Hampton, VA, 12/21/96)
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One robber stood in the background, a blue handkerchief over his face. The other crowded the counter,
pointing his pistol in El Bandito Taco Shell owner Leo Nunez’s face. The Albuquerque, New Mexico,
restaurant owner knew it was him or the crook. "It was real fast. It was my life or his," Nunez said. He took
his chances. Pulling a .380 from the register, he shot his assailant twice. The suspect returned two errant
shots then ran from the business. Terrified, the other would-be bandit froze at Nunez’s command and
waited for police to arrest him. The injured suspect was later apprehended at his house after a lengthy
standoff with the city SWAT team (The Journal, Albuquerque, NM, 12/03/96)
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Francisco Castellano was hit, shot in the chest by a pair of thugs who had demanded he give them money
outside of his Miami, Florida, restaurant. With few alternatives, Castellano pulled his own handgun and
fired back, sending his empty-handed attackers scurrying. Police soon discovered the getaway car and gave
chase. The criminals ran away from the vehicle but were soon discovered hiding in the closet of a home.
(The Herald, Miami, FL, 08/03/96)
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Canadian Football League player, Roosevelt Patterson was visiting relatives in Mobile Alabama, for the
Christmas holidays when he was approached by three men, two of them armed, outside of a barbecue
restaurant. Asked for cash, Patterson refused and instead, pulled a gun and killed on of the armed crooks.
The remaining two were arrested by police. (The Times Daily, Florence, AL, 12/27/96).March Releases
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The drunken man asked the clerk in an Anchorage, Alaska, gas station to call him a cab, then in a fit of
agitation at being asked to wait for it outside, pulled a gun and attempted to rob the place. Alerted by the
clerk, two mechanics, one of them armed with a gun he keeps in his tool box, followed the man outside
where the three became mired in a standoff. Upon arriving on the scene, the cab driver drew his own gun
and shoved it into the robber’s neck. The armed mechanic and the cabbie then forced the suspect to the
ground where he was held for police. (The Daily News, Anchorage, AK, 10/26/96)
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As social unrest spilled across St. Petersburg, Florida, making headlines throughout the nation, criminals
rampaged through the community looting businesses and burning them to the ground. While most store
owners were left to sit helplessly, waiting on the overburdened police and fire departments to come to their
rescue, pawn shop owner Oscar Kiesylis, "a staunch NRA member," stood ready. "I could have waited until
the bastards came in the store and got them one by one," Kiesylis later said of the looters who crashed their
car through his store window. Instead he opened fire with his semi-automatic AK-47 rifle as soon as the
vehicle entered the building, sending the intruders on a hasty - and empty-handed - retreat. "They came
very close to being with the Lord." said Kiesylis. (The Times, St. Petersburg, FL, 10/26/96)
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Gunshots erupted in the evening tranquillity of the Colorado Springs, Colorado, neighborhood after an
argument over a football debt turned violent, leaving two men wounded. From opposite ends of the street,
two armed homeowners, insurance salesman Vaughn Zimmerman and cable company manager Tony
McIntosh, ran from their homes and simultaneously confronted the shooting suspect, ordering him to the
ground. There they handcuffed him and held him for police officers. McIntosh, a carry permit holder, and
Zimmerman, a former sheriff’s deputy, had never met until the incident. "I think we should go for coffee
sometime and talk," Zimmerman told McIntosh afterward.(The Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs, CO,
10/02/96)
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Jose Garza was going to retrieve some ice cream from his Sylmar, California, garage at the request of his
wife when he noticed his three dogs barking. As a precaution, he took along his .45 cal. pistol. Upon
entering the garage, a disused woman - who police later speculated had probably never fired a gun before -loosed
three shots, missing the veteran city prosecutor each time. Garza returned fire, killing his attacker.
He later learned that the dead suspect was his wife’s sister, who, it turned out, had conspired with his wife,
a lawyer, to kill him in order to "become financially free." (The Times, Los Angeles, CA, 10/03/96)
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When a would-be robber grabbed a customer in an Asheville, North Carolina, store and threatened to kill
her if employees did not turn over the money in the register, clerks Joey Allen and Larry Simonds reacted
instinctively. In one motion, they both drew handguns and ordered the assailant to release the woman and
lay on the floor. Surprised at the turn of events, the suspect did just that. (The Citizen-Times, Asheville,
NC,12/14/96)
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Without warning, the man walked into the Boomtown Grocery in Haughton, Louisiana, and pointed a gun
at the owner and he sister. He told the two women if they refused to give him all the store’s money, he
would kill them. Undaunted, the shopkeeper produced a .357 Mag. and unleashed at least five shots. Hit,
the assailant returned fire as he crawled from the store. The owner was grazed by a bullet, but her attacker
suffered mush worse. He had nothing to show for his criminal efforts but a critical bullet wound to his
shoulder and a list of charges - including two counts of attempted murder - from police who quickly
arrested the man and his accomplice. (The Times, Shreveport, LA, 09/30/96).
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, city councilman Richard Mariano was winding up his midnight town watch
when he noticed a strange man walking in his neighborhood. When next he spied the man sitting behind the
steering wheel of a neighbor’s van, he confronted the would-be car thief. Mariano used a few Tae Kwon
Do moves to subdue the angered suspect and then held him with his .38 Smith & Wesson as a fellow town
watch neighbor called police. The newspaper article said Mariano is "one of three city councilmen who are
licensed to carry arms. You know, the sort of fellas you don’t want to mess with, especially on a dark street
in the middle of the night." (The Daily News, Philadelphia, PA, 12/16/96)
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Bandits accosted Greenville, South Carolina, store owner Gene Stephens outside his home and ordered him
back inside where they forced Stephens and his wife to lay face-down on the kitchen floor. As one robber
searched the house, the other two stood over the fearful couple pointing a gun at them. When one of the
suspects turned the lights out, Stephens glanced up and noticed the gun-wielding crook had been distracted.
He pulled his gun from his waistband and fired a "literal shot in the dark." The suspects fled, on of them
eventually turning up in a hospital, where he died. The dead man’s brother was later arrested as an
accomplice. Police believe the group may be linked to the ambush murder of another city businessman
three weeks earlier. (The News, Greenville, SC, 09/01/96)
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Demanding money, the attacker chased Rosemary Campi inside her Indianapolis, Indiana, home where he
confronted her husband, dentist James Campi. A fight ensued in which the suspect broke a table leg free
and began beating James Campi. Despite assistance from a neighbor, the struggle continued, during which
Campi’s wife was able to get him the gun he finally used to fatally shoot the invader. (The Sunday Star,
Indianapolis, IN, 09/29/96)
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February Releases
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The gun shoved in night manager Eric Golden's face during a robbery two weeks before at the Nashville,
Tennessee, restaurant where he worked was enough to prompt him to start carrying his own firearm. Ten
days later, evidently emboldened by the easy pickings, the same two bandits returned to hold Golden up
again. This time, Golden foiled the robbery by wounding one of the suspects with a gunshot. Both thugs
were arrested by police and charged in the two incidents. (The Banner, Nashville, TN, 9/2/96)
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A 45-year-old Gwinnett County, Georgia, woman carried her gun into the kitchen to investigate a noise.
There, she discovered her yardman, who had threatened her earlier in the day, had just broken into her
home. She ordered the man to leave, but he replied she would have to shoot him first. She did. The man
was hospitalized and police did not expect any charges to be filed against the woman. (The Journal-Constitution,
Atlanta, GA, 9/8/96)
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The bandit brazenly barged into the Rochester, New York, market, shoving a gun into the face of the
owner's wife, who was working behind the counter, and demanding cash. The owner witnessed the
confrontation and quickly pulled his own handgun out, shooting the armed robber. Hit in the
arm, the suspect ran outside to a waiting car and went to a nearby hospital where he was arrested.
Neighbors said the store had been held up several times in the past two years. (The Democrat and
Chronicle, Rochester, NY, 8/29/96).
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Lawrence Nelson immediately recognized the man who walked into his San Jose, California, liquor store as
the same man who had robbed the business of $3,000 three weeks before. In his hand was the same
handgun and he even said the same words, "Put all your cash on the counter." But unlike three weeks
before, Nelson had his own gun - a 9mm Glock that held 17 rounds - sitting on his counter instead of in a
drawer. A single shot from Nelson struck the robber, who dropped his gun and made a quick retreat. Police
arrested the injured crook nearby. (The Mercury News, San Jose, CA, 09/26/96)
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District Attorney Robert Schwarz refused to charge an Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dunkin' Donuts
employee with any wrongdoing after the armed store clerk killed on of two would-be robbers. The two
suspects had entered the store posing as customers. When the clerk turned to get their donuts they drew
guns and demanded cash. The clerk refused. One bandit fired a single shot at the clerk, barely missing his
head, and the other bandit jumped over the counter and attempted to shoot the employee, but his gun
jammed. By then, the clerk had retrieved his own handgun and returned fire, fatally injuring the suspect
who had jumped the counter. The dead crook's accomplice fled the building. (The Journal, Albuquerque,
NM, 09/06/96)
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Daniel Shelton's Martinsville, Virginia, neighbors regard him as a hero after he confronted a man who
broke into his home by shining a flashlight at him and holding a cocked .45 Government Model to his head.
"Get on your knees or I'll blow your head off," he said. Shelton then contacted police who took the man
into custody. Police applauded the homeowner for his restraint in not shooting the intruder. Shelton
admitted though he was angry and fearful at the time, he too was glad no shots were required. Many of
Shelton's neighbors, who reported being burglarized on numerous occasions, doubted they would have been
so understanding. (The Bulletin, Martinsville, VA, 08/15/96)