Bar Customer Shoots, Kills Two in Attempted Robbery (my boy's lucky to be alive)

Reference: AP ^ | 10/05/2014 | self

[logi_cal869]

I'm posting this in Chat, as it's not really news...save for the fact that my boy and his friends are lucky to be alive today. Well, Ok...it IS news. But my commentary is primary as I know more than the media printed. Yes, it's personal.

The brief story at the link provides the 'closing'. Read this first, understanding that the story is told 2nd-hand, but accurate as written:

My boy had a bad night Friday. The rotten joint he'd worked for finally got to him and he walked away from it. Great for him. Later that evening he was with friends at their place in the parking lot tinkering on an engine when a vehicle rips into the parking lot and 4 armed men get out wearing bandannas on their faces & pointing guns. My boy and his friends were all ex-military. After what must have seemed like minutes to my boy, the menacing took a near fatal turn as one challenged my boy nose to nose because he wouldn't get on his knees like the others but only pistol-whipped him across his face with the gun. I'll let the reader debate to whom I'm referring when making the 'fatal' remark...

Regrettably, my boy did not yet have his CHL and everyone present had their guns locked in their cars (one of them had a CHL but wasn't carrying). The girls present, while lucky themselves, having had guns pointed at their heads, proved to be a distraction to what otherwise might have transpired in the parking lot...but it worked out for the best. The gang of 4 left.

Less than 30 minutes later my boy and his buddies were asked to visit the scene of a crime and they identified the bodies of the 2 subjects of the linked story as 2 of their attackers.

Update: Before posting, I did find a better story, embedded below:

Unwilling To Abide Stupid Texas Gun Laws, Hero Kills 2 of 4 Armed Robbers Posted by Bob Owens on October 5, 2014 at 12:31 pm

Citizens of the Lone Star State are quick to tell you how wonderful their state is in every way. They may be right in many respects, but not on the on the issue of gun rights, where they remain surprisingly backward among freedom-loving states.

We all know thanks to the antics of open carry groups that there is not a right to open carry a holstered handgun in Texas. Texas also remains one of the states that refuses to allow concealed carriers to carry guns in bars.

Because of this absurdity, a regular patron in a Houston bar that had the gentlemanly habit of walking female bartenders to their cars after their shifts were over is facing felony charges for saving their lives during an after-hours robbery.

Just after closing around 2:30 Saturday morning, four armed men barged in at EJ’s Place demanding money.

Instead, a customer inside the bar, which is located on the 16500 block of Kuykendahl Road, pulled out his gun and started exchanging fire with the robbers. He shot and killed two of them while the other two ran. Once the heated exchange ended, the patron left, too.

“We’re still trying to determine who he is, and why he left the scene,” said Harris County Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Spurgeon.

Harris County Sheriff’s deputies are looking into whether the same robbers held up a gas station on Cypresswood earlier in the night.

Most folks driving by EJ’s Place Saturday afternoon thought the patron there was in the right.

“He has his right to protect himself and his family and his friends,” said Charles Webb. “It’s just unfortunate something like that happened.”

Another neighbor, Danielle Russell, added, “Being a mom, yeah, I would feel safe knowing that he has a gun and he’s going to protect me in a robbery.”

But a sign in the bar window clearly states it’s a felony to carry a gun inside. Under Texas law, even licensed carriers can’t have guns in bars. That could explain why the patron left.

“Everybody in there is just a happy and nice atmosphere and everybody’s real pleasant,” said Webb. “I can’t imagine that happening there.”

Another longtime customer said that the patron who killed the robbers always stays until closing to walk the female bartenders to their cars. The friend said the man would never start anything, but would always protect his friends.

“It’s sad. It’s unfortunate that we live in that type of world,” said Webb.

The situation is indeed unfortunate, on a number of levels.

It is unfortunate that citizens of Texas are subject to backwards gun laws that empower criminals and leave the law abiding disarmed.

It is unfortunate that citizens of Texas have to make the choice to either follow the law and put their lives at risk, or ignore the law in order to protect themselves and others, and by doing so, risk becoming felons.

It is unfortunate that this man—who bravely took on four armed criminals—will now face felony charges and the revocation of his firearms rights for the rest of his life in convicted because he chose to act in defense of himself and others.

We live in a grotesquely over-regulated and over-lawyered world, where it is estimated that there are so many laws that we each commit three felonies a day.

In moments of candor, law enforcement officers will tell you that they don’t have the time to “equally enforce the law,” because they’d barely make it out of the police station parking lots if they cited or arrested everyone they saw breaking a law.

It is long past time that the citizens of this Republic in every state begin campaigning for a massive reduction of the number of local, state, and federal laws in this nation.

This incident in a Houston bar is just the latest incident proving that the desire of statists to legislate everything has gone absurdly too far.

Source: http://bearingarms.com/unwilling-abide-stupid-texas-gun-laws-hero-kills-2-4-armed-robbers/

[logi_cal869]

Needless to say, there are a few meaningful lessons to come from this incident. Net result: My boy and his friends were the victims of a random act of violence. There were several opportunities for them to have acted, but hesitated due to the presence of the women. Good or bad, the result is what we have. I can't say for sure that I'd have had his restraint, being in his shoes in that scenario. The story is that the crew was 'menacing'; perhaps they were the crew's first stop in their crime spree (which included robbing a gas station as well). I think everyone's fortunate this crew wasn't a hardened gang. Had my boy and his buddies sensed the need, I'm sure they'd have acted 'as necessary' to protect the women. But, as I told my boy, had he acted he'd have been doing so on the assumption the guy menacing him had a functional/loaded weapon; that assumption could have been fatal. I think he made the right choice, bruised or not.

OBVIOUSLY there's a good reason why the customer "left the scene" and why nobody's ID'ing him. Regardless, the guy was an AWESOME shot with a pistol: Both robbers were dead before they hit the ground, one shot at the door, the other at about 70ft. Both shot in the back while running. They'll probably find him and prosecute him. That's the 'Texas way' these days.../s

My boy's ego is as bruised as his face, but he didn't let his ego get him or anyone else there hurt. He'll have a scar under his eye, but that pales to the unseen scars he bears from his experience in the sandbox. The face will heal.

By the way...anyone care to place bets as to the 'color' of the attackers? I know the answer; good luck finding that in the 'news'.

Oh yeah...the punchline? The first guy's face my boy was shown was the guy that pistol-whipped him.

[ansel12]

Wild, I sure hope the good guy beats this somehow, I bet a jury will sure try, at least if they can hear all the details.

[GeronL]

Let me guess the attackers were not very pale and were possibly not in the country legally?

[smokingfrog]

At 2:30 in the morning, the bar would not have been “open for business” so perhaps the bar patron can get off on a technicality. I know if I were on the jury, I’d probably let him skate.

[gettinolder]

Wow! Thanks for sharing!

[MeatshieldActual]

Wow, glad your Son is ok. I hope this mystery patron gets off without any charges. If I was the bar owner, this guy would have free drinks for life!

[DCBryan1]

Mexican or black? Little Rock has some unsolved crimes with 4 blacks doing this exact sort of thing this summer....then it stopped. LRPD thinks they were from Memphis, Tulsa, or Dallas.

[logi_cal869]

Black. I had put ‘hint: not mexican’ in there but I must’ve mistakenly removed it.

DC: I doubt it was the same group. They were amateurish, reckless and, frankly, were just terrorizers. If it was them, their mistake was going to Texas and unlucky some Texans are independent-minded.

[logi_cal869]

Thanks for that. It could have gone either way, insofar as being an unarmed victim goes...

[GeronL]

I am glad your kid is alright!

[logi_cal869]

Thanks. Much appreciated. ‘Alright’ is subjective, but he’ll heal from this.

[GeronL]

true. Hopefully he will learn from this.

[logi_cal869]

I guarantee the lessons will be lifelong. Frankly, the customer at the bar could have been him, save for the fact that he would’ve waited for the cops and put his weapon down. He’ll grow because of this.

[Houston_Texans]

I was wondering the general area of you incident. I just moved into a place off of Woerner.

[logi_cal869]

I cannot specify in a forum. However, it was on the same road as the bar and in the general vicinity.

It was described to me that the crew of 4 ‘bandits’ basically ran in a straight line to their final hit. It truly was a random act of violence, but I’m told the crime rate is directly proportional to the rents in the surrounding areas, if that helps. Of course, with a crew like this, it wouldn’t matter.