Posted on 09/07/2007 9:21:33 PM PDT by Screaming_Gerbil
Robbery target won't be victim, kills intruder
When two armed men allegedly attempted to rob a house full of young adults in Brunswick early Monday morning, their victims fought back.
A man visiting the house at 601 Wolfe St. in the city's south end pulled a handgun from the front of his pants and shot the two would-be robbers, killing one of them and wounding the other, police said.
Police did not release the names of the two suspects. No charges had been filed Monday.
The renters of the house, Leah Whitman, 18, Robert Herd, 20, and Josh Stout, 20, had been living there almost three months and had spent all day Sunday moving out their furniture and personal things, Whitman said.
Josh Stout, 20, left, Robert Herd, 20, and Leah Witman, 19, stand in the doorway of the house they occupy at 601 Wolfe St., next to the front door with a bullet hole and broken glass. They have lived in the house for three months and were being robbed at gunpoint early Monday morning when a friend who was visiting shot and killed one robber and wounded another. (Bobby Haven/The Brunswick News)
That evening, the three planned to hang out on the front porch one last time with friends and enjoy the Labor Day weekend.
At about 1:30 a.m. Monday, the three, accompanied by two other friends, were sitting on the porch of the two-story, yellow house when the two would-be robbers jumped onto the porch and pulled out a gun.
Whitman said they had been watching the two suspects canvass the neighborhood before the attack. "They walked up and down the block a couple of times," she said. "We honestly didn't have any idea they were going (to rob) us, though."
Whitman said the two armed men walked her and the others, most of whom were in their early 20s, to the back of the house adjacent to the kitchen.
"They made us take off our shoes and empty our pockets, and stole all of our cell phones," Whitman said. "When they couldn't find cash, they began stealing our change and counting it right there in front of us."
She said the two then demanded car keys.
"They kept joking with us the whole time, telling us they had just smoked crack and that we are poor kids," Whitman said. "One of the robbers said that (his accomplice) had just gotten out of prison, and not to mind him because it was his first time robbing anybody."
At one point, one of the robbers went outside and returned carrying a shotgun, Whitman said.
Whitman said no one knows where the shotgun came from, but believe the robbers might have taken it out of a vehicle belonging to one of her friends.
"One of the robbers who took my car keys even went into the front console of my car and stole all the pennies I had laying there," Stout said.
Every time a new visitor showed up at the house, they were greeted by the robbers, frisked for money and taken to the back room.
The two men became aggravated when more people kept showing up, Whitman said.
About that time, Hector, a friend of the Wolfe Street renters, whose last name they would not reveal, happened to show up at the house.
Hector had never been to the house before and none of the other guests had any idea he was going to drop by for a visit, they said.
"When Hector showed up, (the robbers) walked him to the back room, too," Whitman said.
She said the two made Hector empty out his pockets and take off his shoes just like everybody else. What the two didn't realize was that Hector had a .45 caliber pistol tucked in the front of his jeans.
One of the attackers was in the kitchen area and the other in the front hallway when Hector began shooting.
It played out just like a scene from a movie, Whitman said.
"When the robber tried to rob (Hector), he emptied his pockets, then said, 'I don't know who you think you're robbing,'" she said Monday afternoon. "That's when he pulled out his gun and began shooting them."
Hector allegedly fired two shots at the suspect in the kitchen and three at the suspect in the hallway.
"He took both of them out before either had a chance to shoot back," Herd said. "It all happened so fast ... It's a blur."
The suspect in the kitchen was shot in the abdomen; the one in the hallway was fatally shot in the right side.
"After Hector shot (the robbers), we all crawled out the windows of the house, and (Hector) stayed inside to make sure we got out safe," Whitman said.
The suspect who was fatally shot tried to run up the stairs after he was wounded and died at the top of the staircase, said witnesses at the home on Monday.
The other suspect managed to walk out to the front porch, where he was found by city police and rushed to the emergency room of the Brunswick hospital of Southeast Georgia Health System.
Whitman, thinking back on the incident Monday afternoon, said she feels lucky to be alive.
She said neither of the suspects wore bandanas or masks to cover their faces.
"They were completely unmasked and I think they would have shot us because they wouldn't have wanted to leave any witnesses," she said. "(Hector) really saved our lives."
Everett Clark, who lives across from the house on Wolfe Street, said he hopes the shooting is a warning to any would-be robbers in Brunswick.
"Maybe this will send a message that we're sick of all these robberies and violence, and we're not going to take it anymore," he said.
I think Hector showing up was more than just good luck.
I love it when the bad guys get it bad.
Sounds like Hector is cool under pressure. He should consider a career in the miltary or law enforcement.
Hector, it seems, is a friend indeed.
Maybe he already has. I kind of agree with the girl. These guys were telling them way too much info. They may have been planning to kill them.
I love the smell of dead robber in the evening....
From the story, Hector might be something else entirely - considering that nobody is willing to give his last name and he apparently didn’t stick around to talk to the police.
No matter who or what he is, on that day he was on the side of the angels. He lived up to the name he carries; even as Hector of Troy was a valiant defender, so was he.
Good shooting, too. Shoot to center mass, shoot until the threat stops and no more.
Hector’s my friend.
Witnesses describe him as an elderly man in his twenties, a short, heavyset tall thin guy, blond African-american of hispanic decent. He left the scene on foot in a late model imported Ford Tacoma sedan, northbound toward Texas.
From the story, Hector might be something else entirely - considering that nobody is willing to give his last name and he apparently didn’t stick around to talk to the police.
No matter who or what he is, on that day he was on the side of the angels. He lived up to the name he carries; even as Hector of Troy was a valiant defender, so was he.
Good shooting, too. Shoot to center mass, shoot until the threat stops and no more.
I was thinking it was one of those "God was busy, so He sent me" situations myself.
The link has a photo of the three renters - two 20 year old guys and an 18 or 19 year old girl. Just kids really.
It sure sounds like the two robbers were hanging around with the intent of shooting the two guys (and anyone else) and then having their way with the girl before shooting her too.
Otherwise why not take off with what they had already gotten off the kids (a small amount of money and a shotgun and the cars)?
Hector showing up with his .45 was definitely a miracle at the right time there.
The wrong man apparently. This line caused me to laugh out loud.
That the other robber did not get shot dead, also...
Ping
While the crackheads were having fun, bet someone made a phone call.
Hector, a friend of the Wolfe Street renters, whose last name they would not reveal, happened to show up at the house.
Hector shows up.
Hector had never been to the house before and none of the other guests had any idea he was going to drop by for a visit, they said.
Hector was a friend of these people, but had never been to the house? And he just happens to show up...With a gun?
Hmmm
I'd bet someone called Hector from the house, as the story stated people kept coming over and were taken at gun point as they came in. In addition, one of the bad guys was leaving the residence and going out into the victims cars to look for loot. They were there quite a while. Did one of the victims have time to make a call on a cell phone that was not given up to the suspects?
And Hector just happens to show up with a 45.
Doesn't everyone go visiting at 1:30 a.m. unexpected and uninvited?
lol...
My bet, while the suspects were joking around, likely on crack, somebody made a call to good ol Hector, on a cell phone the suspects overlooked. Just like they overlooked Hector's 45. when they robbed him.
It’s their one way ticket to HELL !
Bear a few things in mind:
1- the "news" around here is highly "massaged"-- don't want to panic the sheep, err, tourists... so what you read is highly suspect...
2- Wolfe Street is almost as bad as Martin Luther King boulevard, for crime...
3- There is little doubt in my mind that these "boys" at the "party" were drinkin' and dopin' and probably screwin' too... not, shall we say, at a church social...
That said, the outcome- robbery, one robber dead, one shot- was a good one.
Mistake, but understandable under pressure.
Dead robbery suspects are always guilty. Ones that live always tell a different story and just create chaos with the facts.
Why the rush? Who pays for for the wounded scumbag's medical care? I suspect the taxpayers do. Let the SOB die on the way to the hospital.
Never leave home without it.
> It played out just like a scene from a movie, Whitman said.
Don’cha just love a movie with a happy ending!
Good. The liberal nazis can’t take this away from us.
“From the story, Hector might be something else entirely - considering that nobody is willing to give his last name and he apparently didn’t stick around to talk to the police.”
I agree, he may not be a angel....wait a minute, he may have been a avenging angel. Seriously, whatever doubts I may have about Hector, considering the outcome of this situation....good for him. And I don’t care if he had a carry permit or not. Good shootin’.
“Good. The liberal nazis can’t take this away from us.”
Of course they can, or at least try to. It will be twisted by them to be a case of inner-city violence among the poor, oppressed, people who have to be controlled through the loving guidence of their progressive ideas for their own good. Thus being led into the bright future of tomorrow.....Kumby-ya my Lord, Kumby-ya. LOL!
Oh. I'm not familiar with the area. So this is a black area?
Poor, really poor.
I don’t care who you are, that there is darn funny.
Classic victim report. Lol
Right. But is this a predominantly a black area?
Afraid so- in fairness, most of the poor folks I know- black or not, really frown on all night parties, carousing, etc., but it doesn’t take much of that nonsense to spoil a neighborhood.
Way to Go, Hector!
Love this story, it’s like a true urban legend.
And they all lived happily ever after...
Not law enforcement. This guy has a warrior mindset. I don't think he's going to be too interested in arresting anybody. Good. We need more like him.
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