FL: Robber Fails to Watch Hands..and Survives

Gun Watch ^ | 31 December, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Link to video

In the famous bar scene in Star Wars, one of patrons remarks that the debt collector should be watching Han Solo's hands.  It is good advice that is taught in police academies.  It is hard advice to follow when you are trying to rob a store where the clerk is behind a counter.  This robber in Florida made many mistakes, and still managed to survive.  From wpbf.com:

A man walked into the 13th Street store, pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money. The clerk was secretly aiming a gun at the would-be robber from underneath the counter.

Not only is the robber unable to see the clerk's hands, he gets distracted and looks away from the clerk. This is a good way to get shot, but robbers are in a no win situation. This one has no one to watch his back for him.

He turns back to the clerk, who fires his hidden pistol from under the counter.  It misses the robber by a few inches.  The robber's luck holds.  A large hole is torn out of the counter.  You can see it a few inches to the right of the robber's hip.   In the video, you can see it appear.  It is about 1x3 inches.

The robber slips on the floor, likely taking him out of the clerk's line of fire.  Another lucky slip-up.

The robber manages to get out of the store without getting shot, but he decides to push his luck.  He comes back in order to point his gun at the man who just shot at him.  He does not shoot, merely points the pistol.  It is not clear if the gun he has is able to fire. He gets shot at again for his efforts.  His luck holds.  He is not hit.

This time, he runs out the store, down the street, and away, intact, apparently without any bullet holes.  He should consider another career.  He has used up all his luck as a criminal.
 

The store he tried to rob is appropriately named.

The robber did not do his homework.  He likely never got into the  habit.  If he had, he would have known that in a previous gunfight several months before, another robbery suspect was arrested.  It was the same clerk.

As illustrated in this story, it is very hard to hit your target when you cannot see the firearm.   There is no way to visually index the gun on the target.  Most point shooting systems actually rely on a visual index, they just do not focus on the sights.   Body index systems only work if the body is in the same orientation and distance from the target for each shot.   They can work, but they take a  lot of practice.   I believe that amount of effort would be better spent on tactics and different positional shooting techniques, but each person can make their own judgement on the issue.   Consider that the clerk was able to miss his target from what appears to be about 3 feet distance.

All robbery suspects are not as lucky as this one.  Many are shot, many die.  As Americans have become more armed, the crime rate has fallen.   It is hard to prove causality, but the more criminals learn  that they are likely to be shot, the more  they are likely to consider other options.

Let us hope that this budding young criminal considers honest work.   It is a long shot, but it could happen.

 ©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

Once started, it is hard to break the crime habit.

[null and void]

The store clerk needs more range time.

And claymores.

[headstamp 2]

Coming back into the store after being shot at. Points to a drug habit to support.

He’s lucky it wasn’t a 12 with some buck shot in it.

[rockrr]

As illustrated in this story, it is very hard to hit your target when you cannot see the firearm.

There are ways around this.

[PAR35]

Or at least a shotgun.

[Moonman62]

The robber was protected by the Shroud of Trayvon.

[Flick Lives]

LOL!

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Lucky Seven Food Mart Clerk, take thee to the gun range and perfect your technique!

[deoetdoctrinae]

Neither is the Lucky 7 Food Mart.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Or at least a shotgun.

---

Depending on the choke installed the pellets could hit a bystander.

[Rodamala]

He was aiming the weapon under the counter initially. When the hoodie came BACK IN, though... Blammo... he shoulda been Gentle Gianted between the eyes.

If I had a convenience store, I would rig the counter with some sort of anti-kneecap device that could be triggered during a holdup. Something to knock 'em down so you can casually walk around the counter and do what needs to be done.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

In the Army, machine gun nests are often set up with “overlapping fields of fire”, so there are no gaps for the enemy. But at the same time, each machine gun has a stake in the ground on each side of it, to *limit* their field of fire to just their own ‘V’. This is to insure that they cover just their own field of fire.

A modified version of a limited field of fire would be very useful with a handgun or shotgun under a counter or table.

To start with, the gun should rest in a pivoting open holder, so it may be put in or removed easily. Then instead of using blocks against the movement of the gun, there would be three areas that the forearm would touch while holding the gun.

If your forearm is touching the one on the right, before the fact, you can judge your field of fire on the left, etc. Thus with minimal time or effort you can tell where you are shooting. And when necessary, pick the gun out of its pivot, for “free styling”.

[Bobalu]

There was a convenience store in I believe the Philippines that had barred windows and door and the owner was being robbed and electronically locked the door as he ducked out the back.

The cops came and collected the fool stuck inside the store :-)

[dinodino]

The clerk needs a 12 ga. coach gun.

[going hot]

I would disagree with Dean on this one regards indexing.

With practice, it is indeed easy to hit a target center of mass, and actually smaller targets, holding the weapon in a variety of positions off the body axis.

One simply needs to be as familiar with the weapon as their...

[G Larry]

So, Where is the link really?

[jaydee770]

A shining opportunity wasted by poor aim...

[Squantos]

Serbu 12 gauge and a paradigm duck bill adapter loaded with number 4 buck would have made a nicer hole in that counter.......:o)

Punk is lucky he was skinny.....

[Huntress]

Nice turn of phrase.

[Oatka]

The robber was protected by the Shroud of Trayvon.

(Wipes spewed coffee from monitor.)