His carry gun - and the one that saved those several lives - was a "mouse gun."
Goes to show that you don't need heavy artillery for self defense.
Posted on 05/22/2009 1:48:45 PM PDT by Drew68
Jerome Ersland was back at work Thursday filling prescriptions and hoping that by taking the life of a 16-year-old boy two days earlier, he had saved others.
Rubbing an oversized bandage on his left forearm, where he said he was grazed by a robber’s bullet, Ersland related details of what he said was a highly organized hit on the Reliable Discount Pharmacy.
"I just regret anybody would get killed,” Ersland said. "But if I wouldn’t have been here, there would have been three people killed — the other pharmacist and the two techs.”
He also recalls the angry voices of people who gathered outside the pharmacy Tuesday night, shouting that he was a racist who unnecessarily took a life of the Seeworth Academy charter school student, Antwun Parker.
"There were a lot of black people gathered out there yelling and everything at my boss,” Ersland said.
An organized hit
After the pharmacy near SW 59 and Pennsylvania was robbed two years ago, the owner installed new security measures to try to make sure his employees would never again be forced to a back room and pistol-whipped. "We have a very good security system,” Ersland said, motioning to the magnetic door locks that won’t let anyone in or out of the store without permission. "The door locks, and they (robbers) knew that. They had cased it because they knew exactly what time to hit us when we’d have all of our narcotics out and our money out.”
About 10 minutes before 6 p.m., Ersland said, two robbers wearing ski masks waited for someone to leave the pharmacy and then grabbed the open door and threw down a board to stop the door from closing.
The robbers went in cursing and yelling, ordering employees to give them money and drugs, Ersland said.
Two women who were working behind the counter ran for a back room where they would be safe, but Ersland said he couldn’t run. Ersland said he’s a veteran with disabilities from wounds he received in Operation Desert Storm, wears a cumbersome back brace and just had his latest back surgery six weeks ago.
"All of a sudden, they started shooting,” he said. "They were attempting to kill me, but they didn’t know I had a gun. They said, ‘You’re gonna die.’ That’s when one of them shot at me, and that’s when he got my hand.”
Ersland said he was thrown against a wall, but managed to go for the semiautomatic in his pocket.
"And that’s when I started defending myself,” he said. "The first shot got him in the head, and that slowed him down so I could get my other gun.”
But as one robber hit the floor, Ersland said, a bullet from the other robber whizzed past his ear.
The pharmacist said he then got his second gun from a nearby drawer, a Taurus "Judge.”
After he had the big gun, Ersland said, the second robber ran.
But as he started to chase after the second robber, Ersland said, he looked back to see the 16-year-old he had shot in the head getting up again. Ersland said he then emptied the Kel-Tec .380 into the boy’s chest as he kept going after the second robber.
"I went after the other guy, but he was real fast and I’m crippled,” Ersland said.
Outside the pharmacy, he said he saw what he thought was a third black male in a car with the engine running and reaching for what appeared to be a shotgun.
"I pulled out my ‘Judge’ and pointed it right between his eyes and he floored it,” Ersland said.
The investigation
Because of the sensitive nature of the investigation, police said they could not confirm any of Ersland’s story, including whether Ersland was shot, whether the robbers ever fired on him or even if Parker was armed. On Thursday, police were still looking for the second robber, described as a black man in his 20s, about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and weighing about 175 pounds. The man was last seen wearing a red shirt and dark pants.
A man was arrested about a block away after crashing a stolen car that fit the description Ersland gave, but police said the man has not been linked to the robbery.
After the gunfire
When he went back in the pharmacy, Ersland said, he called police.
"I asked if the girls were all right, and they were in the back crying,” he said. "I was glad to know they were alive. We were lucky and I’m glad I defended us, because I feel that a person has a right to defend themselves at their home or at their work. People deserve to be safe and not be afraid of people that want to take money when they don’t work for it.”
That’s what the Second Amendment and the state’s "concealed carry” license are for, he said.
"Fortunately, God made them miss me, except for this minor scratch,” Ersland said.
"I was able to return fire and protect the girls’ lives. God was helping me.”
My wife’s a pharmacist and has worked retail, mail order, home infusion and hospitals. She’s told me that retail is the worst. She is happy to be in a hospital environment. She knows pharmacist friends who have had a pistol shoved in their face more than once.
His carry gun - and the one that saved those several lives - was a "mouse gun."
Goes to show that you don't need heavy artillery for self defense.
One less burden for the tax payers to support for many, many years.
Awesome! His other gun - “Judge.”
With s little luck, Mr. Ersland might be able to spot the 2nd robber at No 1’s funeral.
It might be a good idea to bring the “Judge” along, too.
What the hell is “sensitive” about an armed robbery investigation?? They have THREE witnesses! They can't confirm whether the guy was shot or not? If there was a gun used by the robbers?
Methinks this smells HIGHLY of political correctness and racism!
I don't doubt it. Not only can the thief score cash from the register but they can score narcotics which can easily be turned into cash.
I really need to see the face of someone who would yell racism at a guy who fires back when there’s a gun in his face.
Most of the time it’s the narcs they’re after.
From GreatSchools:
Seeworth Academy
Grade 8
Reading 24% (2008)
The state average for Reading was 82% in 2008.
Science 38% (2008)
The state average for Science was 87% in 2008.
Math 22% (2008)
The state average for Math was 82% in 2008.
If you can count to seven, you're an honor student.
Antwun had just gotten on the honor roll and was turning his life around. He and his 15 year old pregnant girl friend were about to be married....
Yeah right.
The stupid ass 16 year old just upped the ante by trying to rob someone with a gun. He chose to get into the game, lost the game, then the libtards want to come to his defense. EXCREMENT HAPPENS. Here’s a clue to the other 16 year olds. Don’t rob someone at gunpoint without the expectation that someone won’t shoot your ass off. Or kill you.
>>> I own 3 Kel Techs, P-11, P-32, PF-9 all made down the road in Cocoa. <<<<<
I had a P-32 (.32 cal) but moved up to a P3AT (.380), which is the model used in this incident.
Both are outstanding self-defense pistols.
You don’t “need” a .44 mag or .45 ACP to defend yourself and loved ones (or employees in this case).
You need something that you’ll carry all the time and without inconvenience.
Nothing wrong with The Judge, either. It certainly put the scare into the perps.
I have that exact gun. My wife usually carries it. Nice to see a real world application and proof of its effectiveness.
I carry either a Kahr 9mm or my Springfield 1911 (full size).
According to the First Thug, what Mr. Ersland should have done, when faced with a gun in his face, simply said, "I will uphold the values of this country; waterboarding is torture. I apologize for the criminal mistakes of previous administration."
At that point, Antwun's ice-cold heart will melt. He'll put down the gun and shake Mr. Ersland's hand out of respect. The two other accomplices will see this miraculous example of "Obama-bay-uh". They'll abandon their lives of crime and commit to distributing warm-fuzzies around the world!!!
Can you just feel the love oozing here?
That would be a seventh grader at Seeworth.
“My baby ain’t never hurt nobody.””
Another advanced epidemic of “DENIAL DISEASE” in the black community.
> I don’t doubt it. Not only can the thief score cash from the register but they can score narcotics which can easily be turned into cash.
And they can score ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (flu tablets) to convert into Methamphetamine, which they can convert into mega-cash.
What the heck? Sensitive nature? Sensitive? What do these Law Enforcement types find sensitive about some 16 yr. old perp, dead with a recently fired weapon in his hand, on the floor of a previously robbed pharmacy?
A man was arrested about a block away after crashing a stolen car that fit the description Ersland gave, but police said the man has not been linked to the robbery.
Yeah, it would be insensitive to make any assumptions on this matter. This "man" undoubtedly had a justifiable excuse for driving a stolen vehicle that just coincidentally matched the vehicle description of the untrustworthy, tax paying, business owning, war veteran Esland.
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