Posted on 09/07/2009 9:33:32 AM PDT by marktwain
A cab driver shot and killed a would-be robber around 10 p.m. Sunday at Carowinds Boulevard and South Tryon Street, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police said.
The cab had been dispatched to the Colonial Village apartments at the intersection where he picked up a fare, said Capt. Allan Rutledge, of the Steele Creek Division of Charlotte Mecklenburg Police.
The cab driver told authorities that the man he picked up pulled a gun, at which point the driver pulled his own handgun and shot and killed the man, Rutledge said.
The driver then called 911. Two handguns were found at the scene and police were not looking for any other suspects, Rutledge said.
The driver, who was not identified, was being interviewed by police late Sunday. The victim's identity was not available late Sunday.
Nearby resident Sean Wilson said he heard gunshots outside his apartment. He went out a short time later and saw police pull up and pull a cab driver out of his car and into a squad car.
Wilson said he saw a person in the front passenger seat of the cab and that he appeared to be dead.
He said police told him it was an attempted robbery. “It was an apparent robbery that went wrong,” Wilson said. “Or, it went right, depending on how you look at it.”
The cab belonged to Professional Cabs of Charlotte. A dispatcher for the company didn't have any immediate comment.
In North Carolina, it's legal to kill someone in defense of yourself or another. In self-defense shooting cases, police and the Mecklenburg District Attorney work together to investigate and decide whether to press charges.
It's at least the second time in the past month that a robbery suspect has been killed by a victim in Mecklenburg County.
On Aug. 22, 76-year-old C.L. McClure reportedly chased down and then shot and killed 15-year-old Marcus Fluker, who was suspected of robbing McClure and his wife in their northeast Charlotte home.
LOL
I think it went right.
My dear husband and I are going to take CCW classes this fall. We may never actually carry, but we are going to exercise our 2nd amendments rights while we still have them.
Shooting a gun inside a car is horrible on the ears.
What?
(the robber can no longer hear)
Good shoot. Good to hear that it is legal to “kill” someone who was trying to kill you, in North Carolina. I would hate to see the place where it was not.
My heard goes out to the cab driver. Killing someone is traumatic, even in self defense. I can’t begin to imagine what he is going to have to go through. My prayers are with him.
I love a robbery gone good story.
Oops, make that ‘amendment.’
We will always have them, regardless of what the government does. They didn't give us the right, and they can't take it away.
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