Posted on 10/19/2011 9:26:13 AM PDT by DCBryan1
EAST NAPLES — A clerk at a landmark East Naples corner store shot and killed a man Tuesday as he attempted to rob the family-run shop and flee with her 1-year-old daughter.
The man, whose name was not released, demanded money from Elizabeth Easterly, a clerk at Del’s 24 Hour Food Store, and then grabbed a stroller that held Easterly’s baby, said Del Ackerman, the store’s owner and Easterly’s grandfather.
Easterly, 22, was alone during a shift change, running the shop with her 1- and 2-year-old daughters there, Ackerman said.
“I almost lost my two babies,” Ackerman said of his great-granddaughters.
The children were unharmed. However, a bloodied stroller remained inside the front door for hours as investigators gathered evidence and interviewed witnesses at the scene.
Around 3 p.m. a man entered the store, 2802 Thomasson Dr., “acting erratically,” Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jamie Mosbach said.
As the man made for the front door with the child, Easterly did just as she had been taught — she drew a gun and aimed for the would-be robber’s knee, Ackerman said.
Bleeding, the man was then tackled outside the front door by a store employee who was about to start his shift and was walking toward the store when the shooting happened. A pool of blood and a bloodied pair of men’s athletic shoes marked where the man was held down until deputies arrived at the scene.
The man was transported to NCH Downtown Naples Hospital. He died from his injuries.
Deputies diverted traffic at the intersection of Thomasson and Bayshore drives for two hours following the shooting. Easterly could be seen inside the store as a swarm of patrol cars and investigators blocked off the scene. Both her husband and Ackermen had left the store less than half an hour before the attempted robbery.
Across the street, Nik Merlos and Gloria Angeles huddled under a bus awning with their 14-month-old daughter as deputies took down crime scene tape. Angeles had made a quick trip to Del’s around 2 p.m.
“I knew there were creepy people around, but not that bad,” said Merlos, who has lived in the Bayshore area for seven years.
In September 2009, three masked men pistol whipped a clerk at Del’s, robbed her at gunpoint, and then stole her car. It was a blemish in nearly half a century of serving the community that didn’t stop Ackerman from opening the doors again.
“They’ve tried to clean (the neighborhood) up a lot,” said Shannon Marcum, who lives two blocks from Del’s and grew up in the neighborhood. “They’ve succeeded somewhat.”
Three hours after the shooting, Ackerman questioned whether he would bounce back. Though his granddaughter and great-grandchildren were unharmed, the threat frazzled him.
“Under these circumstances? I would consider (closing),” he said. “I’d rather have life than money.”
Known as a neighborhood stalwart, he has kept the shop open 24 hours a day for 47 years, through hurricanes and families tragedies.
But with a dozen employees working to keep the store open round the clock, too many people would be affected by shutting the doors, he decided.
“
As hard as we’ve worked in this town ... are we going to let one person of any kind knock my family and my babies out?” Ackerman said. “No way.”
The Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation. It is unclear if Easterly could face criminal charges in the shooting.
I love a happy ending.
You do realize that arteries would have to pass through the knee, right?
Which is why any talk about "shooting to wound" is the blather of idiots.
Too bad, so sad.
The article never mentioned if the robber was armed.
I think that you both are getting too hyper and depending upon what may be bad reporting. The story says that the robber "grabbed a stroller that held Easterly’s [year old] baby" and was going out the door. Perhaps the knee was the clearest target and that she was taught to aim at the clearest unobstructed target?
In my opinion she practiced good gun control, she put the shot where she aimed at a moment of maximum stress! Kudos and blessing to this lady and her family!
Hmmmm. Your BABY IS IN THE STROLLER AT KNEE LEVEL and you don’t do a center mass shot????
During the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War, Comfederate General Albert Johnston was struck in the back of the knee by a spent bullet, which only partially penetrated. It severed a vital artery and Johnston bled to death before anyone realized he’d been injured.
Gee I guess this dummy perk should have stayed in bed, oh well at leasst there was a happy ending.
I’m thinking that the artery must have been hit. How else could he just die... he would have had to bleed to death. Now... I wonder if the store owner was taught to shoot at the knee to prevent death? Wouldn’t that just be strange Karma or what?
Did you go to the web site for the news?
Gee I guess this dummy perp should have stayed in bed, oh well at leasst there was a happy ending.
LOL...there is a concealed handgun instructor here that, humorously, teaches that after your attacker goes down, be sure to give him chest compressions until the cops arrive.
1) The attacker exsanguinates before the cops arrive, and
2) Cops will testify upon pulling up that the shooter was giving first aid, giving credence to the trained CCW shooter that he/she didn't want to kill the attacker, but simply shot the attacker until the attack stopped.
I train them to maintain security, reload, and then dial 911 and don't touch the damn blood. If it was a good shoot, you don't have to do much after "BANG" other than tell the cops you were in fear for your life, and you want any statements made in your lawyers office.
Don’t think I was being “hyper”, but do agree the reporting is at best incomplete. Never said where he was hit.
It all transpired exactly as it should have.
NOTE TO ALL STORE ROBBERS: If you’re going to be
reckless and stupid enough to rob a store, don’t be
even stupider to think you could make off with a one
year old in a stroller. That’ll get you dead for sure,
and you’ll deserve it.
No....but he was "legged". :)
Naples News,that is. I admit I did because I wondered what the perp looked like.
Yep. Intentionally using less-than-deadly force (knee shot) suggests strongly that you were faced with less than a deadly threat, and therefore had no business using a deadly weapon. Even a bad lawyer could win that case.
Shoot to stop. Center mass. Always.
She was aiming for his knee but the first shot hit him in the spine and the next 8 shots hit him in the ass, back and nutz.
This post is not an actual representation of the facts, only my hope for a change.
I guess it is more common than I ever knew! I was always taught to hit center mass/or a head shot but never a knee. I the center of mass is a bigger target than a knee but good to know.
Yes, yes they have.
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