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 Dels 24 Hour Food Store, and then grabbed a stroller that held Easterlys baby, said Del Ackerman, the stores owner and Easterlys 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, Sheriffs 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 robbers 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 mens 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 Dels 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 Dels, robbed her at gunpoint, and then stole her car. It was a blemish in nearly half a century of serving the community that didnt stop Ackerman from opening the doors again.
Theyve tried to clean (the neighborhood) up a lot, said Shannon Marcum, who lives two blocks from Dels and grew up in the neighborhood. Theyve 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. Id 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 weve 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 Sheriffs Office is continuing its investigation. It is unclear if Easterly could face criminal charges in the shooting.
One less piece of human (more than likely sub-human) debris walking around this earth thanks to an armed civilian.
This saved the taxpayers a few hundred thousand dollars at least in courtroom shenanigans and hopefully deprived a scumbag lawyer of a few hundred billable hours.
See #37 as well...
LOL! Nutz.
The perp was carrying a kidnap victim.
I SPECULATE that she may possibly have received training which hypothetically suggested that in such a case, the defending citizen should shoot the perp in the legs to avoid injuring the kidnap victim.
Absolute best advice and I remind my loved ones about it periodically.
Yes... I don’t know if the “I tried to wing him” defense would be so good... a lawyer could really twist that. However, if she said that he was holding the baby in the stroller (around his chest area) then striking him below that point would make sense.
Exsanguination. Thank God, no one thought to apply a tourniquet.
I never thought of that. It could be she pulled the gun, the guy got scared and picked up the stroler and ran with it and the knee was the safest for the kid.
rule # 1 after a shooting:
do NOT talk to police or reporters unless/until you’ve talked to your lawyer and said lawyer is WITH you.
otherwise, you make excited and STUPID statements like this that can/will be used in court of law against you.
I think she was taught to *say* she was aiming for the knee.
“Hit him in the chest? Darn, I was only aiming for his knee.”
That makes sense. She could not shot the center of mass without risking her own child.
lol! “No dear, you have to aim lower, the rounds are still going above the berm. Aim for his knees and see what happens...”
Noting the type of stroller in the picture he might have picked up the stroller to run with it out the door. I used to pick up that type of stroller and carry it through some types of doors and passageways and it is a lot faster than pushing it. If that were the case, shooting center mass might have hit the child. Whatever the case, she hit what she aimed at, brought him down and he bled out with no harm to the child. A happy ending.
It doesn’t matter if a kidnapper is armed.
LOL. one thing most of us here can agree with.
thank God the babies are safe...
1) NO CHARGES! Justified under stand your ground FL statute. Suspect used illegal force of violence "kidnapping" and forfeited his life.
2) Elizabeth shot him with a .45 hornady critical defense JHP 210gr. which exploded in his knee and hit an artery and bled out.
3) Say good night to the bad guy!!
4) It was ALL caught on tape, full color, hi-res, digital.
I could see the logic in that...........
I'm guessing it was a high caliber weapon to make a knee shot fatal. Anyway, I applaud the mama for great gun control.
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