Posted on 04/17/2012 5:54:34 AM PDT by smokingfrog
An armed robber who took a drugstore guard hostage Monday was shot and killed when he confronted a retired Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, now a security official for the north Harris County business, authorities said.
The masked robber jumped the unarmed security guard about 2:15 p.m. inside the QVL Pharmacy at 850 FM 1960 near the North Freeway.
"At gunpoint, he forced (the guard) to open the security door going to the back of the pharmacy," said Sgt. Ben Beall with the Harris County Sheriff's Department's homicide squad.
The robber passed several customers in the front of the store. He also pointed his pistol at the pharmacist and told him to open the safe where the drugs were being stored, authorities said.
"He ordered them to load the narcotics into his backpack," Beall said.
The robber demanded hydrocodone and other pain medication, detectives said.
"It looked like he was prepared to take a pretty good haul out of the business," Beall said.
Also inside the store, however, was a plainclothes retired DPS trooper, now working for the Dallas-based company's corporate security department. He was making a check at the store when the robbery happened.
"He wasn't even aware that there was a robbery going on until they were already in the back," Beall said.
The robber pointed his gun at the retired trooper, who pulled out his own weapon and began shooting.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
“The masked robber jumped the unarmed security guard about 2:15 p.m.”
Geez, isn’t wearing a mask like wearing a hoodie? Are we sure the poor “victim” wasn’t profiled? /s
Could “skittles” be a street name for drugs?
I’ll bet his mother doesn’t even mourn the ‘loss’...
One robbery, one Ranger.
Economical.
No incarceration costs, no legal costs, minimal investigation.
I like it fine.
Somebody buy that DPS guy a beer.
An excellent simile. I wonder if the retired trooper will now re-evaluate the usefulness of unarmed security at his employer's drug stores.
I also like to go for the twofer and use alliteration along with the simile: "as worthless as tits on a tomcat".
I never accept the story line. What really happened is probably not what the reporter wrote. Most likely, the retired police officer fired at a time that was safer for him, such as when the robber turned or shifted his eyes somewhere else.
I wonder if the retired DPS officer had been a Texas Ranger?
Be that as it may, it sounds like this robber was a bit more orderly than most that pull drugstore heists.
If we had a nickle ....
AND if you were carrying and saw a robbery in progress, you would be inclined to retrive your weapon and wait for the right opportunity, which killing the perp without anyone else being harmed proves was the ‘right moment’ to shoot. I practice tat a lot and I find it comforting to know that the reaction time of someone holding a weapon in the open but not in the act of shooting is longer than someone intent to shoot and shoot decisively.
That’s a more likely version.
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