Customer shoots would-be robber (Walgreens Omaha) -- cross-post from Nebraska forum

[X_Digger]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=164x2133

[shadowrider]

1. I can't believe some there have sympathy for the bad guy

[Katya Mullethov]

2. He didnt do nuffin

ask his momma .

[shadowrider]

3. That's right

He was turning his life around, fell in with the wrong crowd, a pillar of the community, got A's in school.

Forgot about that.

[Katya Mullethov]

4. Was this one tagged ?

Somebody shot one just a couple days ago , and he was wearing one of them ankle tag things . Are they trying to plot out a migratory route or what ?

[shadowrider]

5. Yes. They migrate from home to (supposed) easy money

[Hoopla Phil]

6. "Any death is tragic" BULLSHIT! This was no innocent that got shot but a thug with a SHOTGUN!

[Euromutt]

11. I can sympathize with that perspective, actually

I can see that one might take the attitude that every violent loss of human life is a tragedy, even while acknowledging that the tragedy might be of the victim's own making, as in this instance. I for one am not happy that the guy with the shotgun had to die, even though I also think the guy didn't leave anyone any options.

[proteus_lives]

8. You and me both.

Naive bullshit.

[RamboLiberal]

7. Customer Won't Be Charged For Shooting

The shooting opens the debate over the conceal-carry law in Nebraska.

In this case, Harry McCullough had a permit to legally carry a gun in plain sight, for example, a holster on his belt. But he did not have a permit to conceal and carry.

When two armed men walked inside Walgreen’s near 61st & NW Radial and pointed a shotgun at customers, one man standing in line decided this robbery wasn't happening.

Police say Harry J. McCullough III pulled out a gun and shot one of the suspects four times, killing him. McCullough had a permit to legally carry a weapon but not a concealed one.

He will be charged with a misdemeanor but not for shooting and killing 18-year-old Marquail Thomas. "There is no question when the individuals entered the store with ski masks and gloves and a short shotgun that he was justified using deadly force to defend himself or other people in the store,” says Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine.

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/92253719.html

"Nobody... Move." That's what witnesses say two robbers yell walking into this Walgreens. A 32 year old customer takes action now he's in trouble himself. Harry MCcullough III has a handgun ID card. On Monday night McCullough, while shopping at the Walgreens, reportedly pulls out his gun and kills a robber instantly becoming a suspect himself. But his lawyer, calls him a hero. "His instincts and his judgement were extremely good he averted a robbery and maybe averted someone being shot or killed with that sawed of shot gun," says James Martin Davis, McCullough's attorney. He plays out the scene inside Walgreens. Two masked men walk into the store, one lowers a shotgun at customers then points into a woman's back standing at the ATM. That's when we're told McCullough shoots the robber, Thomas, in the chest.

A day later the store is back open and customers are not sure what to make of it. "It does make you feel safe well on one side yeah because you never know who's going to be there to protect you, but on the other hand you never know who's going to be there to harm you."

But, police call it a crime. "The customer who shot the suspect is being cited for carrying a concealed weapon," says Officer Jacob Bettin. McCullough's permit allows him to have a loaded gun but he has to carry it in the open. Police say he pulled it from his waistband. As for if the citation will stick, Davis insists his client is not the bad guy. "I'm hoping the city prosecutor with follow the spirit rather than the letter of the law because what he did needs to be applauded ."

Again, the customer is ticketed for carrying a concealed weapon. Davis wants proof the gun was concealed. As for the other robber, Douglas, McCullough held him until police got there. He's in custody.

McCullough spent a day in jail 13 years ago for carrying a concealed weapon, the same citation he faces now. The crime then, having a knife in a church parking lot.

http://www.action3news.com/Global/story.asp?S=12386090

[PavePusher]

9. Wow. Some screwed-up laws in Nebraska. n/t

[mvccd1000]

10. Sounds like he needs to move to AZ.

So he won't have to worry about those pesky government permission slips. :)

[pipoman]

12. As with nearly every other state with CCW

I'll bet there will be some fine tuning coming down the pike.

Just a reminder it was Von Maur in Omaha which was the scene of a mass murder a few years ago, prior to NE passing ccw IIRC. That incident is still very much in the consciousness of Nebraskans...Omahans in particular.