Shootout at Texas mall leaves one dead, seven wounded

[webfact]

Shootout at Texas mall leaves one dead, seven wounded

By Jim Forsyth

REUTERS

 

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and seven others wounded during a botched robbery at a jewelry store at a San Antonio mall, police said on Sunday.

 

The shooting unfolded as two people who staged an armed robbery at a Kay Jewelers outlet at the Rolling Oaks Mall were fleeing, said Police Chief William McManus.

 

Two bystanders tried to intervene. One was shot and killed by one of the robbers, and the other bystander, who was licensed to carry a concealed firearm, shot one of the suspects, McManus said. The bystander who shot the armed robber was not hurt.

 

The uninjured suspect ran through the mall, firing his gun as he fled, shooting six people. Their conditions were not immediately known, McManus said.

 

The suspect was later apprehended and arrested, San Antonio police said. Details on the capture were not yet available.

 

"What we have here is a robbery gone really, really bad," McManus told reporters in a video posted on the city's Facebook page. "It's absolutely senseless. This is the second time that a Good Samaritan was killed trying to intervene in a crime."

 

McManus said the six shoppers and the robber who was shot, were hospitalized in undetermined condition. Their identities were not immediately disclosed.

 

The mall, located in the northwestern part of the city, was locked down, with shoppers and store employees held inside their stores, while police combed the area looking for the second suspect. Shoppers were also being evacuated from the mall.

 

In November, a Good Samaritan who tried to stop a woman from being assaulted was shot to death outside a San Antonio Walmart that was packed with holiday shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving.

 

(Editing by Chris Michaud)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-01-23

[elgordo38]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

and the other bystander, who was licensed to carry a concealed firearm, shot one of the suspects,

Boy the gun lovers and the NRA will jump all over this one. 

[Grubster]

6 hours ago, elgordo38 said:

Boy the gun lovers and the NRA will jump all over this one. 

This will be happening a lot in the future I think. The Wild west is back.

[elgordo38]

38 minutes ago, Grubster said:

This will be happening a lot in the future I think. The Wild west is back.

 

38 minutes ago, Grubster said:

This will be happening a lot in the future I think. The Wild west is back.

A friend tells me you can open pack a assault rifle slug over your shoulder. If he was walking toward me I would be definitely start praying. 

[Thakkar]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

the other bystander, who was licensed to carry a concealed firearm, shot one of the suspects

All well and good—this time. But when a citizen shoots, there's always the possibility of missing and hitting an innocent bystander, a child even. Is this citizen then charge with manslaughter? What if there were other armed bystanders who might have mistaken the first bystander of being a robber and shot him? Numerous ordinary people walking around with loaded weapons is a recipe for dangerous mayhem. 

[Grouse]

7 hours ago, elgordo38 said:

Boy the gun lovers and the NRA will jump all over this one. 

Oh no! Not the Alamo?

[radiochaser]

2 hours ago, Grouse said:

Oh no! Not the Alamo?

No, not at the Alamo.  

But I think you knew that.  

 

[radiochaser]

2 hours ago, Thakkar said:

All well and good—this time. But when a citizen shoots, there's always the possibility of missing and hitting an innocent bystander, a child even. Is this citizen then charge with manslaughter? What if there were other armed bystanders who might have mistaken the first bystander of being a robber and shot him? Numerous ordinary people walking around with loaded weapons is a recipe for dangerous mayhem. 

This is from 2013

 Armed Citizens Make Fewer Mistakes Than Police 

Don't think that just because the police are trained in the use of firearms that they are less likely to kill an innocent person. A University of Chicago Study revealed that in 1993 approximately 700,000 police killed 330 innocent individuals, while approximately 250,000,000 private citizens only killed 30 innocent people. Do the math. That's a per capita rate for the police, of almost 4000 times higher than the population in general. OK, that is a little misleading. Let's just include the 80,000,000 gun owning citizens. Now the police are down to only a 1200 times higher accidental shooting rate than the gun-owning population in general.

That still sounds high. So let's look at it in a different light. According to a study by Newsweek magazine, only 2% of civilian shootings involve an innocent person being shot (not killed). The error rate for police is 11%. What this means is that you are more than 5 times more likely to be accidentally shot by a policeman than by an armed citizen. But, when you consider that citizens shoot and kill at least twice as many criminals as do police every year, it means that, per capita, you are more than 11 times more likely to be accidentally shot by a policeman than by an armed citizen. That is as low as I can get that number.

This is not meant to be an indictment of the police. In fact, because police often live on the edge, they naturally tend to shoot first and ask questions later. Although they are trained to repress this instinct, it does not always work, as evidenced by the number of innocent people killed by police. Also, since they are generally better marksmen, they tend to kill, rather than wound or totally miss their target.

The Kleck study shows that police shoot and kill around 600 criminals each year. Yet the University of Chicago study shows that police killed 330 innocent individuals in 1993. That means that for every two criminals killed by police, one innocent citizen is killed by police. Although I have the greatest respect for the police and how they must respond under pressure, I think that I would much rather trust an armed populace.

[mania]

2 hours ago, Thakkar said:

All well and good—this time. But when a citizen shoots, there's always the possibility of missing and hitting an innocent bystander, a child even. Is this citizen then charge with manslaughter? What if there were other armed bystanders who might have mistaken the first bystander of being a robber and shot him? Numerous ordinary people walking around with loaded weapons is a recipe for dangerous mayhem. 

No more dangerous/possible for a  police officer to shoot & miss or hit a bystander...which sadly happens too often

A concealed carry citizen could be more practiced/accurate

 

Numerous good people walking around with weapons in high crime areas is better than

Numerous "bad" people walking around with weapons ...that is your dangerous mayhem

[radiochaser]

24 minutes ago, mania said:

No more dangerous/possible for a  police officer to shoot & miss or hit a bystander...which sadly happens too often

A concealed carry citizen could be more practiced/accurate

 

Numerous good people walking around with weapons in high crime areas is better than

Numerous "bad" people walking around with weapons ...that is your dangerous mayhem

I have met/known people that practice shooting every day.  Some also have gone to intensive, stress inducing, combative type firearms training one or two times a year and are civilians.  Some of these people shoot between 500-1000 rounds of ammunition a week.  These are the extreme end of the shooting community and many were/are competitive shooters. Some are members of various law enforcement agencies.  

Many of the local police officers never practice, only shooting for qualification each year.  While discussing pistols, one police officer upholstered his pistol for the first time since he completed his yearly qualifications shoot, ejected the magazine, and was unable to pull the slide back to check for a chambered round, before handing the pistol to me.   I found out later, the slide and receiver had rusted together!  

P.S. I am a retired Federal Agent.

 

Edited January 23, 2017 by radiochaser