Drizzt
Member
Shopkeeper shoots robber, police say
Suspect dies hours after convenience store owner fires at three assailants.
By Erin Rossiter
912.652.0329
[email protected]
A convenience store owner shot and killed one of three men who tried to rob him Tuesday, police said.
It was the second time in two years that the owner, Xiao Ming Lin, was involved in a fatal shooting at one of his stores.
In January 2001, Lin was beaten with a brick during an attempted armed robbery at his former business on 40th and Montgomery streets. In that case, Lin's son shot and killed the suspect.
Police at the time treated the death as justifiable homicide, and no charges were filed against Lin's son.
On Tuesday, Savannah Police Department spokesman Bucky Burnsed said the district attorney's office must decide whether to file charges in this week's shooting.
The victim, whose name police did not release, was taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center, where he died late Tuesday afternoon.
The shooting happened at about 1 p.m., when three men walked into the M&S Food Market at the 700 block of Harmon Street and tried to rob the husband and wife who own and work at the store, Burnsed said.
At least one of the suspects had a weapon, Burnsed said.
Lin fired shots and one of the men was seriously wounded. The other two suspects ran, Burnsed said.
Several workers at the Chatham Area Transit bus garage, across the street from the store, said the victim looked as though he had been shot in the head.
The Lins were not injured, police said.
"We don't know exactly what happened at this point," Burnsed said. "They are obviously distraught They are being questioned right now at headquarters."
Nicole Maynor, a friend of the Lins, watched police walk in and out of the red-brick building, where the store occupies the first floor.
She described the couple as generous with friends and customers, lending money and sharing food with them.
"They're good people," Maynor said.
She wondered whether the couple would reopen the store.
The 2001 incident happened at Lin's former business on the westside of Savannah.
At around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2001, Johnny Tyson, 39, walked into Lin's Super Market at 2400 Montgomery St. armed with a brick. He hit Lin in the face with it, before jumping the counter and going for the cash register, police said.
Lin's son fired several shots at Tyson, who died at the scene.
That shooting happened only three days after another convenience store owner, Michael Lane, was killed as he was locking up Shady's Discount Gas and Food at the 2200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Another attempted robbery in 2002 that ended with a suspect being killed, was treated as justifiable homicide.
On June 25, Richard Huggins, 58, a clerk at Joe's Package Shop, shot and killed Jamison J. Dixon, 19 -- also known as James Jerome White -- as he and another man had attempted to rob the store, police said.
Huggins was not charged in the death.
Meanwhile, investigators will continue to look for the two other robbery suspects. No descriptions were given and Burnsed did not know whether police recovered their weapon.
The killing was the city's 35th of 2002.
"It's a hell of a way to end the year," Burnsed said.
http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/010103/LOCstoreshooting.shtml
Suspect dies hours after convenience store owner fires at three assailants.
By Erin Rossiter
912.652.0329
[email protected]
A convenience store owner shot and killed one of three men who tried to rob him Tuesday, police said.
It was the second time in two years that the owner, Xiao Ming Lin, was involved in a fatal shooting at one of his stores.
In January 2001, Lin was beaten with a brick during an attempted armed robbery at his former business on 40th and Montgomery streets. In that case, Lin's son shot and killed the suspect.
Police at the time treated the death as justifiable homicide, and no charges were filed against Lin's son.
On Tuesday, Savannah Police Department spokesman Bucky Burnsed said the district attorney's office must decide whether to file charges in this week's shooting.
The victim, whose name police did not release, was taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center, where he died late Tuesday afternoon.
The shooting happened at about 1 p.m., when three men walked into the M&S Food Market at the 700 block of Harmon Street and tried to rob the husband and wife who own and work at the store, Burnsed said.
At least one of the suspects had a weapon, Burnsed said.
Lin fired shots and one of the men was seriously wounded. The other two suspects ran, Burnsed said.
Several workers at the Chatham Area Transit bus garage, across the street from the store, said the victim looked as though he had been shot in the head.
The Lins were not injured, police said.
"We don't know exactly what happened at this point," Burnsed said. "They are obviously distraught They are being questioned right now at headquarters."
Nicole Maynor, a friend of the Lins, watched police walk in and out of the red-brick building, where the store occupies the first floor.
She described the couple as generous with friends and customers, lending money and sharing food with them.
"They're good people," Maynor said.
She wondered whether the couple would reopen the store.
The 2001 incident happened at Lin's former business on the westside of Savannah.
At around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2001, Johnny Tyson, 39, walked into Lin's Super Market at 2400 Montgomery St. armed with a brick. He hit Lin in the face with it, before jumping the counter and going for the cash register, police said.
Lin's son fired several shots at Tyson, who died at the scene.
That shooting happened only three days after another convenience store owner, Michael Lane, was killed as he was locking up Shady's Discount Gas and Food at the 2200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Another attempted robbery in 2002 that ended with a suspect being killed, was treated as justifiable homicide.
On June 25, Richard Huggins, 58, a clerk at Joe's Package Shop, shot and killed Jamison J. Dixon, 19 -- also known as James Jerome White -- as he and another man had attempted to rob the store, police said.
Huggins was not charged in the death.
Meanwhile, investigators will continue to look for the two other robbery suspects. No descriptions were given and Burnsed did not know whether police recovered their weapon.
The killing was the city's 35th of 2002.
"It's a hell of a way to end the year," Burnsed said.
http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/010103/LOCstoreshooting.shtml
