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might need zip and Bday
Gunman killed at store during robbery attempt
Police say shooting was in self-defense
Wednesday June 11, 2003
By Walt Philbin
Staff writer
A man who apparently carefully plotted the robbery of a Central City hubcap store Tuesday didn't plan on one thing: that the shop owner had a revolver behind his back, police said.
The owner shot the would-be robber after he demanded cash, police said. The man ran from the store and collapsed around the corner next to a stolen gold Mazda that police had chased just two hours earlier. He was pronounced dead at Charity Hospital. His identity had not been released Tuesday night.
On the front seat of the Mazda police found a ski mask with enlarged eyeholes and a change of clothes, including shorts, shirt and tennis shoes.
"He had it all laid out and ready to change into as soon as he made his getaway," said 6th District police commander Capt. Tony Cannatella.
No charges were filed in the shooting, which a preliminary investigation determined was in self-defense, police said. Police didn't release the name of the owner of Meyer's Auto Parts, which is on South Broad Street across from the Sewerage & Water Board pumping station at Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The owner said he was alone in his store when a man walked up to the store shortly before 6 p.m.
The owner told police the man seemed to look around before entering. After asking the owner several questions about hubcaps, he looked around the store, police said. At some point, the suspicious owner, fearing for his safety, got his .38-caliber revolver from under the counter and put it behind his back or in his waistband, police said.
The man pulled a small-barreled, hand-sized, Russian-made .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol, pointed it at the store owner and demanded money, police said.
The owner reached behind his back deliberately, as if he was reaching for his wallet, police said, but instead came up with his revolver. Police said he apparently fired one time, hitting the man in the chest. Detective Robert Hoobler said he was still trying to determine Tuesday night if the wounded man had also fired.
The gunman ran from the store, leaving drops of blood on the sidewalk for a half block along South Broad and collapsing in front of the fire station, where he dropped his pistol. Police found it there with four bullets in the clip and one in the chamber, officers said.
Police said the man got back to his feet and ran around the corner to Thalia Street, where he collapsed again near the rear bumper of the Mazda, parked less than a half block off Broad. Police found a key to the stolen car next to where the man fell.
The man was taken to Charity Hospital and was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m., police said.
Police recognized the Mazda as having been chased by police in the Irish Channel on Tuesday afternoon.
Sixth District task force officer Tony Hunt noticed the car driving erratically in the 2300 block of Dryades Street about 90 minutes before the robbery attempt, police said. Hunt turned on his lights and siren and tried to pull the car over, but the driver accelerated. Hunt chased the car through the Irish Channel, police said, but stopped for safety reasons, Miles said.
The car was stolen in Kenner between Friday and Tuesday, officers said.
Cannatella said his detectives would try to determine whether the man was involved in a robbery last week at a business a couple of blocks away from the hubcap store. "He meets the guy's description," Cannatella said.
. . . . . . .
Walt Philbin can be reached at [email protected] or at (504) 826-3302.
might need zip and Bday
Gunman killed at store during robbery attempt
Police say shooting was in self-defense
Wednesday June 11, 2003
By Walt Philbin
Staff writer
A man who apparently carefully plotted the robbery of a Central City hubcap store Tuesday didn't plan on one thing: that the shop owner had a revolver behind his back, police said.
The owner shot the would-be robber after he demanded cash, police said. The man ran from the store and collapsed around the corner next to a stolen gold Mazda that police had chased just two hours earlier. He was pronounced dead at Charity Hospital. His identity had not been released Tuesday night.
On the front seat of the Mazda police found a ski mask with enlarged eyeholes and a change of clothes, including shorts, shirt and tennis shoes.
"He had it all laid out and ready to change into as soon as he made his getaway," said 6th District police commander Capt. Tony Cannatella.
No charges were filed in the shooting, which a preliminary investigation determined was in self-defense, police said. Police didn't release the name of the owner of Meyer's Auto Parts, which is on South Broad Street across from the Sewerage & Water Board pumping station at Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The owner said he was alone in his store when a man walked up to the store shortly before 6 p.m.
The owner told police the man seemed to look around before entering. After asking the owner several questions about hubcaps, he looked around the store, police said. At some point, the suspicious owner, fearing for his safety, got his .38-caliber revolver from under the counter and put it behind his back or in his waistband, police said.
The man pulled a small-barreled, hand-sized, Russian-made .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol, pointed it at the store owner and demanded money, police said.
The owner reached behind his back deliberately, as if he was reaching for his wallet, police said, but instead came up with his revolver. Police said he apparently fired one time, hitting the man in the chest. Detective Robert Hoobler said he was still trying to determine Tuesday night if the wounded man had also fired.
The gunman ran from the store, leaving drops of blood on the sidewalk for a half block along South Broad and collapsing in front of the fire station, where he dropped his pistol. Police found it there with four bullets in the clip and one in the chamber, officers said.
Police said the man got back to his feet and ran around the corner to Thalia Street, where he collapsed again near the rear bumper of the Mazda, parked less than a half block off Broad. Police found a key to the stolen car next to where the man fell.
The man was taken to Charity Hospital and was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m., police said.
Police recognized the Mazda as having been chased by police in the Irish Channel on Tuesday afternoon.
Sixth District task force officer Tony Hunt noticed the car driving erratically in the 2300 block of Dryades Street about 90 minutes before the robbery attempt, police said. Hunt turned on his lights and siren and tried to pull the car over, but the driver accelerated. Hunt chased the car through the Irish Channel, police said, but stopped for safety reasons, Miles said.
The car was stolen in Kenner between Friday and Tuesday, officers said.
Cannatella said his detectives would try to determine whether the man was involved in a robbery last week at a business a couple of blocks away from the hubcap store. "He meets the guy's description," Cannatella said.
. . . . . . .
Walt Philbin can be reached at [email protected] or at (504) 826-3302.
