Harris County, TX—Robbing a gun store has a big payoff, but it comes at a greater risk. That’s a lesson that several thugs learned the hard way on Tuesday.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reported that at 4:30 am on Tuesday, January 7th, several thugs pulled up in their pickup truck to a gun store near the 2000 Block of Kennings.
The owner of the gun store lived on the property and woke to hear strange noises. The owner, yet unnamed, is a 79-year-old military vet. And on top of that, some thugs had tried to rob him just in November, so he wasn’t willing to take any chances.
He got up to investigate. He looked out his window and saw several suspects gathered around the front door of his store. They had chains from the bars on the security doors to their pickup truck.
He watched while the thugs yanked the doors of their hinges and one of the men immediately ran into the store. The store owner drew his gun and made his way cautiously towards the store, unsure if the thugs were armed or not.
They were armed. One of the thugs saw the store owner approaching with his gun drawn and started shooting. The two exchanged fire, and the owner took cover. He returned fire and hit at least one of the suspects.
The thieves broke and ran for their truck and sped off.
They Didn’t Get Far…
Police arrived, and just moments later, a call came in. A man in his 20’s was found lying dead on the road in the 3800 block of Morelos—about seven miles away. When they arrived, officers found him lying in the road just feet away from a car with its doors open.
Preliminary investigation showed that the dead man was one of the suspects from the gun store robbery. Two guns were also found near the body. Police suspect they were stolen from the gun store.
Sheriff Gonzales said that two other suspects were found on food nearby and were taken into custody.
The case will be referred to a grand jury. The gun store owner isn’t facing any charges at this time.