Warren Mayor Commends Bank Customer Who Shot Robber: 'It Could've Been A Disaster'
WARREN (WWJ) - Warren Mayor Jim Fouts is praising a bank customer who gunned down a would-be robber.
Police have confirmed that 43-year-old Henry Mann, who was wounded in the shooting Monday at a Citizens Bank branch, near 9 Mile and Van Dyke, had been convicted of murder as a teenager.
Mann was shot by a 60-year-old autoworker who was inside the bank at the time of the robbery.
Talking to WWJ Newsradio 950's Zahra Huber on Wednesday, Mayor Fouts said the customer — who had a licence to carry a concealed firearm — likely averted a catastrophic situation.
"Because by stopping this gentleman — who had a gun pointed at him and also at the bank people — it could've been a disaster when he might have killed some other people," said Fouts. "Or he might have got in his car and taken off and perhaps got in a horrible accident."
Fouts said the shooter is to be commended; although he wants to make it clear that he's not necessarily advocating everyone pull out a gun in such a situation.
"So it's not something that I would suggest people do," Fouts added. "But in his case, he reinforced the idea that the Second Amendment right is a legitimate right if you exercise it in a careful, judicious way."
Fouts said there were no other customers in the bank at the time.
"Had there been a lot of people there, it might've been a different situation, but as it was it was the right thing to do," Fouts said. "At least this reinforces the point that it was important that a citizen, exercising his Second Amendment rights, was able to prevent, perhaps, a further tragic situation."
Mann is now facing new charges of bank robbery and possession of a firearm. Investigators will submit their report to the Macomb County prosecutor later this week.
Meantime — with about $2,000 still missing — Fouts and bank officials are asking passersby who picked up money that blew into the street during the incident to please return the cash. (Fouts grants that that's unlikely).
This particular bank branch, authorities say, has been targeted by robbers at least 10 times over the past decade.