Bank Customer Shoots, Stops Robber In Warren; Mayor Says Shooter Was Within His Rights
WARREN (WWJ/AP) - Though the mayor has already announced the customer was "within his rights" when he opened fire against an attempted bank robber, Warren police are investigating after the would-be criminal was allegedly shot by the customer.
Cash could be seen strewn in the roadway outside the Citizens Bank branch on Van Dyke Ave., near 9 Mile Road, early Monday evening.
Local resident Shante Jackson said she was right across the street when the botched robbery occurred.
"He (the alleged robber) just laid there — he collapsed," she told WWJ's Jason Scott at the scene. "The EMS took him and a police car followed behind."
Mayor Jim Fouts told the Free Press, the 43-year-old assailant entered the bank with a gun and gathered "a large amount" of cash from the bank when, on the way out, he appears to have threatened a 63-year-old customer with his gun.
The customer opened fire, spraying a reported 10 shots inside the building, and hitting the robber three times.
Witnesses said the victim/alleged robber was bloodied and yelling angrily as he was taken away. The alleged robber's injuries are not life-threatening. There were no other injuries reported.
Fouts said the bank customer has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The mayor says the man who stopped the robber "must have been a pretty good shot," although he cautions people not to use guns unless absolutely necessary.
Gary Guyett was driving by the bank shortly after the shooting.
"They basically pulled up to a guy on the ground -- bloody -- and they handcuffed him," Guyett said. "I noticed his arm when they picked it up to handcuff him -- the whole thing was all full of blood.
I'm just glad to see that people are carrying guns and crime is getting less and less because they think about who has a gun in the room," Guyett said.
The incident has Jackson on edge.
"I just feel like there's no place to be safe," she said. "Here, school, the bank, KFC, anywhere...I just feel like, I don't know, they need to work the streets a little better...I don't know. It's sad to see."
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