NC: Thwarted Thief : "A pistol-wielding clerk told police she she chased away a robber Monday night. Officers would not release her name Tuesday. Burke County Sheriff's Detective Rodney Norman says a man came into the Shop and Save on N.C. 18 North about 10:30 p.m. Monday and asked the 34-year old female clerk if she was alone. Norman says the clerk had noticed the man around the store earlier in the evening, and thought something was amiss. He says the clerk told police the man slid her a note across the counter that said "Give me the money from the drawer or you're dead." The clerk told the man she couldn't read English, Norman says. She told the detective the man then got angry and pounded on the register until it opened. Norman says the clerk pushed the register drawer closed before the man could get any money from it. She then pulled a small silver handgun from under the counter, Norman says. The man ran from the store when he saw her cocking the weapon, the detective says. The clerk had pushed a button that automatically calls police, Norman says. He says she did that after the man in the store asked her if she was alone."


Florida teen shot, charged, after breaking into classmate's home: "A 17-year-old boy was recovering Tuesday from a gunshot to the chest after he tried to break into the home of a classmate who had allegedly been spreading rumors about his girlfriend, authorities said. Daniel Scott Merkel has been charged with burglary and criminal mischief and is in custody as he recovers at Delray Medical Center. "I'm just happy he's alive," the boy's mother, Mary Merkel, said Monday. Ricardo Collier III, 44, who shot Merkel early Sunday morning, has not been charged with a crime. Investigators said he was defending his home under Florida's Castle Doctrine law, which allows the use of deadly force if there is a "reasonable fear of imminent peril." According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office report, the teen was banging on the Colliers' front door. Ricardo Collier called 911 and told the 6-foot, 215-pound high school wrestler to leave. Merkel then charged at the door and broke inside, the report stated. He lunged at Collier, who shot Merkel in the chest, according to the report."