Va.: Intended victim turns baseball bat then gun against alleged attacker: "When a large, 21-year-old man walked into a store armed with a baseball bat, threatening a robbery, Kenny Justus did what any old man would do: He wrestled the bat from the intruder, beat him nearly to death with it and then shot him in the arm. "He was calling me an old man while we were fighting,” Justus, 64, said. “I told him, the next one he picks on better be older than me.” Police accused the bat-wielding intruder of trying to rob Justus’s car lot Thursday. Justin Gregory Charles, badly beaten and with a gunshot wound in his right forearm, was taken to Holston Valley Medical Center by helicopter. At first, Justus got out his little gun, but decided against shooting. “I didn’t want to kill him,” he said. “But I didn’t want to be killed, either.” That’s when it dawned on Justus to commandeer the bat. The two men wrestled for it until Justus, who describes himself as a lean man, pried it out of the intruder’s hands. Justus said he just wanted to knock him out, but the intruder kept getting up and coming back. "I beat on him until that bat was in three pieces,” Justus said. “You know if you can’t knock somebody out with a baseball bat, he’s gotta be crazy on drugs.” Justus said he hit him, straight on the head, until blood spattered the entire office and the bat fell apart. Still, the intruder charged him. So Justus pulled the trigger and then called the cops. Buchanan County Sheriff Ray Foster said charges against Charles are pending."


Louisiana: Business Owner Shoots and Kills Robber: "Incident occurred Friday night outside check-cashing establishment on Williams Boulevard. The owner of a Kenner check-cashing store shot and killed an alleged robber Friday night outside of his establishment in the 3200 block of Williams Boulevard. Investigators say the man was approached in a parking lot by three men as he left his business just before 9pm. One member of the trio produced a gun and struck the man in the head and then grabbed a backpack the victim had in his possession. The intended victim retrieved the backpack, pulled a gun from it and shot two of the suspects. One of the would-be robbers was pronouced dead on the scene and the other was taken to a hospital for treatment. The third man fled before police arrived. Authorities say the two men who were shot carried identification cards from Honduras".


WA: Drug dealer defends himself: "A suspect in an early December shooting pleaded innocent Thursday. David Palumbo, 23, of Evans, Wash., pleaded not guilty in Flathead County District Court to attempted deliberate homicide. Shots were fired after Schloss and Bo Hanger, 27, of Whitefish, allegedly attempted to rob Palumbo. At the time, Schloss had a 9-mm pistol, but it jammed during the incident. Palumbo turned himself in to Stevens County, Wash., authorities on Dec. 10 for violating his parole by leaving Washington. Schloss, who has been released from the hospital, has been charged with attempted robbery, a felony. After the shooting, authorities located a .9-mm pistol in the Four Mile Drive area and found a magazine in Schloss’ pocket that matched the magazine found in the gun. A round in the gun and rounds in the magazine also appeared to be the same type of ammunition found in Schloss’ pocket. Schloss admitted to authorities that he and Hanger picked up Palumbo intending to take drugs without paying."


IL: Off-duty cop shoots robbery suspect in restaurant: "A Chicago man who attempted to rob an Englewood Subway sandwich restaurant and was shot by an off-duty police officer on Thursday faces attempted armed robbery charges, officials said tonight. Harvey Green, 40, of the 600 block of West 62nd Street was charged with one felony count of attempted armed robbery, according to a Chicago Police news release. Green was shot just before 11 a.m. after he entered the Subway on the 6200 block of South Halsted Parkway with a gun and tried to rob the restaurant, police said. The off-duty officer shot the man in the leg and a weapon was recovered from the scene, police said. The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center."