FL: Robber Fails to Watch Hands..and Survives

Link to video

In the famous bar scene in Star Wars, one of patrons remarks that the debt collector should be watching Han Solo's hands.  It is good advice that is taught in police academies.  It is hard advice to follow when you are trying to rob a store where the clerk is behind a counter.  This robber in Florida made many mistakes, and still managed to survive.  From wpbf.com:

A man walked into the 13th Street store, pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money. The clerk was secretly aiming a gun at the would-be robber from underneath the counter.

Not only is the robber unable to see the clerk's hands, he gets distracted and looks away from the clerk. This is a good way to get shot, but robbers are in a no win situation. This one has no one to watch his back for him.

He turns back to the clerk, who fires his hidden pistol from under the counter.  It misses the robber by a few inches.  The robber's luck holds.  A large hole is torn out of the counter.  You can see it a few inches to the right of the robber's hip.   In the video, you can see it appear.  It is about 1x3 inches.

The robber slips on the floor, likely taking him out of the clerk's line of fire.  Another lucky slip-up.

The robber manages to get out of the store without getting shot, but he decides to push his luck.  He comes back in order to point his gun at the man who just shot at him.  He does not shoot, merely points the pistol.  It is not clear if the gun he has is able to fire. He gets shot at again for his efforts.  His luck holds.  He is not hit.

This time, he runs out the store, down the street, and away, intact, apparently without any bullet holes.  He should consider another career.  He has used up all his luck as a criminal.
 

The store he tried to rob is appropriately named.

The robber did not do his homework.  He likely never got into the  habit.  If he had, he would have known that in a previous gunfight several months before, another robbery suspect was arrested.  It was the same clerk.

As illustrated in this story, it is very hard to hit your target when you cannot see the firearm.   There is no way to visually index the gun on the target.  Most point shooting systems actually rely on a visual index, they just do not focus on the sights.   Body index systems only work if the body is in the same orientation and distance from the target for each shot.   They can work, but they take a  lot of practice.   I believe that amount of effort would be better spent on tactics and different positional shooting techniques, but each person can make their own judgement on the issue.   Consider that the clerk was able to miss his target from what appears to be about 3 feet distance.

All robbery suspects are not as lucky as this one.  Many are shot, many die.  As Americans have become more armed, the crime rate has fallen.   It is hard to prove causality, but the more criminals learn  that they are likely to be shot, the more  they are likely to consider other options.

Let us hope that this budding young criminal considers honest work.   It is a long shot, but it could happen.

 ©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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