Score one for the good guys
This happened right in my backyard (figuratively speaking):
Authorities say a 53-year-old Washtenaw County man who was trying to rob a Canton Township bank was thwarted by a customer who pulled a gun on him.
Canton Police said the suspect, who is expected to be arraigned Wednesday, attempted to rob a teller at the Comerica bank at 45420 Michigan Ave. at 9:06 a.m. Monday.
The teller reported the man handed her a note claiming he was wearing a bomb, and demanding money, police said. The teller hit a silent alarm and started putting $1 bills into a bag when the man demanded bundles of $50 and $100 bills, police said.
Another teller noticed the robbery, and told a long-time customer at her window that the other teller was being robbed. The customer, who has a concealed weapons permit, asked if the teller was certain and then pulled a gun on the robber.
The suspect replied, “But I have a bomb.” The customer responded, “I don’t care, you are not robbing this bank.”
Police said the customer put the suspect in a chair and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
Officers said the robber did not have a bomb.
Police also said the customer is not facing any charges for pulling the gun because his permit was not violated.
The case remains under investigation by both police at the FBI.
Hopefully, this incident will help to allay the irrational fears of the “Guns are eeeeeviilllll! Think of the children!” brigade (but I won’t hold my breath).
Yeah, that was a pretty bad ass of the other customer. Criminals–
Christian
18 Jun 08 at 1:31 pm
Having just begun reading your blog (and enjoying it immensely) I do not think guns are evil, but surely you do not think people walking around with concealed weapons is a good thing?
mike k
19 Jul 08 at 6:32 am
Thank you for the compliment!
Regarding concealed carry, I do indeed support the right of law-abiding citizens to carry concealed handguns to protect themselves and others. Feel free to have a look at the arguments I’ve expressed and respond to them.
Kevin
19 Jul 08 at 11:19 am
If you read my post carefully I wasn’t taking about the right to carry,just IF it was a good idea. I agree we should have the right as well as other rights (drugs, prostitution) but having the choice doesn’t always make it a wise choice. Take the bank robbery described above, the teller had hit the silent alarm, was giving the money slowly, cops were on the way, he wasn’t armed and most likely have been arrested witout incident. Worst case being he gets away with money-big deal! Now putting a gun in this equation and the robber may have panicked and reached for the gun and gets shot, or the “hero” gets shot or a customer (your wife, daughter) gets shot, much worse than the worst case described earlier. I have looked at your arguments- again not against the right- just not convinced its a better option.
mike k
19 Jul 08 at 3:04 pm
I think that being prepared to defend yourself and others against bad guys is quite a wise choice. I don’t see how allowing oneself to be victimized is a smart idea.
To be fair, I partially agree with you regarding this bank heist. While I’m glad that everything turned out okay, and that the good guys prevailed over the bad guy — hence my decision to write this post — I don’t think I would have drawn my weapon under those circumstances, since the bomb threat was not credible and the bank’s money is FDIC-insured.
That being said, I have zero sympathy for criminals who are injured or killed during the commission of a felony, and I’m not convinced that there is a substantial danger to bystanders.
Kevin
30 Jul 08 at 6:00 pm