As reported, a 67 year old St Louis, MO man was arriving at the medical center where he worked when an armed robber approached. The robber is said to have demanded the man’s wallet and car keys, which the man handed over. Despite having received the man’s full cooperation, the armed robber then opened fire. The man suffered gunshot wounds to his arm and chest, but luckily survived the attack.
Cases where a victim does exactly what a robber demands, only to be shot, are not uncommon. Although I don’t make any special effort to track such cases, I’ve written about several already: This cooperative woman was shot by robbers after they successfully grabbed her off the street and helped themselves to the money in her pocket. As another example, this cooperative deli owner was shot in chest multiple times by robbers who weren’t satisfied with the amount of money in his cash register. Similarly, this cooperative bakery worker was shot by robbers, after they realized the bakery didn’t have a large safe full of money for them to steal. As a further example, this cooperative man was shot by armed robbers who broke in to home, only to be disappointed that his belongings weren’t worth stealing. As a final example, this cooperative man was shot by an armed robber who was angered by his lack of cash to steal.
Armed robbers harm victims – including those who fully cooperate – for a variety of reasons: The robber may decide that killing the victim is an effective way to ensure that the victim can’t go to the police or testify against the robber in court. Another reason could be that the robber is simply a violent person who enjoys harming others, and doesn’t wish to pass up the opportunity to inflict harm. Or, the robber could be a gang member who as been instructed to kill a person as part of their gang initiation. Another reason, which seems to come up often, is that a robber is disappointed by the small amount of money in the victim’s possession and shoots the victim to express that frustration. In still other cases, it seems that the robber doesn’t intend to shoot the victim, but handles their gun in such a negligent way that the victim is shot. Regardless of the reason, the end result is the same for the victim: death or serious bodily harm.
On the other hand, armed citizens are in the best possible position to defend themselves. Rather than having to hope that the robber will show mercy, such citizens use their guns to stop violent robbers every day. They also stop home invaders, armed robbers, rapists, kidnappers, burglars, terrorists, stalkers, racist attackers, and every other type of violent criminal that preys upon innocent people.