Award Winning Crime Scene

My mother had already told me about this.  But here's a summary below.

DETROIT (WJBK) - Two guys walked in to a very busy Gents Barbershop at about 5:30 p.m. Friday on Whittier at Stratman on Detroit's east side. One with a gun said, "You know what time it is."

What the two bad guys didn't know was two customers were legally carrying handguns.

A man in a chair getting a cut took advantage of pulling his gun under the cover of the smock.

When one bad guy said, "Why you stalling? Empty your pockets," he then fired a shot into the floor of the barber shop. That's when the customer in the chair opened fire and emptied his automatic clip containing multiple rounds.

Three children were also standing behind the barber chair. That same customer took his unarmed hand and swept the three children into a safe spot out of the way against the wall.

The end result was that none of the customers or children were hurt. One bad guy was killed and the other ran off during the shooting.

Police say the deceased has a long rap sheet. He was currently out on parole for an armed robbery conviction. They are still looking for a suspect that is described as a black male with scruffy hair between the ages of 22 and 30. They say he is six feet tall with a thin build and was wearing a white tee shirt and blue shorts.

I've been meaning to write about this.  Really I have.  But I've been tired--what with the being knocked up and all.  Just kidding.  That's an extension of a rumor Ted was trying to start.  Anyhow, I meant to write about this because it's one of those stories that has caused odd reactions.  There's the one camp that says the possibility of getting hurt or murdered always exists when you're committing a crime--in Detroit.  The other side is that even though the shooter was a legal gun carrying member of society, he shouldn't have killed the guy.

I'm a bit biased because the owner's mother and uncle are friends of my mother.  I wouldn't have wanted him or the kids to have gotten hurt.  My brother used to be one of those kids getting his hair cut there.  Who hangs out in barber shops but kids and old men--mostly old thugs.  Why wouldn't these idiots think someone in there would have a gun?  Maybe not a legal gun, but a gun nonetheless. 

The thing bothering me most is the blatant lack of respect these young men had for the establishment.  Where the shop sits, it's like one of the only shop that's on that strip.  It's been there since about 1991.  With it being one of the few remaining businesses around, you would think the robbers would consider that before robbing them.  Hell, even crackheads will stay out of your house so long as you let them wash your car every so often for $5.  I mean damn!  Nothing is sacred anymore. 

I hate to see people get killed under any circumstance.  However, I'm not completely against protecting yourself when the time comes.  If that means you got through the process to legally carry a weapon and use it when needed, so be it.  What do y'all think?  Should the customer have just given the guys the money?  Do you think the outcome would have been different if one of the robbers hadn't shot the floor?

Comments

[Honest]

I think the outcome may have been different had dude not shot the floor. One of the problems with these criminals is that they are often unpredictable. You never know if a slight or supposed slight would cause them to shot even after they got all the money. Hell they could decide we don't want any witnesses and kill everyone in the shop. "Those people" generally don't value life the way normal people do so it's hard to really tell if you'll be safe even if you cooperate.

[CreoleInDC]

I think the outcome would have been different had he not shot the floor. I like what Honest said about it being an unpredictable situation but I believe that it's kinda hard to think much else about them based on the fact we don't know if some sort of personal desperation lead them to commit a crime in broad daylight.

Not that ANYTHING would excuse this mind you...but I believe lots of people, who believe they don't have an out, still value life. ESPECIALLY after I watched that special about prison hospice on OWN.

[Ms. Smart]

I agree about them being unpredictable. Hell who'd predict anyone would rob a barbershop on a Friday evening?! Is it that they don't value life or they don't value other people's lives? If they didn't value life, they'd basically kill themselves. But no. Instead, they make other people's lives miserable.

[Ms. Smart]

The customer in the chair--I think he had a fight or flight response but somehow managed to remain calm enough to use his free hand to push the kids and his other hand to shoot the dude. Detroit is really kind of small-town-ish, especially where the shop is located. They talk a lot. The second guy will get caught soon--if he hasn't escaped to Baltimore, Atlanta, or Charlotte.

[WuDaMan]

Yeah if he hadn't shot the floor old dude would have been in the middle of a mecksican stand off. & you never know how those are going to end up. I hate that them shorties was in there. The barber shop is supposed to be a place that's cool and fun and stuff. I can't stand it. The barber shop is supposed to be at least 25% cooler than anything you've ever heard. & this is so not cool. Then again it was only a matter of time before the barber shops chickens came home to roost. So much dirt & crime...

[Ms. Smart]

This particular barber isn't a former criminal or thug. I can't speak for any others who work there or hang out there tho. As for the kids, this can go two ways: 1) they're traumatized enough to never take up a life of crime 2) they think they can be better criminals than the ones attempting to rob the shop.
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[WuDaMan]

I think you got to take this, "This particular barber isn't a former criminal or thug" statement w/ the Umairecan Presumption of innocence. Just cuz you ain't been caught don't mean you ain't criminal. Ever drove over 20 miles over the limit #Criminal, bought something you knew was more than likely stolen #Criminal. Crack heads and boot leggers thrive in barber shops. That's what I mean when I say they chickens is laying eggs in the seats. + Paul muney says barber shops are fronts for selling wead. Lol

[Ms. Smart]

You know what Wu? It pains me to say it but you're absolutely correct. *goes and sits in a corner to rock and scratch at my neck*
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[WuDaMan]

& I hope you quit or at least cut back till the baby get here. Lol

[Ms. Smart]

Bwahahahahahaaaaa! This comment was so unexpected!

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[Onefromphilly]

The customer should not have shot and killed the armed robber. He should have shot and killed BOTH of them!

[Ms. Smart]

I miss you!!! Bwahahahaaaa!
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[Tiffany In Houston]

Awww damn! I've been reading but didn't realize the comments was BIZZACK!!!

In reference to the post. I'm from Texas so if you try to rob someone, you just might get a cap(s) busted all up in your ass.

So of course I see no problem at all with this.

[CaliGirl]

I think the customer did what was most prudent under very difficult circumstances. I don't blame him one bit. If someone if fool enough to enter my home, place of business, etc branish a weapon, then threaten to take what I have worked hard to have and then shoot into the floor (with children present no less) then they have effectively asked to be severely maimed or taken from this world.

[Ms. Smart]

TIH I have really been considering getting a gun. First, my house backs up to a wooded area that isn't far from a state corrections institute and because I think I'd rather square off with with an intruder from the safe distance of my room behind a gun than not. I already sleep with my bedroom door locked. I keep a sharp weapon at my bedside. I've replayed in my mind 1000 times what I would do to an intruder. But this might be because I was home during a botched home invasion in my teens.

[Ms. Smart]

I seriously doubt this was the first time these guys robbed a place. They're luck ran out. My mother told me she'd heard (gossip) that there was talk of charging the patron with 'overkill'. Da fug is THAT!?

Plus, Detroit is the wild-wild-Midwest. I don't like leaving my grandma's house and getting in my dad's truck (that's in her drive-way) after dark. So I know if I lived there I'd live in a swanky secure building that basically had everything I needed and carry a gun.