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Old October 25, 2023, 05:23 PM   #1
MTT TL
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Robbing a Gun Store With a Hammer

Proof positive that stupid can be terminal, this young man tried to rob a gun store with a hammer. The way I read the article the owner shot him when he tried to take a gun. A hammer is deadly force but a gun is deadly force at range so it may be a solid case of SD here, but geez, how dumb do you have to be?

https://www.ktvu.com/news/livermore-...empted-robbery
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Old October 25, 2023, 06:44 PM   #2
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Taking a hammer to a gun fight? Kind of reminds me of a story I read 20 some years ago where a guy walked in to rob a small mom & pop sporting goods store with a knife. The store owner just got done stringing a customer's bow and had it in his hands. The robber got close to the owner's wife and pointed the knife at her. Store owner grabbed a broadhead arrow, raised and let it fly. Went through the robber, through a screen door, and stuck in a parked car sitting out front. Police found the robber in an alley a block away after he bled out.
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Old October 25, 2023, 07:12 PM   #3
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Police said the store owner appears to have acted in self-defense and is not suspected of committing a crime.
https://abc7news.com/east-bay-firear...-man/13965400/

The quoted statement leads me to suspect the deceased robbery suspect, while armed with a hammer, threatened the store owner with the hammer at one point during the attempted robbery.
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Old October 25, 2023, 08:43 PM   #4
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I wonder if he was trying to take hostages.
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Old October 26, 2023, 12:33 PM   #5
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Darwin
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Old October 26, 2023, 01:47 PM   #6
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I would say "disparity of force" won't be an issue here. A young, reasonably fit person armed with an impact weapon generally meets the legal definition of having a "deadly weapon".

Shop owner, almost certainly a decade or three older than the attacker?? Possibly not in top physical shape? Using a firearm would almost certainly be considered justifiable, to prevent an attack.


Quote:
Store owner grabbed a broadhead arrow, raised and let it fly. Went through the robber, through a screen door, and stuck in a parked car sitting out front. Police found the robber in an alley a block away after he bled out.
Contrary to generations of Hollywood and TV, that's what arrows do. GO zipping right through "soft stuff" and only stop when they hit something hard (wood, bone, armor plate, pocketwatch, etc.) pretty rare in the real world to find some unarmored trooper shot with an arrow with a couple feet of arrow sticking out of him. Arrows might punch through medieval armor plate, but will seldom punch through both back and breastplate.

And chainmail hasn't been much use against arrows since the invention of the bodkin point.
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Old October 26, 2023, 02:52 PM   #7
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This guy's defense in court (had he lived long enough) would have been something on the order of "my client was delusional and everything looked like a nail."
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Old October 26, 2023, 03:15 PM   #8
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I suspect the hammer was for breaking the glass cases. It is strange that the criminal wouldn't consider the fact that the employees might be armed. After all they are selling guns not handbags.
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Old October 26, 2023, 06:57 PM   #9
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There was one some years back that got a bit famous for the stupidity of the would be robber.

He walked around a police cruiser to get to the gunshop door. He entered announced a hold up and fired a round into the ceiling. The two cops inside blew him back out the door, and were only about a second ahead of the two counter guys and two other customers, who had drawn, but didn't need to shoot.

There was no arrest. Not sure if the coroner put "death by misadventure" on the certificate, or something else.
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Old October 26, 2023, 07:31 PM   #10
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Well, he was holding a hammer, but the store keeper dropped the hammer.

Bleach in the gene pool is good.
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Old October 26, 2023, 08:03 PM   #11
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It is strange that the criminal wouldn't consider the fact that the employees might be armed.
I hear that sometimes criminals do drugs and this impedes the thought process.

By sometimes I mean always.
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Old October 26, 2023, 08:56 PM   #12
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Can't fix stupid.
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Old October 27, 2023, 10:19 AM   #13
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Quote:
Can't fix stupid
Sounds like the store owner did a great job fixing stupid.

On another note, a man armed with a hammers is not to be taken lightly. There have been incidences in NY and California where BG's with hammers have done some real damage to property and life.
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Old October 27, 2023, 04:20 PM   #14
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When and where was the case of the robber shot with a bow and arrow?

A friend broke up an attempted robbery when a crook announced a robbery to his boss. Boss stayed calm and said to the crook "You might want to look over there." Where stood my friend with .45 beaded in on his head. They let him run for it, not trying to arrest him.
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Old October 27, 2023, 11:10 PM   #15
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Maybe he thought he would not get shot since all he had was a hammer.

Of course that doesn't explain how he thought he could ever get away with successfully robbing the store

He probably was homeless and wanted to go spend some time in jail due to be tired of living on the street.

This is definitely a way to get some free room and board for a while.
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Old November 4, 2023, 05:49 PM   #16
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Back when I was a kid in the 50’s a guy went into a 7/11 type store that sold 22 ammo. He bought a box, loaded his gun and robbed the store. Still makes me laugh every time I think about it.
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