Anti-gun Democrats will often downplay or even deny instances where armed private citizens use their firearms defensively to stop a crime in progress, as such incidents sharply undermine their anti-Second Amendment agenda and narratives.
But an armed private citizen in the St. Louis, Missouri area may well have saved an innocent clerk’s life and halted a violent armed robbery spree when he shot and killed a knife-wielding criminal attempting to rob a gas station, Breitbart reported.
The now-deceased suspect had allegedly held a knife to the throat of the clerk and demanded money when he was instead confronted and then shot dead by the armed citizen who was also a customer at the convenience store.
Armed robbery in progress was halted by an armed citizen
According to local Fox affiliate KTVI, St. Charles police received a series of calls around 3 am Saturday morning about armed robberies and burglaries at area gas stations by a suspect driving a black SUV.
A 43-year-old clerk at one of those stores suffered minor cuts and other injuries when the robber held a knife to her throat and dragged her around the store in search of money from the registers and safe before fleeing in the black SUV.
About 20 minutes after the first call, and while officers were still responding to that and a separately reported burglary moments earlier at another gas station, reports were received around 3:20 am of shots fired at a third gas station.
The armed citizen, identified only as a customer who had stopped to use the restroom and make a purchase, had actually exited the store when he saw the suspect abruptly stop in the parking lot and enter the store and immediately place a knife to the throat of a 26-year-old female clerk while demanding money from the registers.
The citizen then retrieved a handgun from his truck and entered the store to confront the robber. He ultimately fired several shots and killed the suspect when he began to advance toward the citizen menacingly. Neither the armed citizen nor the young clerk was injured in that incident.
Shooting under review, deceased suspect identified
According to the St. Louis Dispatch, the armed citizen has not been identified outside of being described as a 26-year-old St. Louis man who was passing through St. Charles when he stopped at the QuikTrip store that would soon be targeted by the suspected robber.
Per local police, St. Charles County prosecutors are reviewing the incident to determine if the deadly use of force to stop an armed robbery in progress was justified.
As for the now-deceased suspect, he has been identified as a 26-year-old homeless man named Lance Bush, who is believed to have robbed the other two gas stations earlier that morning and to have stolen the black SUV he was driving in another armed robbery just one day prior.
Bush had a criminal record, albeit not a particularly violent one, with prior charges that included felony property damage, larceny, trespassing and stealing, and driving on a revoked license.
