A robbery attempt went completely wrong when three men tried to stick up a concealed carrier, who was quick on the draw, and his friend in the parking lot of a Houston, Texas apartment complex Tuesday night.
The licensed concealed carrier, a 23-year-old man, had just gotten home from work at around 10 p.m. and before entering his home he stopped to talk to his neighbor. Their conversation was interrupted by three would-be robbers, two of whom were armed with pistols. They quickly demanded things like wallets, cell phones, watches and keys to vehicles, according to the Houston Police news release.
It all started to go wrong when the suspects learned that the two men had very little cash on them.
“The suspects … became a little agitated, pulled a pistol out and raised the pistol up,” Houston PD spokesman Sgt. James Devereaux described the scene to local media. He added, “[The concealed carrier] was able to obtain his pistol and defend himself and his friend.”
The gun owner fired several rounds at the thieves, striking two of them. One of them suffered fatal wounds, and the other was injured but survived. The third robber was able to flee the scene, but not without getting a very painful reminder of why you shouldn’t try to rob people.
Eyewitness Ashley Roy said, “When we heard like six gunshots and we ran outside, we saw a guy, he was getting robbed. One escaped, but he was hit by a car.”
In this case, no bad deed goes unpunished. This might actually be one of the most unsuccessful robberies in history.
According to the local ABC affiliate, Roy added that when she looked out over her balcony to see what was happening the concealed carrier had detained the wounded suspect as he was on the ground. He was yelling something like, “Put your hands up!”
The cops eventually showed up and brought both of the wounded men to the hospital. Mitchell Deon Tucker, 20, was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived and 23-year-old Michael Ellis Jones remains in critical condition.
Jones faces possible charges of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.
The third suspect, who is only described as a black male, is still at large.
The concealed carrier was questioned by police, but luckily no charges have been filed. Even though this looks like a fairly basic case of self-defense, homicide investigators are looking into, but that’s said to be standard operating procedure.
Police said the case will be referred to a grand jury.
