Shooper Shoots Gunman Outside Walmart

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Shooper Shoots Gunman Outside Walmart

By Joe McDonald of The Morning Call

Joshua Eastman was unloading a cart full of groceries into the passenger side of his pickup truck after a midnight run to the Wal-Mart in East Stroudsburg. It was about 12:45 a.m. Thursday. The parking lot was nearly deserted.

A man with a bandanna over his face walked up, pointed a gun at him and said, "Give me the money," according to Stroud Area Regional police.

Eastman looked around for help, but the few people who were around didn't take notice. The gunman pressed him to turn over the money. Eastman insisted he didn't have any, saying he had used his debit card for the groceries.

The gunman became more threatening, more demanding, police said.



Eastman, a 28-year-old, self-employed business major at East Stroudsburg University who lives in the borough, took out his wallet and opened the door of his pickup wider, so it was between him and the robber.

The robber pointed his .25-caliber handgun at Eastman's face, police said. Eastman deliberately dropped his wallet and ducked down behind the door, hoping to draw someone's attention. But the robber fired, shattering the window and sending shards into Eastman's face.

As he fell to the ground, Eastman pulled a .32-caliber handgun from his holster -- he was licensed to carry it, police said -- and started shooting under the door, hitting the robber in the lower leg and foot.

At least six shots were fired in the exchange, with the shooters less than six feet apart, said police Capt. William Parrish.

The robber limped away to some bushes about 75 yards away, where police found him. A handgun, which he told police he had found, lay nearby.

Police later identified him as 17-year-old Reneau Jean Jacques of 77 Symphony Circle, Smithfield Township. They charged him as an adult with attempted homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and firearms offenses.

Police are investigating whether people in a car that pulled out of the lot after the shooting were linked to the robbery. After getting a report of shots fired, officers racing to the Wal-Mart saw the car and stopped it. Inside were two men, ages 24 and 26, who told police they knew Jacques. Police impounded the car and got a warrant to search it. Parrish said Eastman acted in self-defense and won't be charged with any crime.

It was the second shooting in the Wal-Mart parking lot since Dec. 6, 2004, when a Stroudsburg man was killed in a drug deal gone bad. Otherwise, police said they encounter routine crimes like shoplifting and counterfeit money being passed at the Wal-Mart, which is one of the few places in the area open 24 hours a day.

Thursday afternoon, Jacques, 5 feet 6 inches tall and wearing a hospital gown, hobbled into court on crutches and stared blankly during his arraignment, which ended with East Stroudsburg District Judge Michael Muth sending him to Monroe County Prison under $100,000 bail.

The boy said he was a student at Shawnee Academy, a school for troubled youths in Smithfield. Detective Harry D. Miller of the Stroud Area Regional police said Jacques has a juvenile criminal record that included indecent assault and drugs.

At Jacques' home, his father, Garry Jacques, who works as a driver in New York City, said the family moved from Queens to the Poconos five years ago.

"In general, he's a good kid," his father said. "But kids today are wild."

Around noon Thursday at his East Stroudsburg apartment, just blocks from the Wal-Mart, Eastman rubbed his eyes, squinted and said he could barely see. He had just gotten back from the eye doctor.

"I haven't slept yet," he said.

A friend at the apartment said Eastman's eyes hurt. Through the pain, Eastman said he felt lucky to be alive.

Parrish said what Eastman had done "made tactical sense" -- dropping his wallet, getting the car door between him and the robber and then ducking behind it -- but the police captain said he doesn't recommend that anyone get into a shootout with a robber.

"I don't think your life is worth the contents of your wallet," Parrish said.

joe.mcdonald@mcall.com 610-559-2152

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