Try to Rob Jewelry Store, Get Shot Instead

[BrassPie]

York Sunday Record:

Police: Jewelry store owner's actions 'commendable'



A Shrewsbury jewelry store owner who shot at two people trying to rob the store acted heroically, Southern Regional Police Chief James Childs said Saturday.

Shortly before 8 p.m. Friday night, a man and a woman walked into Alexander's Jewelry, where two customers and two employees were inside, according to police.

The woman brandished a gun, and the man tried to put a pair of "flex" handcuffs on a customer, Childs said. The customer and the robber began to scuffle, and store owner Ken Zampier pulled out a gun and fired a shot at the woman, Childs said.

The robbers took off, and Zampier fired a second shot, Childs said. Police believe his first shot might have hit the woman.

Police will look into Zampier's actions, but based on what police were told and what security cameras recorded, "what he did was commendable," Childs said.

The robbers dropped the flex cuffs as they left the store, he said. There were enough to have restrained the customers and employees.

"It was a split-second decision," Childs said, of Zampier's action, likening it to the decisions police officers have to make on the street.

Fortunately, he said, the customers and employees were not hurt and no merchandise was stolen.

The man and woman were last seen running on South Main Street in Shrewsbury.
Childs said a woman with a gunshot wound, found on Mount Carmel Road in Baltimore County Friday night, is being treated as a suspect. She was taken to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, he said.

Police are working with the Baltimore County Police Department, he said. That department could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Police have no information on the man. Descriptions of the suspects were not immediately released.
"We're asking anybody if they saw anything to contact us," Childs said.

Childs went to the jewelry store Saturday to check on the owner and staff. He contacted another employee, who was off on Saturday, as well.

"They're OK," he said. "That was the big thing we were worried about."

On Saturday morning, an employee vacuumed as Alexander's Jewelry opened and customers filtered in and out. The store rests just south of railroad tracks in the 400 block of South Main Street, surrounded by other stores - a pizza shop, a hair salon, a florist.

Zampier was working but said he didn't want to talk about what happened yet.
Susan Barts, who owns the nearby Flowers By Laney, said she didn't know about the robbery until a customer told her.

"It's just ... very scary, and it's a shame," she said.

She thinks it's a sign of the times, that people are getting desperate. It wasn't the kind of thing that typically happens in Shrewsbury, she said, but the town's proximity to Interstate 83 and the Maryland border makes it easy for people to run.
She's glad Zampier acted as he did.

"People have a right to protect what's theirs," she said. "It's a shame that it's come to that."

CALL POLICE
Anyone with information on the attempted robbery at Alexander's Jewelry in Shrewsbury may call Southern Regional Police at 235-3944.

[ByAnyMeans]

It's good he protected his store and custoemrs but I'm really glad to see the neighbors comment. Hopefully if she is not able to protect herself this pushes her into being able to.

[pred]

Is it really a sign of the times of the past two years?
Or is it that there are more career criminals and they need to eat, Well do crack or whatever they do with the money.....
I am glad that I grew up with a will to work and do the right thing.
If you notice when these things happen and they catch the bad guys they have a long criminal record, And were not laid off from the widget factory 5 months ago and need some money for their kids new school books.
Those guys are working at McDonalds!
The criminal mind works in odd ways that I wont understand.
I was laid off early this spring.
I am working at a job I dont really love and make a couple hundred a week than I was before, But I am working and didnt have to sell any guns!!!
Peter

[HiredGoon]

The following line in the story concerns me:

"The robbers took off, and Zampier fired a second shot, Childs said. Police believe his first shot might have hit the woman."

While it's great that the guy defended himself and his customers, firing another shot after the robbers were fleeing is not, legally, a good idea. The threat was no longer there and he's lucky, legally, that he didn't hit one of the crooks in the back.

[CHEMICAL]

The following line in the story concerns me:

"The robbers took off, and Zampier fired a second shot, Childs said. Police believe his first shot might have hit the woman."

While it's great that the guy defended himself and his customers, firing another shot after the robbers were fleeing is not, legally, a good idea. The threat was no longer there and he's lucky, legally, that he didn't hit one of the crooks in the back.

i agree, its a shame that you have to worry about such things, but a prosecutor would have a field day with this, or a criminal defense attorney in the robbers case!

[HiredGoon]

i agree, its a shame that you have to worry about such things, but a prosecutor would have a field day with this, or a criminal defense attorney in the robbers case!

Yeah, exactly.

Just glad to hear it worked out the way it did and hopefully no charges will be brought against the guy for defending himself.

[cgbudde]

Good for the owner, at least it will make these criminals think before they do something stupid again.

[7998]

The real shame is the store owner wasn't a better shot.
I'm glad to see the customers or employees wern't hurt.

[Strapped]

I love reading stories like this!

[Willie D]

Good for the owner, at least it will make these criminals think before they do something stupid again.

Maybe they change their ways. Or maybe they assume the next clerk will be armed and decide to escalate force sooner.


If they are junkies looking for a fix I'd guess the latter.