Utah CCW Permit Holder in Missouri, Uses Gun in Defense

http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2009/09/good-samaritan-justifiably-shot-thief.html

From the Kansas City Star:

Here's the score from an Independence shoplifting case that involved a bag of meat, a wild ride atop a car's hood and a gunshot wound:

• The alleged shoplifter, Loucinda M. Carroll, 41, of Independence, has been charged with second-degree robbery.

• The store's manager, who was struck by Carroll's car, landed on its hood and held on during an attempted getaway, was unharmed.

• And the bystander who shot Carroll will not be charged because he felt he and the manager were being threatened, authorities say. Carroll suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident began at 6:49 p.m. Saturday at the Sunfresh Grocery at 2301 S. Sterling Ave.

According to court documents:

The store's manager told police she saw a woman leaving the store with the bag of meat products. The manager yelled for the woman to stop, but she didn't.

The manager followed the suspect to her car and started writing down the license plate number. The suspect started the car and drove toward the manager, striking her. The manager fell onto the car's hood and held on as the suspect accelerated through the parking lot toward an exit onto Sterling Avenue.

Hearing screams for help and seeing the manager clinging to the car's hood, the bystander blocked the exit with his vehicle. He approached the suspect and told her to get out of her car.

The woman tried to drive around his vehicle. The bystander, who told police he feared for his life and the life of the manager, pulled out a 9mm handgun and yelled again for her to stop. He then fired through the driver's side window, striking the suspect in the left shoulder and neck.

The woman continued onto Sterling and then traveled north about 250 feet to East 23rd Street, turning west, with the manager still on the car's hood. About 200 feet later, the car slowed and the manager jumped off the car unharmed.

Carroll ended up at her son's home in the 1000 block of Stone Arch Drive in Independence. He called for an ambulance. Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, police said Wednesday.

The bystander, who had a valid concealed weapon permit from Utah, will not be charged, Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar said.

Under Missouri law, people can use deadly force if they feel their life or the lives of others are in danger or they are in danger of suffering serious physical injuries, providing they are not the initial aggressors, Kanatzar said.