Category: Feel Good Stories

Amy sends us a link from Houston, Texas;

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded around 10:30 p.m. to a “robbery in progress” at the Lakewood Food Mart located in the 13700 block of Cedar Point Drive.

Upon arrival, they found the store owner and robbery suspect had been shot.

HCSO said the store owner was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The suspect was pronounced dead when he arrived to the hospital.

Authorities said the suspect shot the owner first, then the owner shot back at him.

From Atlanta, Georgia;

A man and female passenger were in the 300 block of Skipper Place NW when the suspect approached the car and opened fire, according to authorities.

The man driving the car returned fire, hitting the suspect, who was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in stable condition.

Police say neither the man or woman in the car were hit.

From Charlotte, North Carolina;

CMPD said the initial investigation determined the security guard was working at the Travel Inn when he was approached by two women asking for help. They said they’d be attacked by a man inside a hotel room.

The security guard encountered the man in question in the parking lot and a physical fight ensued. During the fight the security guard shot the man.

The assault suspect was transported to CMC by Medic for life-threatening injuries.

From Glendale, Arizona;

Glendale police say the incident began when a vehicle was cut off near 67th and Olive avenues. The vehicle that was cut off reportedly followed the other car to the area of 59th Avenue and Bell Road where a fight began.

Police say a passenger was punched in the face and the woman driving the vehicle told the female suspect to back away because she was armed with a handgun. The suspect then approached the armed woman, punched her in the face and assaulted her until she was in a headlock.

The armed woman told the suspect repeatedly to stop or she would fire the weapon. She then fired one shot, injuring the suspect and ending the fight.

Good Samaritans reportedly provided aid and called police. The woman who was shot was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.

From Cobb County, Georgia;

Marietta police said a 911 call came in from the 90 block of Griggs Street around 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

Police told Channel 2’s Liz Artz that a woman called and said someone was breaking into her house, and that she had shot and killed him.

Police said when they arrived, they found a man had been shot and killed. Police said they are canvassing the area and talking to neighbors.

From Union Township, Ohio;

The man, David Fenner, 39, of Troy, pleaded no contest to felony burglary and possession of criminal tools and was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison as part of a plea deal.

Fenner was arrested early May 29 in the driveway of a Kessler-Frederick Road home after he had been shot in the hand and legs. The homeowners called 9-1-1 around 5 a.m. to report someone breaking into their home where they lived with children. The man told sheriff’s deputies he woke up hearing his dog barking and went to the attached garage, where he confronted another man. He said the man lunged at him and he fired two to three shots before holding the man until deputies arrived.

From Bethlehem, West Virginia;

Neighbors said police told them that someone inside the house shot an intruder during an apparent home invasion attempt. Wednesday. Troopers with the West Virginia State Police, which is handling the investigation, would not confirm those details.

A release from the state police’s Wheeling detachment late Wednesday identified the man killed as Steven Thomas Headley.

“The owner of the residence shot Steven Headley. Medical personnel transported Mr. Headley to the Ohio Valley Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead,” Trooper First Class C.W. Heckler said in the release. “At this time no arrests have been made and the investigation is still active.”

In Dighton, Massachusetts;

Police said they responded to Wheeler Street at about 6:40 p.m. after receiving a call from a woman inside the home.

The caller told police the man was her estranged brother and said he first crashed his car into the vehicles in the driveway then shattered a sliding glass door in the rear of the home in an attempt to get inside.

The woman’s husband then shot her brother in the abdomen, according to police.

The suspect, identified as Ronald Whitmore, Jr., was found by police in a backyard pool when they arrived on scene. Responding officers pulled Whitmore out and began treating his wound before an ambulance arrived to transport him to Rhode Island Hospital. Police said his wound is not life-threatening.

From Los Angeles, California;

Deputies determined that a 24-year-old man, described only as Latino, had entered the home with a rifle.

The intruder first encountered the man who sustained a face laceration. The two engaged in a struggle, resulting in the victim’s injury, officials said.

A second resident heard the scuffle and armed himself with his personal handgun before confronting the assailant, according to sheriff’s officials. Gunfire then broke out between the two men, and the resident was shot in the left arm.

The third resident, unharmed, ran outside along with the other two residents and made contact with the responding deputies, while the intruder remained inside.

Authorities handled the incident as a barricade situation but eventually made entry into the home after numerous unsuccessful attempts to establish contact with the man.

He was found deceased and declared dead at the scene. He had sustained gunshot wounds, officials said, but it had not yet been determined whether they were self-inflicted or from the previous exchange of gunfire.

From Jeffersonville, Indiana;

Investigators said this was a crime of opportunity. The homeowner was checking his mail on Hampton Drive when the suspect moved in.

“It was simply a citizen who happened to be visible with the garage door open,” Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said.

Court documents said that Hickerson approached the homeowner in his garage and asked to use his phone. When his request was declined, that’s when he started going through the man’s truck and eventually pushed his way into the home.

“The victim was able to retrieve a handgun that he owned,” Mull said. “He was able to use that handgun to get Mr. Hickerson out of his residence.”

The situation didn’t end there. The homeowner, who didn’t want to go on camera, told police he fired two warning shots after Hickerson refused to leave. That’s when a struggle started as the suspect tried to grab the gun out of the homeowner’s hands.

Neighbor Libby West described how another neighbor jumped in to help.

“He walked outside because he kind of saw and heard a commotion and he saw a gun waving in the air,” West said. “The two men were fighting over it.”

That neighbor grabbed his gun and ran over to assist his friend. Other neighbors jumped in as well.

Police got to the scene quickly and arrested Hickerson.

RedTag sends us a link from Phoenix, Arizona;

The Phoenix Police Department says a witness shot and killed a man who was trying to rob a Walgreens on Tuesday night.

The incident happened around 7:10 p.m. at the store near 35th Avenue and Union Hills.

According to police, the suspect approached the Walgreens pharmacy counter and demanded oxycodone. The suspect was wearing a wig at the time.

The armed customer who shot the suspect is cooperating with police as they continue to investigate. No other injuries are reported.

Life-saving efforts were performed on the suspect who died from his injuries at the scene.

There were about a dozen people inside the store at the time of the robbery and shooting.

From Eureka, California;

On Tuesday at approximately 8:14 p.m., officers with the Eureka Police Department responded to the alley behind a gas station at the 1300 block of 5th Street for a report of shots fired. Once on scene, officers located a male subject down in the alley with gunshot wounds to his torso. The male was unresponsive and medical personnel were summoned to the scene. The male subject was transported to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The male’s identity will be released once the next of kin has been notified.

The shooter was identified as a uniformed on duty armed security guard for a local security company. There were multiple eye witnesses to the incident who cooperated with investigators and provided consistent statements. The investigation suggests that the security guard was confronted by the male subject in the alley as the guard was trying to exit his vehicle. A confrontation took place and the male subject brandished a knife and attempted to stab the security guard. The security guard fired his weapon ending the assault.

From Fitchburg, Massachusetts;

Two men committing an armed home invasion at an Arcadia Avenue rooming house were forced to flee after a resident fired a blank cartridge at them using a replica handgun early Tuesday morning, according to a police report of the incident.

The 33-year-old who intervened heard the home invasion in progress, went to the apartment where it was occurring and saw two men attacking another man, according to the report.

He then went back to his apartment for the replica handgun, returned to the scene of the attack and fired at the two men, who then fled on foot, according to the report.

From Baltimore, Maryland;

The man, whose name was not released, had been attempting to steal detergent from the Giant Food at U.S. 40 and Rolling Road about 4 a.m. when the officer, who was working as security, confronted him in the parking lot, Baltimore County police said.

The man got into the driver’s seat of a car as the officer was confronting him and drove off, dragging the officer more than 100 feet before the officer fatally shot him in the car, police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Peach said.

The officer “feared for his life,” she said.

The man died at the scene, and another person, who had been sitting in the passenger’s seat of the vehicle, was hospitalized for stress-related pain, Peach said.

From Nashville, Tennessee;

According to arrest records, the gun owner and another individual arrived to the Suburban Lodge on Central Pike after church Sunday afternoon. They then entered the elevator along with 48-year-old James Grisham, who it turns out did not have a room at the hotel.

The victims told police they exited the elevator and went towards their room while Grisham also exited and walked in the opposite direction.

A few minutes later, the victim says he opened the door to the room and found Grisham attempting to stab him with an object. Believing it was a knife and fearing for his life, the victim knocked Grisham down, retrieved his Glock 19 handgun from the table and shot Grisham in the left bicep.

Grisham took off with the knife, which was later recovered and determined to be a fork. The gun owner was able to stop Grisham and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

From Fresno, California;

Monday’s deadly encounter unfolded at dawn when authorities received a 911 emergency call that Norberto Reyes, 39, had broken into the apartment of his wife through a window. They had been separated for a year, and one of the couple’s sons reported the break-in, police said.

“The son just wanted police there, wanted help,” said Los Banos Police Cmdr. Ray Reyna. “The father did not live there — was not wanted there.”

The first officer met the teen son outside the apartment and they went inside. The officer found Reyes in the kitchen near the front door and asked him to leave the apartment. Reyes refused and the situation rapidly deteriorated into a physical confrontation, officials said.

The officer used his stun gun to subdue Reyes, but he pulled the metal probes fired by the stun gun out of his body and fought the officer. A second officer arrived and tried to help restrain Reyes. Shots then erupted in the apartment, hitting both officers and the suspect, police said.

“I’ve been hit… I’m bleeding,” one officer shouted into his radio, calling for more help, according to KMPH-TV in Fresno (http://bit.ly/2vfGfw6 ) reports. It’s unclear at what point the second officer arrived.

Throughout the encounter, the wife was in the apartment along with the couple’s five children ranging in age from 1 to 14, Reyna said.

Helicopters transported the officers and the suspect to hospitals, where the suspect died.

One of the injured officers, a six-year veteran, was shot in the head, torso and lower leg Monday, Los Banos Police Chief Gary Brizzee said.

The other officer, who joined the force a year ago, was shot in the torso. Both were in stable condition at Modesto-area hospitals and they were not identified.

From Centralia, Illinois;

Centralia Police say one person has been arrested and two people shot in an incident that occurred at a residence in the 900 block of East Broadway.

18-year-old Bryce Bradley of Belleville, formerly of Centralia, has been taken to the Marion County Jail for alleged home invasion and armed robbery.

The two others that were shot, a 22-year-old Central City man and a 16-year-old Centralia man, have been airlifted from SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital to St. Louis Hospitals for treatment of gunshot wounds. The 22-year-old reportedly was shot in the abdomen and the 16-year-old in the groin. Their names are not currently being released.

Gunshots were reportedly fired by the occupant of the home that was entered, with return gunfire. The resident reported the incident a short time after Centralia Police received multiple calls about gunfire in the area.

Amy sends a story from Katy, Texas;

Neighbors are on alert after deputies said a 60-year-old grandmother shot and killed a robbery suspect near Katy.

Investigators said the attempted robbery happened in the 20000 block of Fort Bowie Court. This is in the Sundown neighborhood in west Harris County.

Deputies said the woman was alone when two men entered her rent home.

The woman was able to get ahold of a gun, opening fire on one of the suspects.

A second suspect was able to escape, and was seen running toward Saums Road, deputies said.

It was not clear if the second suspect was injured during the shooting.

From Lancaster, Pennsylvania;

Through the investigation, police learned that [Marquice Gatewood, 25] had been inside a home on the first block of N. Mulberry and, when he started arguing with some of the people inside, he pulled out a handgun and fired two rounds.

There were more than 20 people inside at the time. As they fled outside, Gatewood robbed at least one of them at gunpoint.

During a subsequent confrontation, an unknown person disarmed Gatewood and shot him multiple times.

From Waco, Texas;

On July 29 at around 11:15 p.m., a male was robbing the Tee’s Smoke Shop located in 3528 N. 19th St.

The suspect entered the store wearing a ski mask, showed a handgun and demanded money.

The store employee took defensive action by drawing his own gun and fired at the suspect.

The suspect was struck several times and ran away from the scene.

The suspect was later taken to Baylor Scott and White Hillcrest where he was dropped off by someone in a car.

No one else was injured.

From Memphis, Tennessee;

Police…pronounced Billy Ray Sanlin, 36, dead at the scene.

According to police, Sanlin broke out the back window of a Nissan frontier with an iron chair and climbed through the window.

The owner of the vehicle told police that he went to check on his car with a handgun, and he shot Sanlin.

Police say the owner informed them that weapons were in the car and he thought Sanlin had a gun.

The owner of the vehicle remained at the scene until police arrived.

No charges were filed as of Saturday.

From Orlando, Florida;

A resident at an apartment complex in Four Corners shot a burglar, who later died, early Sunday, Lake County deputies said.

The resident told investigators three suspects tried to enter his apartment at Raintree Apartments, 1305 Raintree Bend, and he shot one of them

Deputies responded to the scene off U.S. Highway 27 west of Celebration at about 3 a.m., and are investigating the incident as an armed burglary.

Chief Tango sends a link from Ocala, Florida;

Deputies said they were called to a convenience store at the intersection of Southwest Highway 200 and Southwest 80th Street for an armed robbery.

When detectives arrived at the store, they saw a masked man with a gun, later identified as Rodney Snow, 33, walk out and get into the passenger side of car that had been waiting outside, Marion County deputies said.

The driver of the vehicle, Christina Gaud, 30, fled from deputies before she crashed near the 7900 block of Southwest 80th Street, deputies said.

Snow then got out of the car and ran toward a wooded area outside the Indigo East neighborhood, the Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies said detectives surrounded Snow in the wooded area and he shot himself.

Snow was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remained in the intensive care unit.

From Las Vegas Nevada, William Alfredo Chafoya was shot 19 times by Las Vegas police;

Police were dispatched about 5:05 p.m. to a residence on Welsh Circle in the northwest valley to conduct surveillance on a maroon Honda linked to a Sunday drive-by shooting, in which a bicyclist was shot in the calf, Fasulo said.

Sometime later, Chafoya, who matched the shooter’s description, and Olivetti entered the stolen car and officers tried to pull them over, but Chafoya ignored the lights and sirens and kept driving, Fasulo said.

The chase, which was approved by Metro leadership and tracked from a police helicopter, took the suspects from the west to the east valley, across area commands and jurisdictions, into North Las Vegas on Goldfield Street, where Olivetti lived, Fasulo said.

It’s now 7:19 p.m. and the suspects get out, the car rolls forward and only stops when it crashes into a parked car. The man and woman run toward the house, but Officers Tyler Hebb, a 35-year-old field trainer, and 22-year-old Brandon Foster, who was being trained, trail closely behind.

Chafoya fires a round with his stolen gun into the air then a continuous volley of pops breaks out, and “get on the ground!” commands go ignored until they fall wounded.

Fasulo said Chafoya fired four rounds in the officers’ direction, two of which struck a house. Olivetti was wounded when she ran into the gun battle, and a resident in the front yard where the shootout took place was uninjured, he added.

Quickly after, officers tend to the injured suspects. Chafoya wails in pain, “Sir, I’m dying. Sir, I’m dying!” A woman’s screams can be heard in the background.

Thanks to the officer’s quick decsion to apply tourniquets to Chafoya, the crook is still alive in the hospital;

From Fairmont, North Carolina;

An investigation revealed [Rodney Thompson, 40] had broken into the home of his ex-girlfriend, 32-year-old Lacora Hill, Edwards said. As he came through the home’s back door, Hill fired multiple shots. Hill’s two small children were in the home at the time of the incident.

Hill will not be charged in regard to the shooting, Edwards said.

In Pemiscot, Missouri;

…before deputies could arrive, a man called 911 to report that he was able to get the suspect to stop beating the woman and took her with him into his farm shop to keep her safe until officers arrived.

While the man was on the phone with 911, the suspect arrived at the farm and was cursing and threatening the farmer and woman with bodily harm, according to Sheriff Greenwell. The farmer told investigators that the suspect had one hand behind his back during the tirade.

The farmer told investigators he kept telling the suspect to leave his property. The woman reportedly told the farmer that the suspect had a gun earlier.

The man kept threatening the two and approached them in a threatening manner. The farmer told the man to show his hands and get off the property or he would be shot.

Greenwell said the suspect continued to approach the farmer and the woman and said “you ain’t gonna shoot me.” That’s when the farmer told investigators he was afraid the man had a gun and was in fear for his and the woman’s life, so he shot the man in the leg.