One for the NRA
Posted: March 14th, 2009, 4:40 pm
Feb 17th 2009
SAN DIEGO -- The owner of the Old Coin Shop and a clerk had just handled their first customer of the day when two men wearing hoods came to the security door.
"We buzzed them in, they pulled up masks, guns and charged down," said the owner.
The men were on them in seconds, waving guns and yelling that "this was a robbery."
"It was my thought that if we don't do something, we don't react to this, we will be executed in the store. That's the modus operandi -- lie people down on floor, they get what they want, shoot you, walk out, and have half an hour before anyone knows anything happened," said the owner.
The owner thought about other robberies, such as a robbery at another coin shop in La Mesa last spring in which 3 people were shot.
He and his clerk grabbed their own handguns.
"We fired, fired in defense our life, of being shot at," said the owner.
Bullets flew in each direction, with two striking one of the intruders and eventually killing him. Another bullet lodged in a wrought iron fence on the other side of El Cajon Blvd.
"Yes, it was crazy; pandemonium," the owner said.
The second robber escaped on foot, leaving his partner dying on the ground in front of the shop.
The shop owner talks about the stress, sleepless nights and the fact that the family of the dead man is going through hell, too.
Last Friday afternoon, dozens of the family and friends of Michael Watkins, Jr. came to the scene and were terribly upset.
The shop owner regrets the loss of life, but also knows what he and his clerk faced that morning.
"… What if we hadn't done what we did? We'd both be dead," said the owner.
The robbery attempt at the Old Coin Shop was the first since it opened almost 50 years ago.
The incident was a harrowing moment for the owner.
"When somebody is waving a gun in front of your face, it looks like a cannon," said the owner. "We felt we were going to die. You react based on that."
The gun battle left one man dying in front of the shop with the other running off down an alley.
"I'm absolutely convinced that we would both be dead right now and that doesn't leave you a lot of choice. We don't brandish guns, we're not out to shoot people. We're not cowboys, we're businessmen," said the owner.
Watkins' mother, along with dozens of other people, showed up to the shop just outside of the crime scene tape. They were visibly agitated.
It is an emotion shared by the men behind the counter.
"We're so stressed out. We haven't slept," said the owner.
The owner considers what kind of security will be needed if and when he reopens his store.
"I don't want to make a fort, because then you're locked in. You're a prisoner of your own store," said the owner.
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Too bad they could not have got the other one too....
Dubble
SAN DIEGO -- The owner of the Old Coin Shop and a clerk had just handled their first customer of the day when two men wearing hoods came to the security door.
"We buzzed them in, they pulled up masks, guns and charged down," said the owner.
The men were on them in seconds, waving guns and yelling that "this was a robbery."
"It was my thought that if we don't do something, we don't react to this, we will be executed in the store. That's the modus operandi -- lie people down on floor, they get what they want, shoot you, walk out, and have half an hour before anyone knows anything happened," said the owner.
The owner thought about other robberies, such as a robbery at another coin shop in La Mesa last spring in which 3 people were shot.
He and his clerk grabbed their own handguns.
"We fired, fired in defense our life, of being shot at," said the owner.
Bullets flew in each direction, with two striking one of the intruders and eventually killing him. Another bullet lodged in a wrought iron fence on the other side of El Cajon Blvd.
"Yes, it was crazy; pandemonium," the owner said.
The second robber escaped on foot, leaving his partner dying on the ground in front of the shop.
The shop owner talks about the stress, sleepless nights and the fact that the family of the dead man is going through hell, too.
Last Friday afternoon, dozens of the family and friends of Michael Watkins, Jr. came to the scene and were terribly upset.
The shop owner regrets the loss of life, but also knows what he and his clerk faced that morning.
"… What if we hadn't done what we did? We'd both be dead," said the owner.
The robbery attempt at the Old Coin Shop was the first since it opened almost 50 years ago.
The incident was a harrowing moment for the owner.
"When somebody is waving a gun in front of your face, it looks like a cannon," said the owner. "We felt we were going to die. You react based on that."
The gun battle left one man dying in front of the shop with the other running off down an alley.
"I'm absolutely convinced that we would both be dead right now and that doesn't leave you a lot of choice. We don't brandish guns, we're not out to shoot people. We're not cowboys, we're businessmen," said the owner.
Watkins' mother, along with dozens of other people, showed up to the shop just outside of the crime scene tape. They were visibly agitated.
It is an emotion shared by the men behind the counter.
"We're so stressed out. We haven't slept," said the owner.
The owner considers what kind of security will be needed if and when he reopens his store.
"I don't want to make a fort, because then you're locked in. You're a prisoner of your own store," said the owner.
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Too bad they could not have got the other one too....
Dubble