Greenbriar gun store employee shoots alleged thief

[Betty]

LINK TO STORY

Police are on the scene of a gun store shooting in Greenbriar (north of Nashville), where an employee may have opened fire on a suspected thief.

Around 2:30 pm Monday (May 23, 2005), a man inside the Guns & Leather Store on Highway 41 allegedly reached behind the counter and tried to steal several guns. After a struggle with a store clerk, another store owner allegedly shot him in the back.

Courtney Hall II was transported by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Medical Center in crititcal condition. Authorities say that the shooting remains under investigation.

Another local news channel said he was shot twice in the back.

Gee, d'ya think the crook wasn't thinking the guys inside a gun store might be armed?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[rocky]

Hope the store clerk gets a fair and just outcome. Tough to explain why ya shot someone in the back, even if it is justified.

[Bud White]

Hope it shakes out well for the shooter as said above kind of hard to explaine shooting him in the back though

[Betty]

I flipped around the different news channels and I got bits and pieces from all of them, so it went down something like this:

The man came in (armed or unarmed) and demanded some guns. Apparently he grabbed some in a scuffle and tried to leave. At this point he has several guns tucked in his waistband. He scuffled again with an employee trying to leave, and apparently that was when he was shot in the back by another employee, who didn't want to take a chance that the man had a loaded gun and was going to shoot someone. Other news stations did not report a scuffle on the way out the door, and only said the thief was shot when he was leaving. The thief is in critical condition and may not survive.

The shooting in the back may not go well for the employee and store, but the story is still sketchy at this point, whether the shooting was in defense of another employee scuffling with the thief, or it was just shooting a fleeing thief.

[Tom357]

...The shooting in the back may not go well for the employee and store, but the story is still sketchy at this point, whether the shooting was in defense of another employee scuffling with the thief, or it was just shooting a fleeing thief.

Betty, what is the law regarding defense of property in Tennessee? Do you know? Here in Virginia, shooting someone in the back who was trying to flee would not go well for the shooter.

[Betty]

From what I've understood, you cannot shoot in defense of property or shoot to stop a fleeing criminal.

[Euclidean]

And they're just supposed to let this man steal guns and go out and do God knows what with them?

I think the gun store owner acted responsibly. He protected the public safety and he's about to get screwed for it.

[Deke45]

I think there may be a little difference between stealing a TV and stealing firearms...don't ya think!

[Betty]

And they're just supposed to let this man steal guns and go out and do God knows what with them?

I think the gun store owner acted responsibly. He protected the public safety and he's about to get screwed for it.

Luckily this is TN. The police, so far, have no desire to press charges against the store employee. I'd like to see how this situation ends up.

[triggertime]

I've heard that Courtney Hall II died yesterday from his wounds. If this is true, its bad news all around. Not only was the robber shot in the back, which is hard to justify, but the perps family will most likely sue the store now.

For the future of the store, lets hope that neither the owner nor one of his sons were the actual shooter.

[P95Carry]

Anyone with update reports - do post 'em.