South Florida Store Clerks Go Vigilante

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

It was pouring rain just after 1 p.m. Monday, July 20, when a man burst into a Honduran grocery store on NW 36th Street in Miami. A shirt was wrapped around his face as he gripped a black semiautomatic handgun. Twenty-year-old Charles Bell shoved the pistol into the face of a manager behind the counter. Then he demanded the contents of the cash register and cartons of cigarettes in a plastic bag.

Next he began herding customers to the back of the small market.

But when he returned to the counter to collect his loot, a short, well-built 24-year-old manager named Valentin Fiallos pointed a .38 and squeezed the trigger. As Bell scampered from the store, he turned and shot back several times. Fiallos, shielding himself, squeezed off several more rounds.

The would-be robber missed every time, but the manager's aim was true. Bell burst out of the store and ran several steps before flopping onto the wet asphalt. A bullet to the chest killed him.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2009-08-06/news/south-florida-s-store-clerks-dole-out-vigilante-justice/

[MrSlayer]

1. Sometimes, you get exactly what you ask for.

Good for Mr. Fiallos.

[spin]

2. K&R Keep up the good work. (n/t)

[biermeister]

3. maybe the robber throught he was in Chicago?

[Statistical]

22. I sponsor the GPS for thugs program...

Free GPS w/ firearm law database & geo-location technology so thugs never again need to make the tragic mistake of thinking they are in a gun-free zone when in reality they are in the parts of the Country the Constitution applies.

The bill will have a sunset provision once the Supreme Court rules the 2nd is incorporated equally and fully against the states.

[jeepnstein]

4. "Vigilante"?

Nah.

[slackmaster]

5. The word carries connotations of organized extra-judicial activity and weak law enforcement

Its literal and more traditional meaning does fit the situation somewhat.

If I was the editor I would have changed it.

[JonQ]

7. In this sense it kind of implies

that the store owner went out looking for criminals, rather than responding to a threat to his life.

I imagine that was intentional. An attempt to paint even legitimate gun use as some sort of extra-legal and somewhat frowned upon activity that should probably be banned.

[benEzra]

6. That's not vigilantism, it's self-defense. Huge difference.

Thankfully the manager had a weapon and knew how to use it, though.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

9. I found it an odd choice of words also.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. It's called 'framing the debate'.

If you wish to impart a certain spin on the story, you use certain language. In this case, to demonize the clerk.

[Euromutt]

19. Much like terms like "pro-life," "assault weapon," "reasonable, common-sense gun control," etc.

Essentially, terms intended to influence the opinion of the reader/listener towards the speaker's position or away from the opponent's.

[JonQ]

8. Why didn't the robber simply snatch the gun away

and use it on Mr. Fiallos? It's so easy.

Also, they don't mention how fiallos then went on to kill his whole family and a bunch of innocent bystanders all while drunk on the guns evil influence.

Why do you suppose they left that bit out?

[TheWraith]

10. Crime seems to have spiked along with the recession.

No surprise to those of us who shout about the link between poverty and crime.

[kelly1mm]

11. dum .. dum ... dum ..., another one bites the dust.! nt

[Euromutt]

12. "began herding customers to the back" - always a bad sign

When you move people against their will (i.e. "abduct") in order to facilitate a crime (e.g. armed robbery), that is considered to constitute kidnapping. That's why your smarter class of armed robber doesn't start shunting people around, but instead orders them to the floor. There are two possible reasons why the late Mr. Bell might have begun "herding customers to the back."

The first is that he was ignorant of the law, which means he was stupid. Stupid people with deadly weapons engaged in felonious activities is a very dangerous combination, because you can't count on them to be smart if things start going against them (e.g. the cops arrive).

The second is that the robber intends to murder the witnesses. In this case, the kidnapping charge doesn't matter anymore, because he's going to be looking at multiple first-degree murder charges anyway. In that situation, one would herd the witnesses to the back of the store (preferably into a stockroom or refrigerator) to render the sound of gunshots less audible to anyone outside.

In this instance, my money would be on the first option--Bell was stupid--but in that situation, I wouldn't be willing to take the risk that he intended the second option. Mr. Fiallos was absolutely right to respond as he did.

[Tim01]

13. I've been through a lot of training that says if they start moving you, do something.

Because the odds are just too good that they are moving you to the back so they can shoot you.

Recently here in downtown D.C. at Starbucks, every person in the store was executed.

[proteus_lives]

14. Yeah, they were probably going to kill them.

Scary.

[proteus_lives]

15. Fiallos is a hero!

Miami should reward him.

:thumbsup:

[paulsby]

17. bad title - thats not vigilante'ism

not even close.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

18. Interesting choice of words, eh.

[Tim01]

20. Looks like some people don't want other people standing up for themselves.

"Just let the police handle it."

[Statistical]

21. Someone excercising lawful lethal self defense is not a vigilante. n/t

[Statistical]

23. Oops should have looked up thread first. n/t

[Endangered Specie]

24. Thank goodness no one was hurt... amazing that anyone can have

a hint of marksmanship when being shot at and with all that adrenaline going.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

25. No one except the perp.