Michigan Woman Shoots At Shoplifter: Woman Carrying Concealed Fires At Shoplifter In Home Depot Parking Lot


A Michigan woman shot at a shoplifter who tried fleeing from a Home Depot security officer. He was running out of the store on Tuesday with over $1,000 worth of merchandise.

The incident occurred at 2 p.m. at an Auburn Hills store when a woman with a concealed pistol license (CPL) noticed a suspect running off with goods from the store. According to a report by the Detroit Free Press, a 48-year-old woman from Clarkston was the one who shot at the shoplifter when he was trying to abscond the scene in a vehicle. Her life wasn’t threatened when she fired the shots, but she tried to stop someone she clearly saw was doing something criminal.

Auburn Hills police spokeswoman Lt. Jill McDonnell said that a getaway driver waiting in a dark SUV was waiting for the shoplifter.

MSN reports that the man wasn’t injured, but that the shooter fired at one of the getaway vehicle’s tires.

Experts have weighed in on the matter, however, and they say that she shouldn’t have taken it upon herself to shoot at the shoplifter.

Hankins, the owner of Detroit Arms where CPL classes are also held, explains that before anyone carrying concealed decides to a fire a weapon at someone, they “have to know the entire situation before you pull that handgun out. And I don’t see that a shoplifter at Home Depot fills any of those criteria.”

Hankins describes the scenario to the Press as her “worst nightmare” when it comes to someone possessing a concealed carry permit.

The female shooter remained at the scene and cooperated with police until she was released pending the investigation.

Gun safety experts reveal that so far things don’t look good for the woman who was carrying concealed. The reason is because a CPL holder in Michigan “needs to think that there is an imminent danger of death, great bodily harm or sexual assault, or think there is a similar danger to someone else,” according to Rick Ector, a firearms trainer who runs Legally Armed Detroit. Ector asserts that a gun is “truly a tool of last resort.”

Another instructor, Dawn Martin with Viper Security Enforcement, Inc. in Kalamazoo, said that in this particular situation in which the Michigan woman took a shot at the shoplifter, he wouldn’t have done that, either.

CPL holders who don’t abide by the gun laws might face a number of charges that range in felony firearm, reckless use of a firearm, and felonious assault. Hankins went on to add that “even if it were law enforcement, they wouldn’t do that.”

Hawkins addressed all CPL holders after the shoplifter was shot by a carrying concealed citizen.

“You are not a police officer. you are not a person out there protecting the public at large.”

Anyone who has information on what happened at the Home Depot on Tuesday is asked to call the Auburn Hills Police Department at 248-370-9444.

A few weeks ago, another citizen carrying concealed used his permit to good use. The 63-year-old was on his way inside a bank in Warren when a robber tried getting away. The bank customer fired his weapon at him, shooting him once in the arm and once in the leg.

Warren mayor Jim Fouts said that the man acted within his rights because his own life was threatened by the robber.

“I’m happy that no one was seriously injured. He apparently exercised some caution by not shooting the robber in a vital area.”

The Michigan woman who shot at the shoplifter fleeing the scene is being more scrutinized given the huge streak of gun violence in the nation today. Even concealed carry permit holders are feeling as though they’re getting the third degree on today’s issues involving firearms.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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