In this video of an attempted robbery in Franklin County, Ohio, the clerk’s situational awareness allows him to respond quickly. The clerk is suspicious of the customer coming in with his hand hidden and preparing to draw his own gun from his back pocket. The lack of a holster is a reasonable indicator that the clerk didn’t have any formal training. The store had personnel arm themselves after three armed robberies in a year.

The clerk immediately pulls up his own gun.

“I didn’t think about it,” he said. “I just pulled the gun. If I didn’t do it first – it was me. It was him or me. I had no choice.”

In the video, I was only able to detect two shots. One can be heard as the suspect drops down below the counter level. That one was fired by the clerk and appears to have been a miss.

The extremely fortunate suspect, Emanuel Hamm, was wounded in one of his hands. He was arrested later at a hospital.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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51 COMMENTS

  2. One thing that is great is that nowhere in that story was there any mention of “no charges are expected” or any of the usual nonsense that sort of kind of implies there might be something wrong with the clerk defending himself. In fact, the tone was just a bit on the happy side over how it all went down. Nice.

  4. To 2ASux: please, please, please shove this directly and entirely up your ass. This is America, where people work long and hard hours to build a business, and where employees have families that they have to protect, and dammit, sometimes it comes to this. And because we live in America, and because of the Second Amendment, these people were able to protect their livelihood.

    The 2A does not “sux”, people who would try to infringe upon it do.

    • He probably isn’t online right now, he did just get shot in the hand by a convenience store clerk.

      • Looks like he’ll have to use the other hand to spank that bad little monkey for awhile.

  5. “The clerk asked us to not show his face.”

    Um, ok… cause we don’t know where you work, or anything….

  6. Good shoot, after the first time I saw it I had to go back because I was shocked he didn’t take a bullet right in the face.

  8. I predict an immediate but temporary decline in the incidence of armed convenience store robberies in Franklin County, Ohio.

  11. What will totally be missed by the Far Right is that the Store owner and clerk were both immigrants who provide a valuable community service by keeping this store open for local people in a very dangerous part of town. Muslims operate thousands of convenience stores and many are shot and killed in robberies. In Michigan and Upper Ohio they own and operate hundreds of convince stores proving that they do indeed assimilate into American Culture and are indeed an asset to America. They work where many other White Americans fear to tread. Lets call for the Far Right to stop hating them and calling them names. They are Americans too and they prove it every day when they go to work.

    • I thought under the “intersectionality” concept, it was all or nothing. You cannot support the Second Amendment and Muslim immigration. You risk being thrown out of the leftist “club”./S

      • Perhaps you had better understand the meaning of intersectionality before making a complete fool of yourself. All you succeeded in doing was shouting to the world of your racism. You again made a fool of yourself a second time by admitting to everyone you did not understand nor except anything I wrote in my above post. Muslim businesses are fact not fiction. Muslim integration in American society is there for any normal sane person to see which of course you are not able to reconcile with. I suggest you take a trip to HAMTRAMCK, MICH. where the entire city council is composed of Muslims. What twisted response will you give while you rant they have not integrated I wonder.

        Next you will tell me my Muslim Dentist, Postman and Doctor and Nurse (who wears the Muslim hijab) have not integrated.

        I ask you from your twisted racist point of view, what in the hell does the Second Amendment have to do with Muslim immigration or did you not notice the store owner and the clerk all believed in gun ownership and self defense. How many White American owned convenience stores prohibit armed defense in their white owned stores. That would seem to indicate to me these two Immigrants are much better Americans because they believe in the Second Amendment and practice it. Again your racism blinds you to reality and prevents you from ever acknowledging that often immigrants make much better Americans that native born Americans who pick and chose which parts of the Constitution they believe in and I am impartial in that statement because I include the radical left and radical right in it.

        And your bizarre mention of me being thrown out of the Leftist Club makes about as much sense as you being thrown out of the KKK because you hate immigrants. Neither is going to happen anytime soon if ever. Rest assured your membership is safe.

        • I know I am not supposed to interrupt someone when they’re making a mistake, but do you see that ‘/s’ at the end of his post? It stands for ‘sarcasm’. Now that you feel and look like the giant ass you are, maybe you could take a breather?

        • cisco kid,

          My mom was an immigrant to the United States. I fully support immigrants that truly assimilate — like her entire family did. Unfortunately, many (perhaps most) Muslims do not want to truly assimilate. Rather, they are biding their time hoping to take over from within and institute sharia law and subjugate/eradicate infidels.

          THAT is why so many people oppose Muslim immigration.

        • Hey Cisco! Being opposed to and wary of a death cult religion popular among the vast majority of a certain ethnic group shows a (healthy) cultural bias. It is most certainly NOT racist. To be racist one would have to oppose them strictly due to ethnicity irrespective of any other considerations.

          I have worked for Muslims. I deal with some very pleasant Muslim 7-11 store owners on an almost daily basis. We seem to get along fine, on that basis. Would I trust them if the issue came down to Muslim vs Infidel? Not any farther than I could accurately place shots center mass.

        • FIRST OFF,islam isn’t a “race” it’s a cult, so you really cannot be called a “racist” if you keep a weary eye on a group of people who believe in following a pedophile.

          • quote—————–FIRST OFF,islam isn’t a “race” it’s a cult, so you really cannot be called a “racist” if you keep a weary eye on a group of people who believe in following a pedophile.————–quote

            Definition of cult for English Language Learners
            a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion

            As of 2010, Christianity was by far the world’s largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third (31 percent) of all 6.9 billion people on Earth,” the Pew report says. “Islam was second, with 1.6 billion adherents, or 23 percent of the global population.”Apr 2, 2015

            World’s Muslim Population Will Surpass Christians This Century, Pew …

            With 1.6 billion Muslims it is definitely not a cult religion.

            rac·ism
            noun
            prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.
            “a program to combat racism”
            synonyms: racial discrimination, racialism, racial prejudice, xenophobia, chauvinism, bigotry, casteism
            “Aborigines are the main victims of racism in Australia”

            the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

            The above fits you to a “T”

    • Before you get too carried away with yourself, note that the robber was white yet everyone here approves of the clerk’s defending himself.

      • “I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness.”

        Christopher Hitchens

        • On the other hand you certainly have not congratulated yourself on your tolerance and open-mindedness so what does that say about you.

    • Quote from Cliff H——————Would I trust them if the issue came down to Muslim vs Infidel? Not any farther than I could accurately place shots center mass.———————-

      Your last lines prove your that your beginning statement is a complete falsehood but I am sure your racism makes you totally blind to that. Its like the story of the Emperor’s new cloths, everyone but the Emperor knew he was actually naked and everyone except you knows you hate Muslims.

    • UNCOMMON SENSE SAID QUOTE———————–My mom was an immigrant to the United States. I fully support immigrants that truly assimilate — like her entire family did. Unfortunately, many (perhaps most) Muslims do not want to truly assimilate. Rather, they are biding their time hoping to take over from within and institute sharia law and subjugate/eradicate infidels.

      THAT is why so many people oppose Muslim immigration.——————Quote

      Tell me then my rabid Racist why is it then that out of over 6 million Muslim immigrants 99 1/2 per cent of the terrorist murderer’s were white natural born citizens. The last count I saw on the news stood at over 1,000 murders by the white natural born Americans v/s murders by only 2 Muslims. Your real enemies are your next door neighbors not the Muslim boogey man but I am sure the 1,000 dead are according to you irrelevant simply because a Muslim did not kill them. Now if that is not truly twisted I would not know what is.

  12. I’m not fully sure why the clerk ran to the door like that, but I’m glad he was able to defend himself. It sounded like he shouted “stop” when the guy was exiting the store… I would have wanted the perforated party and his own gun as far away from me as possible at great speed, while dialing the police myself to report the incident.

    • I wondered the same, but then I realized, I think he was probably locking the door so the guy couldn’t come back in (just in case he was so-inclined or had an accomplice).

  13. that was some some good situational awareness, he looked shifty, better to cover than to get shot. Well done!

  14. Clerk, in reference to the suspect’s robbery attempt : “I wish there were other options.”

    I suppose the suspect could get a real job, instead of using force to take someone else’s money. That’s an option.

    • Saw Mike Rowe on TV the other day and he was, as usual, asking the viewers to recommend some Dirty Jobs for him. Robbing people who are not happy about it and are prepared to do something to stop you is by definition a dirty job. Pretty sure Mike doesn’t want to try that one on.

  15. The fact that the robber was shot in the hand(s) supports the fact that many untrained or poorly trained shooters unintentionally and reflexively aim for the bad guy’s gun rather than CM.

    • At 1:01 in the video if where the criminal got shot. Where do you see someone aiming for his hand right there?

    • Luckily if the bad guy is aiming a gun at you and you shoot at it, usually you’ll hit something useful.

    • Yeah, that’s what stood out to me upon hearing he was shot in the hand. Could be just “luck” but at those distances even 10* of angle still more or less covers your target so you don’t need pinpoint accuracy. The clerk certainly was focused on the guys hand, and honestly I have no idea how to really guarantee that you won’t do that yourself short of force-on-force training. Even then I don’t know if I’d trust that training to break that subconscious habit, as you still know you’re not going to die during training as opposed to a real defensive situation.

  16. I’m not so sure the first shot was the clerk’s gun, I just don’t see it recoil at all. Then it appears he racks the slide after the noise from the first shot, then fires a shot. Anyone else see the same thing?

    • It looks to me like he points, pulls the trigger, then realizes he has to chamber a round. Israeli Carry? I can’t tell when his pistol is fired.

    • Yep..that’s what I see. The clerk shot the guy at the locked door. I don’t know about that municipality but here exit doors are supposed to be unlocked and swing out. We call it “crash out” in case of fire or other emergency when a crush of people would impede pulling a door open. 50/50 call in my hood that it would be called a good shoot. Bad guy was trying to leave when he go shot almost in the back. If he had been standing up he would have got shot in the back and then here it would have been a bad shoot. If the clerk had double tapped him at the counter with the bad guys gun in the clerks face it would have been a good shoot. The clerk is lucky twice. He didn’t get shot and did not get arrested. I’m just sayin’…

      • jimmy james,

        50/50 call in my hood that it would be called a good shoot. Bad guy was trying to leave when he go shot almost in the back.

        The clerk’s legal defense is straightforward: the robber still had his revolver in hand, the robber had not surrendered, and the robber was still in “close proximity” to the clerk. Therefore, the robber was a reasonable, credible, imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to the clerk.

        The robber’s direction of travel (which includes which direction he was facing) is irrelevant since the robber could turn and fire at any moment.

        Note that “surrender” means something like IMMEDIATELY dropping the firearm and QUICKLY dropping to the floor (spread-eagle or similar).

      • There are two doors one “entrance” swings in, the other “exit” swings out. He picked the wrong door to exit.

    • FlamencoD,

      I am seeing the same thing.

      Oddly, the robber’s gun doesn’t seem to recoil much (if at all) either at that first bang. Then, the only time I can see that the clerk might have shot was around 1:01 when you see a tiny flash and maybe a hint of recoil … but yet there is no sound of a gunshot.

      In between the first bang and 1:01, I can definitely see and hear the clerk rack the slide.

  17. The robber is extremely lucky that a cardboard box was on the counter. The clerk had to move his handgun to a less than ideal position to shoot over it. That means the clerk could not aim the way that he wanted … and allowed the robber more time to react and move.

    • I think the robber is actually lucky that the clerk wasn’t carrying with a round in the chamber. The clerk’s gun didn’t fire, then he had to rack the slide before firing at the robber.

      • Good point.

        Had the clerk actually had a round in the chamber, that box was still probably going to be an obstacle. If it was filled with something like bags of potato chips, I would simply shoot through the box.

  18. Is it just me or was this guy packing on an empty chamber? Looks like he snapped at the bad guy and then had to actually load the gun before he fired a couple of times.

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