Just hours after Hurricane Helene swept through the Big Bend region of Florida, causing widespread destruction throughout the area and beyond, an attempted robbery at a local weed store escalated into a fatal shooting. With law enforcement stretched thin responding to numerous storm-related emergencies, a pair of robbers sought to take advantage of the distraction and targeted the Florida Hemp Distribution store on West Tennessee Street, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
The Tallahassee Police Department (TPD) was called to the scene around 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27 to investigate the shooting, which has since become a homicide investigation. According to Alex Petrick, co-owner of the store, the shooting was a matter of self-defense by the store’s lone employee.
Petrick recounted that two men entered the store and confronted the employee on duty, prompting him to draw his firearm. The employee allegedly issued a warning to the would-be robbers, saying, “Leave, leave. Don’t make me do this,” according to Petrick.
Despite the clear warning, at least one of the suspects didn’t believe he would pull the trigger and continued to move toward the employee, who continued backing up until he was against a literal wall. With no choice left, he fired his gun, striking and killing the criminal.
The second suspect fled the scene as soon as he saw the firearm, Petrick told the Democrat. No other employees or customers were present at the time of the incident.
After the shooting, TPD questioned the employee for several hours before releasing him without charges. Petrick noted the investigation remains open and authorities have not confirmed many of the details he provided to the newspaper.
TPD spokesperson Heather Merritt stated that the incident is still an active investigation, with interviews ongoing with all involved parties.
As the community grapples with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the shooting has become a stark reminder of the challenges and dangers that can arise in times of crisis. With another potentially catastrophic hurricane on its way to make landfall in Florida this evening, Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state and local law enforcement officials have warned against looting as well as advised criminals not to take advantage of the chaos from the disaster to further victimize Florida residents.
Good shoot aside … don’t smoke weed, kiddies. It’s bad for you.
“Just [email protected] marijuana and the crime will go away.”
And they will be no reason for a weed store employee to carry a gun at work.
I quit pot circa 1983. No sympathy for pot shops. Anywho my older brother is ok post hurricane. Brief power outage. He lives just south of Orlando(Celebration). Said the tornado outbreak was scarier than the hurricane! Amazing ain’t it what happens with a competent run state!
Residual flooding may be a concern but glad to hear he is ok and the state is generally doing well given the circumstances.
“…what happens with a competent…”
Well put. I’ve got family who were in the path too, all are ok, and they have nothing but praise for the way the DeSantis administration gets things done.
Don’t worry. The Feds will soon arrive to make a mess of things.
Edibles like gummies are becoming far more popular. No lung damage and healthier than drinking alcohol, if used in moderation. My wife’s mom is taking them for cancer pain relief, and daughter and husband will have one on the weekend at home after their children are in bed to relax, instead of hitting the bottle. They are both smart and well educated military veterans. Judging by the success he has achieved managing computer work for a space-related business, it’s not having any negative impact on his faculties. Times are changing. If my arthritis gets bad in old age, I’ll probably give the gummies a try.
Having a gun on your person while working in a weed store is possession of a firearm in continuance of a drug crime.
18 USC 924 (c)
I’d not want to be a DA trying to make that case to a modern jury. A city might just find itself on the hook for all legal expenses.
Completely wrong. Almost all of the dispensaries everywhere have armed guards because of laws preventing them being able to use credit cards, everything is in cash.
“Just [email protected] m.a.riju.an.a and the crime will go away.”
And they will be no reason for a weed store employee to carry a gun at work.
Liquor store employees are frequently armed and alcohol has been legal again since 1933.
The people who supported ending alcohol prohibition never said that would end crime. But the stupid pot heads did say making weed legal would end all crime.
And they did say there would be no reason for black dealers to carry guns.
“the stupid pot heads did say making weed legal would end all crime.”
No, you said that.
No you are wrong. They claim that weed was a cure for everything that made you sick. And that all crime related to drugs would go away.
And they said pot should be taxed just like tobacco. “So the government can make more money.”
They are s.oci.a.lis.t pr.ogr.es.siv.e in their p0lit.ic@l [email protected]. They supported raising taxes. And the supported gun control.
But when pot was made legal in california. The sh!t bag pot heads ran away to the low tax state of colorado.
And proceeded to F up that state too. When they worked to elect a white g.a.y fascist for governor.
I hope they are arrested for income tax evasion. Like the Democrats say, “they need to pay their fair share.”
Post some links to all of this that you say others are saying.
“Just [email protected] m.a.riju.an.a and the crime will go away.”
I have to agree here, Chris. “Law” is the root cause of all crime; no law, no crime.
Perhaps a simpler way of eliminating crime is to stop reporting so-called “crime”.
I have said on TTAG in the past, go ahead make it legal. But don’t lie to me and the rest of the world that things will be better.
Legal weed has made parts of the country worse off. And weed in 2024, is not the same as weed WAS back in 1964.
Public intoxication should be illegal. And the le.ga.li.zati.on cro.wd likes Public intoxication.
Weed in a legal environment is as hard to grow as corn. 50 lbs corn in Walsmart is 11$. Tell again where weed is legal, ie less than fifty cents a pound???
“I have said on TTAG in the past, go ahead make it legal. But don’t lie to me and the rest of the world that things will be better.”
+1
Working great here in NY we had a 40 odd percentage drop in reported shootings and record deaths by non suicide gun shot wounds.
Has weed legalization paid off any of its promises yet?
People are still killing, stealing and robbing for it.
Cartels are still smuggling it when not simply growing it here as Colorado, Maine and Northern Cali have been enjoying.
Taxes? Cali has a debt of 3/4 billion in unpaid marijuana related taxes that most likely will never be collected as most of those companies no longer exist.
Giving users of hard drugs a soft outlet? Let’s check in with Washington and Oregon about that one.
I don’t have enough data to claim the experiment has failed but I can for sure conclude the execution of the experiment is a burning hot mess and there doesn’t seem to be much appetite for tweaks.
RE: “The second suspect fled the scene as soon as he saw the firearm, Petrick told the Democrat.”
How is Uncle Bens, Aunt Jemima and a laundry list of other names and statues were changed, moved or torn down while the party behind all the race based atrocities got a complete and total pass? When I see democrat I see a nitwit who belongs to the party that owns the Legacy of Slavery, nitwit democRats need to be reminded of it.
I like “interviews are still ongoing with the parties involved”. Lol gonna be hard to get much out of the perp methinks
Annnnnnd, another life lost because of drugs.
That shouldn’t be as funny as it is.
The accomplice who fled would be guilty of second degree homicide under FL statutes. I doubt this incident is storm related. Tallahassee Utilities were only interrupted for a few hours after Helene. My son’s was out less than 16. He’s not really sure how long as he worked 16 hrs the day after. He’s an electrician that specializes in installing/servicing Generac Generators. He hasn’t had more than a couple of days off since a week before Helene. Anyway, if the store was open for business I suspect they had power. Still, pray for the victims of the storms. Those poor souls in Taylor County and north through the Suwannee River valley have been hit three times in 13 months. If nothing else though, Florida Crackers are resilient. We have to be.
Reviewing the weather data leads me to think Tallahasse might a good place to dodge hurricanes. Ditto just north of Tampa. This last storm actually sucked water out of Tampa Bay, as opposed to a surge. Sarasota/Ft Myers, not so lucky.
XZX, the data doesn’t say it all. Tallahassee is a very tree friendly city. They have a lot of “canopy roads” and they are exactly what they sound like. It’s almost like driving through a cave, except it’s live oaks. The rest of town has a lot of old growth trees. Just lost an oak in front of the Old Capitol. It had been there for generations. Closed downtown for hours. When Tallahassee does get hit it’s a real shit show.
“Tallahassee does get hit it’s a real shit show.”
Absolutely. It is a never ending source amazement to me how few people generally get killed by just random falling branches, much less trees. And the bigger and older they are, the more the danger. I was brought to my knees once by a baseball bat precisely on top of my muffs – I looked around, no bad guy. Just a pissant branch maybe 2x your thumb on the big end, probably from 30′ up.
Then there’s the teen tragedy canopy road car wrecks…
Also – Fatalities on l10 could be reduced by clear cutting the ROW, and planting loblolly thick as dog hair from the emergency lane to the fence. When they get as big as your leg, thin and replant. Let the ones on the fence line get big. Reduce the noise too.
Trees are good, but need management.
“Trees are good, but need management.”
Yes, but properly trained management. I have a huge silver maple in the front yard that some yahoo topped several years prior to our landing here. I recently had to remove a few widow makers, because the larger branches that had been end cut are rotting from the inside out. Some trees just shouldn’t be shaped into a neat ball.
I don’t visit FL very often, but whenever I do, I enjoy seeing all those loblolly and longleaf pines you have there. Nice trees.
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