An armed citizen in Tennessee ended a hostage/robbery with a single deadly shot.

The would-be robber entered a corner store, wielding a large blade. After stealing the contents of the cash register, he took a female clerk hostage on his way out the door.

A customer ran to his vehicle, grabbed his gun, and shot the perpetrator in the chest once, killing him. The hostage was unscathed.

According to local law enforcement, the deceased perp had a previous criminal record. No names will be released until next of kin have been notified.

WDEF reported:

It’s more than 24-hours since a man armed with a knife was shot and killed at the Kangaroo gas station on Ringgold Road, and the identities of the armed robber and customer who killed the robber have yet to be revealed. Capt. Tim Mullinax said there was a good reason why. “We’ve identified him but we have not made notification to next of kin yet. We’re having a difficult time tracking down next of kin of the person who was shot. Until we do that, we won’t be releasing anyone’s names,” Mullinax said. East Ridge Police did however confirm that although they had no prior dealings with the robber, he does have a Hamilton County criminal record. They also confirmed surveillance video shows the events inside the store during the robbery, but are not sure if it actually shows the robber being shot. That video won’t be released until the case is cleared. For now, the story goes like this: The robber entered the store with a knife, stole cash and cigarettes then took a female store clerk hostage as he tried to exit the building. “They encountered a customer on the front sidewalk. The customer ran back to his vehicle and retrieved a weapon. The suspect who was shot confronted him and he fired at least one round striking him in the body,” Mullinax said. He also went on to say the robber was still holding the woman hostage when he was fatally shot and that the armed customer got lucky. The customer managed to fire off a fatal round into the robber’s chest without hitting the hostage. The customer is not facing any charges, but had he hit and killed the store clerk, charges could be pending.

Local news called the shot “lucky,” but it sounds like the work of a skilled marksmen to me.

Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye



