Key Takeaways
- An armed robbery occurred at the Smoke Shack in Fayetteville, where the clerk tried to defend himself.
- The suspect shot the clerk in the leg and stole his gun during the struggle.
- The article emphasizes the right to bear arms but warns that being armed does not guarantee safety.
- Law enforcement continues to search for the suspect and investigate the incident.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — An armed robbery at a Fayetteville smoke shop turned into a shooting Wednesday night, and the clerk who tried to defend himself ended up wounded and disarmed.
Police say a suspect walked into the Smoke Shack in the 4400 block of Murchison Road around 9 p.m., pulled a gun, and tried to rob the store.
The clerk was armed too. According to CBS17, he brought out his own weapon, and the two men got into a struggle.
That struggle did not go his way. Police say the suspect shot the clerk in the leg, then took the employee’s gun and ran out of the store.
I want to be straight about this one. A clerk facing a robber pointing a gun is staring down an imminent threat to his life, and he has every right to meet that threat with a firearm. That is exactly what the right to keep and bear arms is for.
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But being armed is not a guarantee. Closing the distance and fighting over a gun is dangerous, and here it cost the clerk a gunshot wound and his own weapon. It is a hard reminder that a defensive firearm is a tool, not a force field.
As of late Wednesday, Fayetteville police were still searching for the suspect and continuing to investigate.
