Baltimore Residents Take Matters Into Their Own Hands In Two Recent Shootings
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore police say a 21-year-old man who walked into a Northwest Baltimore phone store and tried to rob the store was shot by an employee Tuesday.
Police said the incident unfolded around 1:30 p.m. at the Metro PCS store on the 5400 block of Sinclair Lane.
Investigators believe a customer, a 21-year-old man, walked into the store around seeking customer service, but store employees said they could not assist him. The customer then left the store and returned a short time later with a handgun, announcing a robbery, police said.
At that time, one of the store employees wrestled the suspect for the gun when the gun discharged, shooting the other employee in the leg. Police said the gun then fell to the ground.
The employee who was shot then allegedly picked up the gun and shot the suspect in the abdomen.
WJZ obtained radio transmissions between emergency workers during their response to the scene, and it sounded as if someone was screaming from excruciating pain inside the store.
"That kind of freaks me out, because I literally was just coming here to talk to somebody about my bill," one woman told WJZ as she arrived at the store, which was closed the day after the suspected attempted robbery.
This is the second time in less than a week that city residents have decided to take matters into their own hands.
On May 26, police say people on Bryant Avenue in Baltimore tackled a woman and held her down after she shot someone. The woman had a black eye in her mug shot.
People fed up with crime are taking things into their own hands, and WJZ asked Mayor Brandon Scott about it.
"We want our residents to be safe we don't want them to put themselves at risk, but we also understand that this is Baltimore and people take pride in their community and their businesses and places that they work," said Mayor Scott.
There are cases of workers fighting back in other states, as was depicted in a recent surveillance video from a jewelry store in California where workers fought off suspected burglars.
Police say both the suspect and the employee who was shot at the Metro PCS store have non-life threatening injuries.
The suspect will be charged with attempted armed robbery, reckless endangerment, and various handgun violations upon being discharged from the hospital, police said. An investigation is ongoing.
