News/Commentary

FL store owner warns ‘smash and grab’ robbers after 2 killed: ‘There’s a good chance you’re gonna get shot’

October 17, 2022 | | Print Article

Florida store owners are tired of being victims and are warning criminals to stay away or “get shot,” after giving two would-be robbers a taste of their own medicine.

Police swarmed Orlando’s Magic Mall on Friday after receiving reports of a brazen daytime “smash and grab” at a jewelry store. The store’s owner, however, didn’t wait for police to engage the criminals, firing at the suspects, one of whom was reportedly armed, forcing them to flee the scene.

“I don’t know if they got anything,” one store owner said. “One of them got a bullet, though.”

The incident involved four perpetrators, according to police.

“The store owner shot at the suspects,” police said in an email to Fox35. “One suspect was found deceased on scene. The three other suspects fled in a vehicle that was later found at a nearby location.”

Police found a second suspect in the getaway vehicle with gunshot wounds. The suspect was taken to a local hospital where he died, according to police.

The two remaining suspects hopped into a waiting SUV and escaped, according to witnesses, and police have not released additional information about their identities.

Incidents such as this are why many Magic Mall store owners are armed. They are tired of criminals calling the shots.

“There’s a lot of concealed license carriers here,” one store owner said. “So if you come to the Magic Mall and you want to commit a crime, there’s a really good chance you’re gonna get shot.”

Johnny Jordan, who lives next door to the crime scene, agreed, saying criminals should find somewhere else to perpetrate mayhem.

“Sooner or later, they’re gonna get them,” he said.

Unlike like the Wild West, store owners aren’t shooting up the mall on a random Friday afternoon, but they will resort to deadly force if threatened, they said.

“Normally we’re good, but we have to take care of ourselves, we have to,” one store owner said.

Mayhem ensued after the shooting, with the suspects plowing into people in their haste to flee the scene, a witness described.

“If you hear gunshots are you just gonna stand there? No. I’m not,” she said, as she described lying on the floor until the chaos and danger passed.

In a city where criminals ambush and assault police officers, it’s no wonder business owners are opting to protect themselves and thieves should take note, “This aint California.”

Here are a few other responses to the story from Twitter:

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