Defensive Gun Use: Man Shot Trying to Rob Cell Store
A shooting in Overland Park, KS, left one man dead after he attempted to rob a Boost Mobile store at 76th and Metcalf.
Overland Park Police Department (OPPD) said that Deshawn Brim entered the cell phone store at around 7:45 p.m. while his wife waited outside.
With a gun in his hand, Brim ordered the employees to turn over merchandise.
After reviewing security camera footage of the shooting, John Lacy a spokesman with OPPD said,
What we see is we see the suspect go into the store. He displays a handgun, and at the same time he’s demanding merchandise. At that point, he put the gun into his waistband or in his pocket, and that’s when the employee at that point, he brandished a firearm.”
According to Lacy, when Brim put his pistol back into his waist band, an employee of the Boost Mobile store who had been robbed before at that same location, drew his own gun and ordered Brim to leave the property.
“The employee engaged and told him to leave the store and get out, and that’s when the firearms were almost like muzzle to muzzle,” Lacy said. “And that’s when the fight occurred between the two, and that’s when the fire fight began.”
The employee shot and killed Brim and then locked the door to the front of the store to prevent any other intruders. Brim’s wife, then tried to gain access to the building, but could not due to the locked door.
OPPD officers quickly arrived and took control of the scene. Officers questioned the armed employee and other employees who had sought cover behind the counter as the gun fight occurred. Brim’s wife was also questioned, but the police decided that no arrests in the situation were warranted.
According to Spokesman Lacy, Brim had been in and out of jail before, and was on parole at the time of the shooting for weapons charges.
“Be aware that if you’re the bad guy, the good guy can also have a firearm, too,” Lacy said. “You never know who is carrying a firearm.”
This is the sort of self-defense scenario that the concealed gun carrier needs to be prepared for both before, during, and after it happens. Proper training and mindset help you before and during, and having some sort of legal coverage after is also very important. You can compare all the big players in this arena by check out our concealed carry insurance chart, here.
What do you think of this self defense shooting? Is there anything you’d do differently? Leave a comment below to let me know.
It is unbelievable just how often cell phone stores are the scene for events like this. Location, location, location. I don’t see a cell phone store visit in my future, but if I did somehow fall into one, I can assure you my head would be on a swivel, with 15+1 in my waistband, where it resides during all my waking hours.
I think the employee exercised proper restraint by waiting for his moment… BG ‘holstered’ his handgun, before he drew his own weapon. Props for him giving a strong verbal command, too. My having the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and all the time in the world to think things through, I would add to the employee’s ‘leave the store’ command. Maybe, “LEAVE YOUR GUN WHERE IT IS AND GET OUT OF THE STORE, NOW!”. Also, I think the employee would have been justified if he fired in self defense as soon as the BG began to retrieve the gun from his waistband. Posturing “muzzle to muzzle” doesn’t sound like an optimal position to be in.
I not trying to make a game out of this by keeping score, but I am please that this ended GG 1, BG 0, rather than the other way around.