Good Guy w/ Gun Stops Bad Guy w/ Gun, Lenexa Costco

'I Thought I Was Going to Die' reads the first part of the KC Star headline about the incident that took place on Sunday morning at the Lenexa Costco. Incidentally, I drive past this every morning on my way to work.

A man who brandished a gun inside a busy Costco Wholesale store Sunday in Lenexa was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer who was there shopping, according to Lenexa police.

There it is. A man came in with a gun and started waving it around, threatening, and according to some accounts fired shots. The off-duty cop happened to be there shopping with his family and had his sidearm with him. He did what he was trained to do. No more bad guy with gun and disaster averted.

The armed man was shouting as he approached the store, said Willits, the shopper from Merriam, who was near the front entrance at the customer service line. Some employees were shouting to close the metal security doors, but they couldn’t get the doors with their rattling chains down in time.

Suddenly he was in, she said, with a gun in his left hand down at his side. His unintelligle shouts were “louder than I heard anyone yell before…and I thought, ‘Oh my God.’”

Moments later, outside the back door catching her breath, Willits said, she heard employees say that there was a policeman inside the store. “Then we heard pop! pop! pop! pop! pop! — five or six — and they said those were gunshots.”

The employees did their best to shut him out before he could get in, but they weren't fast enough. So it was up to the armed man inside the store, legally carrying, to take action.

One less.....yay thank you officer!! Sometimes the good guys are standing next to you and you don’t know it.

a reply to: ketsuko

Off duty cops got guns, so should everyone. Because the odds of that cop happening to be there were even lower than the store being robbed at gunpoint.

The odds stores would continue to get robbed in the face of open carry is about zero. That would be like a robber trying to rob the police department.

a reply to: intrptr

I know both Missouri and Kansas are concealed carry, but I think Missouri is open carry too. I've seen people packing openly on this side of the line.

a reply to: ketsuko

All armed law abiding citizens are potential good guys. In fact if the robber saw side arms in the store before he went in, he probably would still be alive. This begs questions. Why don't off duty cops open carry? Might be a deterrent. But others might complain too much. "Hey if he gets to carry, why don't I?" So they keep it hidden. Why this robber died. He didn't know an off duty cop was in the store. If he walked in and saw pistols in holsters he would put his away, buy some gum and walk out.

open carry states

a reply to: intrptr

He was pretty far gone. I don't think he was there to rob. The accounts say he was waving his gun around in the parking lot and yelling.

That's how the employees knew to try to get the store's security doors down and locked, but they were too cumbersome to operate quickly enough. He got in anyhow yelling and waving his gun. So he was disturbed about something. That's why the off duty cop stepped up and dropped him.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: intrptr

He was pretty far gone. I don't think he was there to rob. The accounts say he was waving his gun around in the parking lot and yelling.

That's how the employees knew to try to get the store's security doors down and locked, but they were too cumbersome to operate quickly enough. He got in anyhow yelling and waving his gun. So he was disturbed about something. That's why the off duty cop stepped up and dropped him.

Imo, He was 'waving his gun' to get up courage. He went in with it drawn to rob the place, pretty sure.

a reply to: intrptr

Pretty stupid robber. Bad choice of place. Bad choice of time, and bad approach.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: intrptr

Pretty stupid robber. Bad choice of place. Bad choice of time, and bad approach.

He was afraid beforehand, more than usual. Death was on his shoulder and he shook it off.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: ketsuko

All armed law abiding citizens are potential good guys. In fact if the robber saw side arms in the store before he went in, he probably would still be alive. This begs questions. Why don't off duty cops open carry? Might be a deterrent. But others might complain too much. "Hey if he gets to carry, why don't I?" So they keep it hidden. Why this robber died. He didn't know an off duty cop was in the store. If he walked in and saw pistols in holsters he would put his away, buy some gum and walk out.

open carry states

I imagine police officers don’t open carry off-duty is because they don’t want to be hyper vigilant 24/7, especially without getting paid for it. Inevitably someone will think they should try and take the open carry firearm, which is why most folks don’t open carry, off-duty police or civilIans. I think the reasons they conceal carry is for protection in the event previous bad guys they encountered seek revenge. That said, doesn’t mean they can’t step in if needed.

Always a good guy with a gun that saves the day in every single incident. Also, what we do not hear about, is the many times incidents are stopped by armed people who never even have to fire a shot. Now I know that goes against the whole, don't pull it unless your gonna use it, but nonethless, it tends to work a lot.

a reply to: ketsuko

And for every one of these cases you could point to ten Accidental shootings probably..

Justifiable homicides are extremely rare..

a reply to: ketsuko

Yea gotta love the roaming bands of armed people who look like the kids who got beat up in highschool, patrolling Walmart...

If there were no guns then none of it would have happened......

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
If there were no guns then none of it would have happened......

If my aunt had a 'pair' she'd be my uncle.

originally posted by: JoshuaCox
a reply to: ketsuko

Yea gotta love the roaming bands of armed people who look like the kids who got beat up in highschool, patrolling Walmart...

Never have seen them in the area around the Walmarts in towns around here. Hate the criminals, not the guns...

It should be noted that Costco's membership agreement prohibits guns being brought in by members.

a reply to: Lab4Us

I imagine police officers don’t open carry off-duty is because they don’t want to be hyper vigilant 24/7, especially without getting paid for it.

They better be. Arresting people all day is bound to create resentment, not only with criminals but family and friends, too.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: ketsuko

Off duty cops got guns, so should everyone. Because the odds of that cop happening to be there were even lower than the store being robbed at gunpoint.

The odds stores would continue to get robbed in the face of open carry is about zero. That would be like a robber trying to rob the police department.

More guns does not automatically equal more safety.

But in regards to the OP; good job, glad no one else got hurt.

originally posted by: cynicalheathen
It should be noted that Costco's membership agreement prohibits guns being brought in by members.

Kansas state law allows off duty law enforcement to carry anywhere they'd be able to carry on duty.