Michigan woman with concealed carry permit opens fire at alleged Home Depot shoplifters

Michigan woman with concealed carry permit opens fire at alleged Home Depot shoplifters

Police in Auburn Hills, Michigan are investigating whether or not to charge a conceal carry permit holder who opened fire at alleged shoplifters at a Home Depot store.

According to The Detroit News, the 47-year-old woman was watching from the store’s parking lot on Tuesday as a loss prevention officer appeared to be trying to stop a shoplifter. When the suspects tried to flee in a dark SUV, the woman pulled out her concealed 9mm handgun and began shooting.

Erm...they're investigating whether or not to charge? This is just crazy. Seems irresponsible...licensed or not. This should be an interesting one to discuss and follow.


Hero? Vigilante? Off-duty or retired cop?

I'm just glad she didn't hit an innocent bystander or something. Seems she was careful.

According to the station, eyewitnesses who called a local radio station Wednesday said the woman fired three times at the suspect's car, spacing out her shots to take aim.

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This incident comes just a couple of weeks after an incident in Warren, a city about 23 miles away, where a 63-year-old man with a concealed pistol permit opened fire and hit a bank robbery suspect.

In both instances, police reportedly said the person with the permit who opened fire cooperated with them afterward.
[Source]

Employees other than those trained to do so aren't even allowed to engage with suspected shoplifters for safety and legal reasons. But a random person in a parking lot can just start shooting? Yeah, where is this all heading?

Expert: Woman shouldn't have fired gun at shoplifter

And experts interviewed Wednesday doubted the shooting could have been justified.

“It’s my worst nightmare as a CPL instructor,” said Doreen Hankins, owner of Detroit Arms, which holds CPL classes. “You have to know the entire situation before you pull that handgun out. And I don’t see that a shoplifter at Home Depot fills any of those criteria.”
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To use a concealed weapon in Michigan, a CPL holder needs to think that there is an imminent danger of death, great bodily harm or sexual assault, or think there is a similar danger to someone else, said Rick Ector, a firearms trainer who runs Legally Armed Detroit. He added that a gun is “truly a tool of last resort.”

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Bangin' away at shoplifters, Blam, Blam, ping, pweeee!
Erm, a firearms permit is not a license to kill.

She should be charged with something. The permit is for personal protection, not private security guard.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Idiots like this are going to cost everyone their right to conceal carry.
2nd.

Trying to kill someone for shoplifting....
I for one think this is wrong.
Arrest and fine or jail but no one should be shot for shoplifting.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Yeah...from that "expert" article:

“In that situation personally, there’s no way I would be shooting my gun,” said another instructor, Dawn Martin, with the Kalamazoo-based Viper Security Enforcement Inc.

CPL holders who misuse their guns could face a wide range of charges — among them felony firearm, reckless use of a firearm and felonious assault.

Two incidents within just a few miles?
Could this be staged?
Gotta get rid of them guns ya know!

Put a weapon in the hands of a responsible person - potential hero
Put a weapon in the hands of an idiot - bad times ahead.

a reply to: Gothmog

Seems to me like a situation where maybe more mandatory training would be a good idea.

a reply to: VoidHawk

or it could be the case of an instructor who doesn't know what their doing. gonna be pretty easy to find out. all the cops have to do is look at who taught both CCW holders and do an audit on the instructor. All this stuff is tracked.

a reply to: VoidHawk

Yeah like heaven forbid I leave my wallet at the register and a Home Depot employee chases me out to the parking lot to return it and someone assumes I stole something and blows me away. Just nuts.

Now I know there are those on ATS that believe criminals deserve whatever they get. And any commentary that questions actions taken against criminals is often viewed by those same individuals as showing support for criminals and criminal activity.

That said, this woman is 100% irresponsible and I'd question revoking her CCL if that's even a possibility. On top of that I think she should absolutely be charged with at least public endangerment or some variation of firearm violation. With limited to no context she opened fire on a moving vehicle in a public parking lot. There was no danger to herself or anyone until she began shooting at alleged shoplifters.

originally posted by: MojaveBurning
a reply to: ~Lucidity

Idiots like this are going to cost everyone their right to conceal carry.
2nd.

That seems to be the plan.

What a dummy. Trying to kill someone who stole a few nails and a hammer? Dumb dumb dumb. She should be charged, the fact that it's even being debated is pretty wtf.

Don't know the full story. But I'm not sure what the problem is. If nothing else? She was protecting her purchasing power at Home Depot. If it takes a "village" to raise children? Why not a "village" to protect it? If nothing else? There's a car out there with a bullet hole that the "cops" should be looking for. If not and this keeps up? It's going to get awful polite out there. And cops will be looking for another line of work. What's everyone upset about? She only fired three rounds. A cop would've dumped at least thirteen, over a trafic violation. Because you bucked his/her authority.

Her life was threatened in no way, so she violated the self defense clause. She is some asshat in a parking lot shooting passing cars. Prosecute the #e out of this psycho woman.

a reply to: murphy22

What If the guy had kids in the car? what If she missed and hit something else?.
Sorry but she acted like judge jury and executioner and decided the punishment for shoplifting is death.
Just glad she didn't hit anyone.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity

You said
"Idiots like this are going to cost everyone their right to conceal carry. "

Which is why I suggested it could be staged.

a reply to: murphy22

What's everyone upset about? A woman shot a gun at someone for freaking shoplifting in a crowded store. She could have injured or killed someone other than the shoplifter with her blinding stupidity.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Yeah...that's the part that got me. What's to debate?


a reply to: VoidHawk

Actually, MojaveBurning said that. Not that I don't agree.