Akron Pizza Shop Robbery
In Akron Ohio, a man wearing an orange ski mask and carrying a sawed off shotgun stormed into a home owned pizza shop demanding money. John Hayes, the owner, complied, handing over a stack of ten dollar bills. The robber wanted more and Mr. Hayes found himself looking down the barrel of a deadly weapon. Then, the criminal looked away from the shop owner for a fraction of a second. The shop owner drew his concealed handgun and saved his life by shooting his attacker in the chest.
"As soon as I gave him the money, I pulled my gun out from my hip, pointed it and fired four shots."
Hayes relates. The robber collapsed to the floor, then stood up. Hayes fired three more shots from his 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol. The masked criminal staggered outside and collapsed across the street. The cash scattered outside the restaurant. Mr. Hayes called 911.When the police arrived, the armed robber, twenty year old Patrick Finney, was hemorrhaging in the street outside the pizzeria as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. The bleeding bandit's pockets had been rifled through by another predator. Patrick Finney expired a short time later in the hospital.
The righteous defender has a concealed carry permit. "I'm devastated," Mr. Hayes said afterwards. "It's an unbelievable situation I've been put into because of some person's carelessness and thoughtlessness. I'm in fear of my life, my employees' lives and the lives of everybody I know." Hayes has noticed a person photographing his establishment for no particular reason. He is receiving telephone calls that hang up immediately. There has been a noticeable decrease in customers. All because a twenty year old punk decided to make a little money with a sawed off shotgun and a ski mask.
The delivery driver at Mr. Hayes' pizzeria also has a concealed carry license and packs a gun. "People don't care. They take $100 and don't give a shit. They don't want to be identified and so they kill you." he says. "I'm not going to be killed for $100." While the death of Patrick Finney is listed as a homicide, it is unlikely that Mr. Hayes will be charged with an unlawful act.
Labels: Self Defense
posted by Xavier at 9:27 AM
23 Comments:
Heh. The first thing that comes to mind after reading that is, "I hope Mr. Hayes didn't let the money blow away." What do you suppose the odds are that the ever-so-gentle scumbag who tried to rob him has connections in a gang, or at least family and "friends" who are calling around to drive down Mr. Hayes customers? Last, the police need to correct that listing of "homicide". Either charge Mr. Hayes or change it to "self-defense" or "justifiable homicide" at the least.
I want to know why news people insist on referring to the (now dead) robber and others like him as "the victim." The pizza shop owner was the victim; at best the the dead guy can be referred to as the deceased. Of course given the state of news today they'd probably refer to him as the "alleged deceased" (as if that would make him any less dead or any less the instigator of the whole scenario).
The planet is an incrementally better place since Finney's early demise. I think of all the crimes this thug would have committed over his remaining lifetime, the people he'd hurt or kill in the process. When they're doing armed robbery at 20, it's highly unlikely that they'll ever have an epiphanal turn and become anything other than a tumor on society. If he'd kept his nose clean, he could have walked into a recruiting office a couple of years ago and become a Medic or Corpsman, with excellent prospects for future employment upon discharge.
Lets hope that this Darwinian award winner hadn't had a chance to pass along his genetic material.
The inevitable flood of "He was such a good boy, never hurt anybody" just makes me sick of the entitlement mentality of some people in this world.
Score that as: SheepDogs 1, Wolves 0
I was a little put off by the 911 dispatcher's incredulous, "You shot him!?" If she's so surprised by that information that she can't maintain a professional tone of voice, perhaps a career change might be in order for her.
Kind of a nitpicky note, but...
"While the death of Patrick Finney is listed as a homicide, it is unlikely that Mr. Hayes will be charged with an unlawful act."
Medical examiners rule a death a homicide when a person is killed by another person. The prosecutor's office decides if it was justifiable or not.
Even when a police officer shoots someone and kills them in a justifiable shooting, it is still classified as a homicide by the medical examiners.
Akron has never been a city I would enjoy spending time in, And their Shall Issue Law is wonky with respect to what county honors it. It is difficult to stay legal while carrying in that state. I am glad no one good was injured.
I wished I lived in Ohio, I would go have some pizza there.
The " Akron pizza shop owner shoots and kills 20 year - old shotgun - wielding robber" story is similar to many others these days. This incident raises again multiple issues of philosophy and tactics.
Philosophy first- the saddest part ( out of multiple sad parts) of the whole issue is this - how have we, as a society , created such a cohort of amoral predators? How did we raise a horde of young felons for whom right and wrong, ethical conduct, and the "social contract" are meaningless ? The dead man showed he was willing to kill if needed, to steal the product of another mans sweat and capital. Such predators have been around since Cain clubbed Abel, but the modern version seems to be more common and more violent, more unsympathetic, motivated in all things solely by his immediate desires; an animal totally remorseless in action. "You have something I want, I am more powerful than you; I offer a new social contract- gimme your stuff and maybe I won't kill you". The only response that any self-respecting citizen can offer such proposition is to fight back. Anything else is cowardice. I would prefer to fight back with something more than a 9x19, but I digress.
How did this sad state come to pass?
In some socio-economic strata, our nation has produced at least two successive generations of fatherless males. These males have no civic role model. They have not learned of the noble actions and brave and virtuous men of history -their role models are not hardworking mechanics and carpenters, engineers and doctors, shop owners and church deacons, good fathers and football coaches. Instead, their role models are pimps and drug dealers, killers and gangstas.
In a world where "virtue" and "morality" are the real dirty words, and a relentlessly secular state has expunged any hint of the traditional Judeo-Christian ethical worldview from their instruction, they have never been taught right from wrong, the Golden Rule, or the concept of putting others before self. They swim in a popular culture that celebrates sex, the degradation of women, the objectification of everyone else.
They have never been required to be responsible for their actions. They steal, they kill without remorse or regret. Perhaps this can change in the future, but in the short run, most of these are simply predators, and must be dealt with as such. Which leads to the tactics discussion.
As for tactics - once again we see a demonstration of the fact that the Good Guy will almost always be REACTING to the Bad Guy. The pizza man, the shop owner, the mechanic, simply cannot confront each customer with drawn weapon and consequently is always a step behind in the action - decision- reaction cycle. Using a distraction to allow time to draw and fire likely prevented the GG's serious injury. There is no question in this circumstance of allowing the BG to give up, to shout "hands up".
Lessons learned from the Akron Pizza Shop Robbery are several:
1) Do not let the BG open the ball - it places you at a serious disadvantage.
Keep aware of your situation - COL Cooper's Condition Yellow. Seeing a man in an orange ski mask before he opens the front door gives you a few moments to prepare. Perhaps you can even remotely lock the door, stopping the show before it starts. If you work in an office environment, make sure the reception staff knows what to do.
2) Don't draw into a drawn gun held by an aware opponent unless you absolutely must.
Even the Lone Ranger wasn't that fast. Wait for or create a distraction. Drop your wallet as you hand it over. Have a heart attack. You might even vomit.
3) Move off the bullseye as you draw.
If there is any cover at all take advantage of it. Step behind the telephone pole, the mail box, the corner of the wall. Even a few feet of movement complicates the BG's shooting.
4) Shoot until your opponent goes down.
Solid hits are great, but as long as the BG is upright, moving and armed, he can kill you. Do not fall into the "two shots, lower the weapon, evaluate" drill. While you are "evaluating", even a mortally wounded bad guy can kill you with his last breath.
These comments are just that, comments. Carefully evaluate your own situation and make your decisions ahead of time. Practice your actions, and if everything goes to hell, keep your fighting mindset and remember Winston Churchills words: "Never give up. Never Give up. never, never, never , never , never give up".
I am now headed to the range on the beautiful central Texas day, to practice for the day, which God willing, will never come.
GKT
Wait. He is bleeding in the street with a bunch of money blowing around, armed with a shotgun, and someone comes along and mugs him?
Leave religion out of it greg, I like in the third most secular in europe(23% believe in a god, and that's not just the christian one counted), and we have far less violent crime than you.
Mikael:
I hope Xavier will allow me to make this defense publicly. Any other comments or further discussion you may direct to GKTTXAG@AOL.com
Thanks for your input.
I plead "Not Guilty" to the charge of invoking religion. I was specifically NOT invoking religion as it is not appropriate here. I was invoking the "Judeo-Christian worldview", which is not the same thing. The Judeo-Christian worldview, in fact, the underpinning of the entire legal and moral conception we refer to as "Western Thought". You do not need to be a Christian, a Jew, or even believe in anything to subscribe to it.
You do not say where you are, perhaps France fits the bill, I don't know, but in most countries in Europe, the shopkeepers actions would get him arrested. What would the reaction of the authorities be, where you live, to a similar incident?
GKT
His death is a homicide, as it was due to the deliberate actions of another human being. All deaths that are due to the deliberate actions of another human being are ruled as homicides.
Now, the coroner does not determine what kind of homicide it is, that is up to the county prosecutor and/or the grand jury. In my opinion, this looks like a clear case of justifiable homicide.
"The victim"......
wrong try again.
What amazes me is that someone robbed the bleeding robber as he lay dying.
Unreal.
The tone of the dispatcher's voice conveyed to me that she was shocked and disapproving that the victim had shot the armed perpetrator. Frankly, I'm shocked that she would be so accusatory to a crime victim calling 911 to report a crime.
Looks like Patrick Finney won himself a Darwin Award along with a $100 prize and 7 pieces of lead and copper jewelry.
Too bad he's not around to enjoy the fruits of his labor heh?
Good riddance to bad rubbish. Thank God no innocent people were hurt.
Hopefully Akron is not one of them "Gun Free Zones" that keep everyone so safe.
Joe
I noticed that from the 911 tape, too. I have no doubt she would not have used such a surprised and derogatory tone if he said, "He shot me."
Too many people have no understanding of what it is to defend yourself. Failing to defend yourself should be the exception.
-Sans Authoritas
daveoh, I don't follow your comment about Ohio's shall issue Concealed Handgun License. There have been very few problems with people getting their CHL's other than some long delays with some background checks. As far as cities in Ohio go Akron is certainly not the worst. Most areas are pretty safe.
I would like to point out that Mr. Hayes pizza shop has gotten a lot of business from members of OFCC in the last 8 days. People have driven hundreds of miles to get dinner and show support.
Check out the thread on ohioccwforums.org.
BTW - I live in the Akron area.
This whole thing with the pizza shop robbary i hope the pizza shop owner gets time in jail and i hope Patricks family makes sure that the pizza shop owner goes to jail because he didnt have no right to shoot patrick again after he got up and walked away from him!!! Once Partick left he didnt have to shoot him 3 more times!!! Iam sorry i dont feel bad for the pizza shop owner because once you got robbed in the same place you would have more protection(like security gaurds or 24 hour police around!) So i dont feel bad for the pizza man! He gets what he deserves! And dont none of you on here have the RIGHT TO TALK MESS ABOUT PATRICK BECAUSE NONE OF YOU KNEW HIM!!! I KNEW THE BOY AND HE WASNT A BAD KID AT ALL SO DONT TALK MESS ABOUT SOMEONE THAT IS NO LONGER IN THIS LIFE!!!!!
Quite a few of us that post on ohioccwforums.org have gone to the Your Pizza shop and talked to Mr. Hayes. Patrick was NOT walking away!! After being shot four times he fell down. He then got up, still holding the shotgun, facing Mr. Hayes. Mr. Hayes then shot him three more times.
It has been found to be a good shoot by the power that be.
Also, be aware the Mr. Hayes CAN NOT be sued for harming/killing Patrick while Patrick was committing a felony. See http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=127_SB_184
Hello anonymous internet troll with horrible spelling, good job being an idiot. On the off chance that you are telling the truth of knowing the deceased, then I feel sorry for you. By that I mean I feel sorry that one of your loved ones had to die over some paper. But you should not "talk mess" as you put it about Mr. Hayes. His actions were in direct result of your Finneys. Finney walked into his store with the intent to kill. He intended to kill Mr. Hayes for the paper in his drawer, and with that action he lost all rights to life. If you are willing to kill another human being over nothing more than a $100 in a cash drawer, you had damned well be willing to die over that $100.
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