Armed Citizen Shoots Gun-Wielding Man in Dollar General

The quick actions of an armed citizen stopped a gun-wielding man in his tracks at a Dollar General store.

The gunman walked into the store in Orrville, Alabama, and began waving his pistol around. He ordered a customer and a cashier towards the break room at gunpoint.

It was the gunman’s unlucky day: that customer happened to be armed. He pulled out his concealed handgun and fired one shot into the gunman’s chest.

Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman Jr. explained the incident to WSFA:

“He escorted a customer and a cashier toward a break room. The cashier went in first and the customer went in behind her and the individual had the gun on the customer and the customer had a pistol concealed in a holster and when the customer got to the door, he turned around and shot the individual.”

The gunman was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say the entire incident unfolded in less than five minutes.

The store has a sign on the door that says open carry of a weapon is not allowed inside. Whether or not the customer has a concealed carry permit has not been determined yet. According to Huffman, the customer’s gun was concealed and inside a holster:

“The deceased individual had his in his hand, waving it. The customer actually had one in a holster covered up. We’re in the process of checking on permits and all of that. To have a gun concealed, you need a permit. To carry it open carry, you don’t. But you have a sign in a place of business, that’s letting you know that the people inside that place of business do not want guns in there.”

Huffman said an investigation is being conducted, and the customer is not facing any charges at this time:

“You have one individual waving a gun and you have another one who shoots the one waving the gun. Some people say that’s justifiable.Then you’re going to have some who says it’s not. I think we need to get all of the information we can get from everybody and then go forward from there.”

Whether or not the customer has a concealed carry permit seems irrelevant, doesn’t it? The store doesn’t have a sign that says “no concealed carry of a weapon allowed.” It is clear that in this case the customer used his weapon for self-defense, which is his constitutional right.

He also likely saved the life of the cashier, and other customers who may have entered the store during the ordeal.

The gunman’s motive is unclear at this time, and no other customers were injured.