A law-abiding citizen with a carry permit killed a would-be robber in Brooklyn Park Monday evening. The Brooklyn Park PD just confirmed that the shooter was a citizen with a carry permit, and the decedent was attempting to rob the citizen.
The person targeted for robbery has “a valid permit to carry a handgun” and was not arrested, said Deputy Police Chief Mark Bruley.
Officers recovered both guns at the scene as they continue to investigate the shooting.
Police have yet to disclose the identities of those involved in the confrontation.
And I’m going to speculate that the law-abiding citizen who did the shooting won’t get his name released, because of the danger he’d face from the rest of the community. It’s been true with several of the justifiable homicides we’ve seen – the Evanovich shooting and the Broadbent incident last summer among them.
Bruley said the man who died “goes back and forth between Brooklyn Park and Minneapolis. He’s an individual we’ve known from previous contact. He certainly hangs out around here.” Bruley declined to say more about that contact entailed.
I’m going to guess it involved the fact that he was just in the middle of getting his life turned around. It’s a theme in this sorts of episodes.
State Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, said the outcome of this shooting validates a 2003 law in Minnesota that allows people to carry a firearm in public.
“A loss of life is a tragedy,” Garofalo wrote. “But when a criminal pulls a gun, they risk ending their life. Concealed carry works.”
As of early this year, there were more than 221,000 active permit holders in Minnesota, according to the latest data report from the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The total has grown by more than 20,000 in the past six months. Now, about one in 19 eligible Minnesota adults has a permit to carry, according to Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance.
The number is up over 5% of eligible adults – which, in some parts of the state, likely means there’s a better than one in ten chance that someone you might want to try to rob can end you.
The odds are better in the Metro, if you’re a robber; most don’t grow up in a (law-abiding) gun culture; there are fewer ambient, social chances to get into shooting, much less self-defense. Less than 2% of eligible adults have carry permits in the Metro, where the crime rate shows they are the most needed (and, I’d argue, also shows their lack).
Condolences to the victim’s family; he may have run off the rails, but he was someone’s kid, brother or parent.
And best of luck to the shooter, whoever you are. And thanks.
UPDATE: Is this predictable or what – the Strib always shuts down story comments when a good guy uses a gun against a bad actor.
Wonder why that is?
UPDATE 2: By my count, since 2005, that makes five human lives saved via the ability to resist violence with a legally-carried handgun:
- A bouncer shot a knife-wielding drunk outside a Minneapolis bar.
- Another bouncer shot another knife-wielding drunk outside Grumpy’s in Northeast Minneapolis
- An unidentified man shot Darren Evanovich behind the Cub Foods on East Lake street in 2011, after Evanovich and his sister pistolwhipped a fifty-something Latina cleaning lady and stole her just-cashed paycheck.
- Another unidentified man shot Lauventai Broadbent last August, one of a small gang of teenagers who tried to rob the citizen using guns they’d stolen earlier that day on the East Side.
- Yesterday’s episode.
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