COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A gun store owner shot and killed a man attempting to rob his store Monday morning, according to police.
The owner of Dixie Gun and Pawn on Veterans Memorial Parkway in Cobb County, along with one other worker, had just opened the store when two men with ski masks and guns came in, according to investigators. Police say the owner pulled out his gun and fired, hitting one of the gunmen.
The second gunman took off in a silver Dodge Magnum and headed east down Veterans Memorial Parkway. Police are still searching for that man, and said they believe he is armed.
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“I figure it was going to happen sooner or later. So much crime around here,” the owner’s friend, Bill Bloedow, said.
The owner told Channel 2’s Ross Cavitt off-camera that he felt he had no choice.
"It could have been him shot, you know. He was just protecting his merchandise and those around him,” Bloedow said. “I hope it puts the fear in people going around trying to do this stuff, there is too much crime in this area."
Store owner shoots, kills one of two armed robbers who entered Cobb County Gun and Pawn shop. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/3NLNLTCGPh
— Ross Cavitt (@RossCavitt) December 26, 2016
There were two customers in the store at the time. They were not hurt.
"It's just amazing to see someone try to come into a gun store to rob a gun store. I mean, that was a really un-thought-out plan,” customer Terrance Coner said.
The store owner had to rebuild the place after a 2015 fire left it in ruins. Since then, store regulars say the gun and pawn shop has been burglarized several times.
"He's just trying to make a living. That's all he's doing, and these guys come in and try to rob you and take your money and your guns. You can't have a business these days without people trying to take what you've got,” the owner’s friend, Victor Harris, said.
Harris said the store owner was very shaken by what happened.
“I feel sorry for both of them, really, and the guy that's laying in the floor there, too,” Harris said.
Police are hoping surveillance video inside the store will help them identify the second gunman.
Cox Media Group
