October 10, 2022
There have been at least 12 instances over the last two months across the country of armed individuals thwarting attacks and crime by firing a gun or just simply displaying it to a suspect.
“I would always protect my employees, my customers, myself. This instance, fortunately, I was here by myself, so I only had to worry about that. I took care of it and that was that,” Craig Cope, an 80-year-old liquor store owner in California, told CBS LA in August of thwarting an armed robbery.
The liquor store owner was one of at least 12 people across the country between August and September who stopped a crime by turning the tables on a suspect and opening fire or displaying their firearm. In Cope’s case, he stopped a would-be robber by firing his shotgun.