"The St. Charles County prosecutor’s office last week announced that the bystander was cleared of any wrongdoing in the homicide. He had interrupted a holdup after a clerk was held at knifepoint."

The link has a video of the incident.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/...36-26df32a068b1.html

You're good. Call 911': Video shows bystander fatally shooting robber at St. Charles QuikTrip

Kim Bell 20 hrs ago

ST. CHARLES — Surveillance video from a fatal QuikTrip shooting in St. Charles shows a bystander firing four shots while a robber ducks and dodges behind a display shelf of potato chips.

The July 16 encounter between the bystander with a gun and the robber holding a knife lasts about 25 seconds.

As the robber takes money out of the cash register, the bystander asks from the doorway if the robber is “good.” When the robber, 26-year-old Lance Bush, charges toward the bystander, the bystander fires shots until Bush falls to the floor.

The St. Charles County prosecutor’s office last week announced that the bystander was cleared of any wrongdoing in the homicide. He had interrupted a holdup after a clerk was held at knifepoint.

“I think it was very brave for him to intervene,” Lt. Thomas Wilkison of St. Charles police said Saturday.

The video confirms that Bush held the QuikTrip employee at knifepoint before the shooting, as the bystander told police last month. St. Charles released the video to the Post-Dispatch on Friday in response to a Sunshine Law request.

The Post-Dispatch is not naming the bystander because he was not charged with a crime. Prosecutors determined he was justified in shooting Bush.

The Post-Dispatch is also blurring the faces of the bystander and the QuikTrip employee in the surveillance video. The employee could not be reached for comment.

The QuikTrip is at 2260 First Capitol Drive. Bush was the lone customer in the store when he walked in at 3:18 a.m. and called to the clerk in a back aisle, “Hey miss, come here.”

Bush pushed her, grabbed her neck, and forced her to the register. He ordered her several times to open the cash register or he would “cut” her.

The bystander, who left the store a few seconds before Bush came in, saw this from the parking lot, police said, and retrieved a 9 mm gun from his vehicle and returned to the store. He swung open the door and leaned in, hiding the gun behind his leg so Bush couldn’t see it.

Bush was taking cash from the register.

Bystander: Yo, my man.

Bush: What’s up?

Bystander: You good bro?

Bush: Yeah, I’m straight. Hey, come here cuz.

Bystander: Nah, we ain’t doing this, bro.

Bush: Yeah, we are.

Bush runs from behind the counter and in the direction of the bystander, and the bystander raises the gun and points it at Bush. As Bush ducks behind an aisle, heading closer to the bystander, Bush has a backpack in his hand and says, “I got something for you.”

The bystander then fires four shots at Bush.

Bush, a homeless man who was a college football player, ducked and weaved to avoid being hit. The final shot hit him as he is out of range of the surveillance camera, Wilkison said.

As the bystander fired the gun, the clerk hid on the floor near the register. After Bush was shot, the bystander opened his cellphone and twice told the clerk to call 911. “You’re good. Call 911,” he told the clerk.

The clerk was uninjured. Bush died at a hospital.

Bush had been on a violent crime spree that day, including at a Mobil store at 1401 South Fifth Street just before coming to QuikTrip. Police said Bush had put a knife to the throat of a 43-year-old female clerk at Mobil, dragged her to the register, then to the back of the store looking for a safe. She had cuts on her hand, wrist and neck.

Wilkison said the QuikTrip bystander could have gone to his car and called 911. Instead, Wilkison said, the bystander chose to go back to the store, possibly saving the frightened clerk who was being threatened with a six-inch filet knife.

“He didn’t bum rush the store looking for a fight,” Wilkison said of the bystander.

Before the bystander retrieved his gun, two other men on the parking lot had seen the robbery through the window and decided to leave. Wilkison said police don’t know who those men are.

“I’m not going to encourage people to put themselves in harm’s way,” Wilkison said. “I encourage people to call 911 and be a really good witness.”

Wilkison said the bystander is a St. Louis resident in his mid-20s and the son of two first responders — a mother who is a career police officer, and a father who is a firefighter.

The bystander himself had once been interested in becoming a police officer. “He decided in the academy it wasn’t for him,” Wilkison said.

The bystander, who could not be reached for this article, is a soft-spoken man who lawfully carried the firearm and has no criminal background, Wilkison added.

“He’s from a good family,” Wilkison said. “He was brought up right.”

Outstanding.

Notice how the robber tellers the guy who would shoot him less tha a minute later to "Come here," as in "You've nothing to fear, brother." I wonder why this was so? It's a real puzzler.

There are some awfully confused people in this world. Well, at least there's one less of 'em now.

QuikTrip to DRTNap

Put me down in the "Approves" column.

Could not get the video to play. Tried incognito mode, disabled Ad block. Is there another way to view?
Finally got it. Ads and paywalls galore plus the voiceover. Guess they need the ads to stay solvent.

Thanks for posting, but damn all those ads.

Love a happy ending.

quote:

Wilkison said. “I encourage people to call 911 and be a really good witness.”

Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I'll use my own judgement.

That'll learn him.

They sure don't stand there with an "oh shit" look on their face like Johnny Ringo after a hit to the melon do they?

I can't complain about the outcome, but it's interesting to me that that would be a legal shoot. There didn't seem to be an immediate threat to the cashier as the dead guy was in the process of leaving, and I wouldn't think that petty theft like that would be enough to shoot. Yeah, technically it was armed robbery, but.... Just questioning the law here, not what happened.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
....but it's interesting to me that that would be a legal shoot. There didn't seem to be an immediate threat to the cashier as the dead guy was in the process of leaving, and I wouldn't think that petty theft like that would be enough to shoot. Yeah, technically it was armed robbery, but.... Just questioning the law here, not what happened.

"The St. Charles County prosecutor’s office last week announced that the bystander was cleared of any wrongdoing in the homicide. He had interrupted a holdup after a clerk was held at knifepoint."

I have to agree I would have initially been higher stressed about actually firing. Until the the guy started ordering the bystander to 'come here'

Bystander: Yo, my man.
Bush: What’s up?
Bystander: You good bro?
Bush: Yeah, I’m straight. Hey, come here cuz.
Bystander: Nah, we ain’t doing this, bro.
Bush: Yeah, we are.
Bush runs from behind the counter and in the direction of the bystander.

That exchange helped me understand exactly why this was a good shoot. Don't start none won't be none.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

I can't complain about the outcome, but it's interesting to me that that would be a legal shoot. There didn't seem to be an immediate threat to the cashier as the dead guy was in the process of leaving, and I wouldn't think that petty theft like that would be enough to shoot. Yeah, technically it was armed robbery, but.... Just questioning the law here, not what happened.

Think Tueller Drill. That knife could be back in play and again against the throat of that cashier in a matter of seconds.

better to take care of business before it gets to that. Just in case.

Also it goes beyond petty theft the moment that knife comes out. It's a life or death situation, clearly.

Petty theft would be grabbing the tip jar and running out the door. This went beyond that point.

Interesting to me, after the event the clerk was understandably distraught, moving back and forth, apparently confused, the shooter was as cool as if he had just ordered a cucumber sandwich. Just another Monday.

A few more of these and criminals might learn to behave and find a new path through life. Might.

Totally justified shoot.
1. BG was threatening the cashier..
2. Stops threatening the cashier and threatens the good guy
3. Then BG began advancing towards the good guy while holding a knife…after being warned “naw, we ain’t doing this”

Take away, Never bring a knife to a gunfight.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,

I'm noticing a trend here of late...

Nice to see incidents like this are getting positive press.

This happened fairly close to me. There have been
a few robberies in that area the last few months. A bit scary as most people consider (or considered) that area to be very safe. Times seem to be changing.

[shrug]...good shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
A few more of these and criminals might learn to behave and find a new path through life. Might.

As constitutional carry becomes more prevalent I think there will be more of these.

They really need to work on the head shots at the end!

One less pos walking the streets. I’m perfectly fine with that.

The video played fine for me. I love a short story with a happy ending. Agreeing with Rightwire it does seem that incidents such as this have gotten more positive press lately. But it's usually local news outlets. It would be great to see stories like this on national news outlets, even if it's just Fox News.