An armed citizen surprised four men who robbed him at gunpoint last week.
I'd like to think that, when the time came, I too would be up to defending myself with a firearm and being a little bit of a smart-ass.After being ordered to his knees, Russel Olofson warned the men that "they should think about it," according to an Orlando police report released this week.
A private investigator with military training, Olofson, 24, told police the robbers snatched his cell phone and a wallet containing his concealed-weapon permit shortly before 10 p.m. Friday outside Ridge Club Apartments.
After the robbers took his items, Olofson stood up, drew his Springfield XD sub-compact 9 mm handgun "and fired two rounds toward male #1 with the silver handgun, possibly striking him," the report states. "Males #2, #3, and #4 then ran southeast . . . and male #1 ran northeast . . ."
And another:
Robert Pierce Jr. said he became suspicious when Cook, 22, of Easton, and Wright, 22, of Newark, N.J., who were walking behind him, picked up their pace and narrowed the gap as all three made their way to S. 11th Street about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 4. Pierce said he didn't know either man but knew something was wrong when he heard them call out ''Yo,'' or ''Hey.''
Cook, Pierce said, pulled out a handgun, which he pressed to Pierce's back, then his head, and both men warned him to be quiet and dragged him a short distance. ''That's when I took the chance and pulled my gun,'' Pierce testified Friday during a preliminary hearing before District Judge Michael Koury of Wilson.
Pierce said he fired into the air and Wright ran. Cook returned fire and, Pierce said, appeared to be positioning himself to shoot him. Pierce said he aimed for Cook's legs and squeezed off another round. Cook, who had been shot in the abdomen, took off running. Pierce yelled to a man who had come out of a nearby market to call for help, then he walked the short distance to his fiancee's mother's home on Lehigh Street and told her to call police...
''I decided I was gonna fight back,'' said Pierce, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He was not charged with a crime.