The Armed Citizen® April 11, 2025

Armed Citizen® Today

A store manager in Frayser, Tenn., defended himself from an armed man who allegedly attempted to steal a grocery cart full of food at the Gordin's Foods & Butcher Shoppe and then threatened to kill him, according to Memphis Police.

According to eyewitness reports, three men attempted to leave the store just after 11 a.m. without paying for a cartload of food valued at about $200. As the trio pushed the cart outside, the store manager followed them and attempted to retrieve the stolen merchandise as the suspects entered a van in the store's parking lot. One of the three suspects, a 33-year-old man, retrieved a handgun from the van, fired a shot into the air and allegedly threatened to kill the manager.

The victim fell to the ground, and the armed suspect then pointed the gun down at him. The victim then pulled out his own gun and fired shots at the armed suspect. Another suspect, a 22-year-old man, attempted to wrestle the gun away from the victim but was unsuccessful. All three suspects then fled the scene in the van. Later on, police responded to calls of a shooting nearby, where they found the 33-year-old with a gunshot wound.

He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, and records obtained by WREG Memphis show that the man was a felon with a 2018 conviction for kidnapping. The 22-year-old man was also at the scene and admitted to entering the store with the intent to shoplift. He also admitted that he attempted to take victim's gun from him outside of the store. (WREG Memphis; Memphis, Tenn.; 1/13/25)

From the Armed Citizen® Archives – December 1973

A teenage robber confronted Wesley Krouse of Phoenix, Ariz., at his front door and, armed with a .22-cal. revolver, forced the 72-year-old Krouse to turn over some cash and the keys to his truck.

But when the thief pushed the septuagenarian into his bedroom, Krouse grabbed a 12-ga. shotgun and exchanged fire with the bandit, who was killed instantly. (The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Ariz.)