A clerk shot in the back by a robber managed to recover, draw his legally carried firearm, and use that firearm to fight and win a gunfight with the robber.
That shootout betwen a store clerk and a robbery suspect happened in East Hartford, Connecticut last Thursday night. The clerk was injured, having been shot in the back, but is alive. The 26-year-old robbery suspect isn’t so lucky; he’s dead.
News on that comes from the East Hartford Police Department, which said that two suspects wearing black ski masks entered the business at 1285 Main St., a Humble & Paid Co. clothing store, in an attempt to rob the store. That transpired jsut after 10:30 p.m.
There was then a struggle between a store clerk and one of the robbery suspects. That suspect pulled a gun and shot the clerk in the back.
The clerk, however, wasn’t defenseless. He had two firearms and was able to open fire on the robber that had shot him, hitting the robber several times. The robber went down hard, eventually dying.
The East Hartford Police Department added that the officers who arrived on the scene tried to provide life-saving care to the shot suspect until the East Hartford Police Department and more substantial medical care arrived.
The EHPD officers were not able to save the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the local hospital. Police identified the dead suspect as Jashar Haslam, 26, from Hartford.
Police said that the injured store clerk was treated at the scene for a gunshot wound to the lower back. He was then taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The second suspect has not yet been located. He fled during the struggle.
Interestingly, the clerk appears to have used both of the guns with him to fight off the robber, as the Heritage Foundations Defensive Gun Use Tracker tweeted, saying:
“The [store] owner returned fire with two of his legally registered firearms.”
This man used BOTH guns. Unclear if he engaged in a shootout and ran out of ammo in the first gun, or if he double-fisted two handguns at the same time.
The same account added that detail in another recounting of what happened at the store, saying:
Feb. 2, 2023: Police in Hartford, CT, say that two armed, masked robbers burst into a store and shot the clerk in his low back. The clerk, however, was able to retrieve one of two firearms in his possession and returned fire, fatally striking one suspect.
The second suspect fled and remains at large. The clerk was taken to a hospital for treatment and fortunately his injuries are considered non-life-threatening. Both of his firearms were legally registered. Police say he struck the first suspect “several times.”
****correction****
The store owner fired both guns in his possession. Not just one of two.
So, thanks to his firearms, the clerk was able to survive a brutal robbery attempt. Let that be a lesson in the importance of carrying a firearm in these dangerous times.
By: Will Tanner. Follow me on Twitter @Will_Tanner_1
"*" indicates required fields