Ah, fresh new definitions of “self defense” and “not guilty”.
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Time to leave Houston.
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So…self defense not stuff defense.
Don’t risk your life (and freedom) over a couple shoplifted items.
Lethal force is pretty much not justified to get back a couple candy bars or whatever was shoplifted from the store. I am not a lawyer, but…it’s not.
Don’t follow and chase people down with your gun because they shoplifted. [edit: dont’ chase them down at all over this]
No indication here on who fired first, who pointed gun first, but…the confrontation never needed to happen. They shoplifted something off a convenience store/gas station shelf…don’t chase them down
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Like our CCW Course instructor said
“If you take anything away from this course, take this, We protect Lives not Stuff”
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No argument! However, I am shocked at the verdict. The armed robbery and murder are obvious.What’s going on…
Where is there an armed robbery??
I saw a video where they simply pulled items off the shelf, attempted to do so without being seen, and then walked out.
Robbery requires threat or use of force…stealthy theft is not robbery.
And, was it murder? What happened when the two met and shots were fired? I’m not a lawyer, but, let’s say the clerk threatened to shoot/kill the teens unless they returned the candy bars…I don’t think that’s murder I think that’s self defense…there’s no justification to threaten to kill someone because they stole a candy bar.
Sure, it’s illegal to steal, and sure, they seem to have been carrying illegally, but…in what way is armed robbery or murder obvious?
Armed robbers vote for team blue.
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The clerk had a gun? That is not in the article.
Theft + altercation began in the store + armed = armed robbery
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What was the altercation in the store?
The video doesn’t show that. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen though…
At any rate, there was no armed robbery happening after the teens left the store…the clerk did not get shot over an armed robbery, he got shot over chasing people down as they walked away
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The supervisor or owner of the store needs to properly train their folks on how to respond to thefts, assess the threat level, have alarms installed directly to local PD (foot or hand activated), and never, ever, chase after crooks who are on the run. Not your job. Where is the training? This is a nationwide problem that has been going on for years and supers and owners are still not responding?
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In Texas 
Texas doesn’t have anything special for definition of armed robbery.
The video above doesn’t show any kind of a robbery.
Granted, it is a short video and it doesn’t show the entirety of the interaction…but it shows the teens concealing the items (kind of the opposite of a robbery) and then casually strolling out…with the clerk more than happy to run after that.
I don’t see anything indicating any kind of robbery
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20 some years ago, I worked graveyards at 7-11.
Store policy was just let shoplifters walk away, give a robber the register…. Anything more than calling the police AFTER the fact could get you fired.
Stupid business model, and emboldens criminals who know they’re basically immune.
Smart, in so much as it makes the company less liable for injuries or death of employees in such an event, but also no guarantee that the employees wouldn’t get harmed.
Now, allowing a criminal to walk away on theft and murder charges because the employee made an effort to stop the theft is an absolute failure of the justice system!
Wether or not the criminal pulled his gun first or the store employee did, shouldn’t excuse the criminal for his crimes.
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Yeah…I really don’t follow how this came down to, as reported, no charges??
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I did not see or hear any reference to the clerk possessing a firearm.
Granted, being foolish enough to pursue the two thieves leaving the store for shoplifting is dangerous.
I guess the bottom line is that most prosecutors get what they want from a Grand Jury. Why did the prosecutor fail in this case? Therein is the real question. No legal adversary. Only the prosecutor providing evidence. Why did the prosecutor fail?
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