SHERMAN, TEXAS — When it’s dark outside, you’re closing up shop for the night and heading to your car, the last thing you probably want to see is an angry man yelling at you while he reaches behind his back. That’s the scene that unfolded for one store clerk who reportedly threw out that angry man from his store not hours before.
According to statements given by both the victim and the police to the Herald Democrat, the store clerk had seconds to decide what the man was going to pull out from his waistband. He rushed into an alleyway to seek cover. When the irate suspect gave chase with a machete in his hand, the clerk shot him once in the upper torso. The suspect then fled down the alleyway and escaped.
Not moments after the clerk called police, the police received a call from another resident reporting that a man had collapsed from a gunshot wound. Putting two and two together, the police rightly assumed that these two events may be related.
Earlier in the day, the clerk admitted to police he had to toss out the suspect after the suspect refused to leave on his own accord. The suspect then threatened to return and made good on that promise.
Evidence at the scene appeared to corroborate the clerk’s testimony. The suspect was unconscious and in serious condition when authorities had him airlifted to a hospital. He is reportedly in stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit. Should he ever regain consciousness, he will be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The likelihood of him ever awakening, though, is still up in the air. An upper torso gunshot wound is a pretty serious thing. When he sprinted off down the street in a fit of pain and trauma, his legs probably pumped and pumped until there wasn’t enough blood left to keep him conscious. That’s some serious brain damage right there, folks.
But, from the sounds of the sequence of events leading up to that brain damage, it seems this suspect already suffered from a significant amount of it. Not only did he threaten a clerk in broad daylight, he got shoved out of the store and promised to return.
Thank goodness that clerk had a gun on him. This suspect, armed with a machete, didn’t really appear to be the “just kidding” sort of violent man. The clerk was wise in that he sought cover. Not knowing if the weapon his attacker would be drawing would be a firearm or a machete, he took cover and tried to up his chances of surviving that initial volley. By taking cover, he also bought himself time to prepare a good defense. That would certainly come in handy when ole’ idiot pants McGee came barreling around the corner with machete in hand.
This situation ended how it should have. Good Guy – 1, Bad Guy – 0.
That’s the sort of conclusion one can expect when you carry a gun every single day, maintain proper situational awareness, and take cover prior to engaging your opponent.