“They Don’t Care If They Kill You For $2, Or $5, Or $10” — One Chicago Liquor Store Owner Fights Back

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — Another liquor store in Chicago, another armed robbery. No surprises there. But at least this clerk tried to fight back with a gun of his own.

A Chicago liquor store owner described a harrowing ordeal where he was armed at gun point, deprived of merchandise, cell phone, and wallet, but at least attempted to chase down the suspects after the fact.

via NBC Chicago

“He left me no choice, what would you do?” Khoshava said of his predicament. “They don’t care if they kill you for $2, or $5, or $10, you know what I mean?”

If anything, the hoods in the area now likely know this is one liquor store owner who will attempt to fight back in the future. Store owners in the Chicago area are prime targets for criminal enterprise. From extortion, racketeering to armed robbery, it seems no area of Chicago is immune from a perpetual crime wave that has become the “new norm”.

Less than a week ago, we reported on one Chicago clerk who managed to successfully fight back. It doesn’t shift overnight, though. Chicago isn’t going to go from its current Mogadishu-level urban conflict to mostly peaceful city in a course of weeks, months, or even years.

In fact, there isn’t any systematic cure for this type of urban crime. No politician can come in and wave a magic wand and suddenly 13-14 year old kids suddenly boost their reading averages and math scores and decide they want to pursue a career outside of organized/disorganized crime.

No, entropy is a really cruddy thing.

So, as a business owner that’s decided to set up shop in a rough part of town, you’re left with two options — greet every single hood in the area with your cash register in hand or defend yourself. It’s a simple choice, really.

Heck, I won’t lie, if I lived in Chicago, I’d move out of that area. There’s nothing there worth that type of hassle. It’s not normal to have to go into work and wonder if today is going to be the day some illiterate thug decides his stolen/illegally obtained gun needs a workout. I wouldn’t want to be some idiot’s proving ground for his homeboys up the street to prove he really has “the right stuff” to join their street gang.

There’s a reason people move out of bad cities and leave it to the animals. It’s not worth it. You only have one life to lead and if that includes a family or a business, that’s just too much to gamble on someone who has nothing to lose.

So, this store owner figured it out. He survived, so in that sense, it worked out for him. The other guys survived, too. I’d love to say that’s the last time he has to worry about that same scenario playing out over and over again but that would be just a tad too optimistic. If anything, next time he needs to be more on top of his situational awareness if he’s going to operate in America’s biggest, baddest undeclared war zone.