One Armed Robbery Suspect Shot Dead By Citizen — Now His Three Buddies Stand Trial For His Murder

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA — On the night of January 9, Montgomery police and first responders arrived at the scene where a young man was critically shot. Across the street was a man wounded with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. And, in the middle of that mix, were three other young men ranging from 17 to 22 years of age. Pretty bad situation, right? Unfortunately for those boys, their friend died at the scene. And that’s where it all goes to hell.

According to the Montgomery Advertiser, the deceased is believed to be a main suspect in an attempted armed robbery of a nearby store. During the ensuing robbery, he was shot by a citizen. He managed to get into the car and take off but succumbed to blood loss as a result of his injuries. His vehicle veered and crashed into a ditch.

Likely panicked, 22-year-old Joshua Rogers hit the pedal to the metal before realizing he was already essentially dead. That’s the thing with ballistics, soft tissue, and the autonomic functions of the human body. They don’t all decide to coordinate at once.

Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene. It’s unknown if his three accomplices, Joquan Belyue, 17, Terrance Moorer, 17, and Errol Johnson, 22, stayed at the scene to watch their friend’s life pass away or if they ran for the hills. It didn’t much matter because Montgomery police caught up to them. They were all implicated in the attempted armed robbery.

And now that Rogers is dead, they’ll be facing murder charges.

That’s the way the law works in some states. If your bad guy buddy goes down, you’re held responsible for that.

You would think it would really engender a “leave no man behind” mentality but, apparently it didn’t. Belyue, Moorer, and Johnson all were stuck with a murder sentence that isn’t likely to go away no matter their relatively young age.

As for the man who fought back, he was wounded. He did make it to a hospital by assistance of first responders and also likely helped identify the three guys who helped their buddy get killed.

This is all courtesy of being the good guy with the gun.

Now, there’s no guarantee that when you or I do it, we survive that sort of encounter. A four-on-one equation is pretty poor no matter how well trained you are. But, as is the case in these things, when your back is against the wall and it’s your life or theirs, most folk tend to choose their own.

I can’t blame’em. And for these four guys who thought they’d get away with some easy money and some fast action, they really underestimated the will and virtue of your average citizen who doesn’t like getting shot over pocket change.

This tragic tale is brought to you courtesy of whatever handgun is in its holster on your side. Concealed carry — it’s how you stop dumb bad guys from killing you over a couple hundred bucks in cash and goods. You sure don’t want to trust their judgement.