Off-Duty Officer Fatally Shoots Armed Robber At Fast Food Restaurant

SAN PABLO, CALIFORNIA — If you want your name to go down in history in the form of “He tried robbing a fast food restaurant and got shot,” then be like this 29-year-old who happened to pick a restaurant that an off-duty police officer was eating at.

And this being in California, where many local governments frown on lawfully armed citizens, this robber’s luck was extra bad.

Amanuel Moreno was reportedly trying to hold up a restaurant cashier at gunpoint, at Nation’s Giant Hamburgers, about 11:30 a.m. when he was shot by the off-duty officer, authorities said Monday.

The officer who shot Moreno is a sergeant with the University of California at Berkeley Police Department, sheriff’s officials said. He was eating at the restaurant, located at 16396 San Pablo Ave., on Sunday morning when the attempted robbery occurred, according to the sheriff’s office.

via abc7news.com

The officer fired a single shot, striking Moreno. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

If Moreno wanted to kill an employee after taking the money, he could have. Would he have? I’m not sure, but it’s ok that we’ll never find out. I’m sure he was “a good kid looking to turn his life around”, but stupid prizes to indeed come with playing stupid games.

It’s just sad to me that San Pablo, like many cities in California, require an extremely lengthy process to obtain your concealed carry permit, and even if you pass the background check with flying colors, you’re still not even close to being guaranteed to receive it.

So until then, just hope that you’re in a place where an on-duty or off-duty police officer is, so they can handle the situation.