This day in age Pharmacies are prime targets for armed robberies. The U.S. is in the midst of an out of control prescription drug epidemic, therefore Pharmacies are being robbed quite frequently.
People who decide to rob a place of business, armed with a gun, need to be aware that they may not be the only one packing heat!
Pharmacist Don Radcliff shot and killed Terry Gillenwater, 25 after he walked into Good Family Pharmacy in the town of Pinch, West Virginia.
Before the robber demanded anything, Radcliff pulled out his .45 caliber pistol and shot three times at the masked robber. Radcliff, who was legally permitted to carry the weapon struck the robber twice and the third bullet knocked the gun out of the suspects hand.
After the shooting, the pharmacist and other employees tried to administer CPR but Gillenwater died en route to the hospital.
Officials told reporters Radcliff told the robber, “Why did you make me do this?” and “I didn’t mean to do this,” as he tried to resuscitate him.
Radcliff will face no charges in the shooting. since he acted in self-defense.
“I must say it took a great deal of courage for Mr. Radcliff to pull his weapon and fire in the face of a weapon being pointed at him that was fully loaded with a round in the chamber,” Kanawha County prosecutor Chuck Miller told reporters. “That takes a lot of nerve, but he was completely justified in doing so.”
Police also discovered Gillenwater’s iPhone search history consisted of inquiries of the pharmacy including the kind of the drugs it sold. The robber was also previously arrested for conspiracy to distribute Oxycontin and entered a drug program in an effort to drop the charges.
