Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A clerk shot and wounded one of two men Austin police say were responsible for an armed robbery of a convenience store in South Austin Wednesday night.
According to police, the clerk shot the man who was to be the getaway driver during the incident, but authorities declined to provide details about how that happened.
“More details will come when the detectives are ready to file the charges,” police Sgt. William White said.
Police responded to a call about a robbery at David’s Food store, at West Mary and Fifth streets, at 9:19 p.m. Officers found out that one man had entered the store and robbed the clerk at gunpoint while another man was outside, police said.
The men stole cash from the store, said David’s Food owner Sung Lee, who was not there that night.
The clerk got a hold of a firearm, police said, and fired multiple shots at the two men, striking one of them.
Their car, a gray minivan, crashed near the convenience store soon after, police said. Officers found the wounded man inside the vehicle and another person hiding nearby.
The injured man initially told police he was a bystander who was shot during the robbery, but police think he was to be the getaway driver. He was treated at University Medical Center Brackenridge before he was booked into the Travis County Jail, White said.
White does not expect the clerk to be charged.
“Based on our initial investigation, he was well within his rights (of self-defense) under Texas law,” White said.
The last time David’s Food Store was robbed was five years ago, Lee said. The store got security cameras as a result, and detectives are reviewing footage from the Wednesday night robbery.
The cash has not yet been returned to the store, Lee said.
Police declined to release the two arrested men’s names Thursday but did say they are both from Austin, White said.