MO: Robbery of 'Police Bar' goes bad

If you can avoid a shootout, it is usually the best solution.   But sometimes, the shootout comes to you.  A bar in St. Louis is a popular spot for retired and off duty officers.   It has been robbed in the past.  In 2008, one of the officers who was at the bar responded to an armed robber, shooting them.   On that occasion, no one else was hurt.  From ksdk.com:

An officer at the scene told NewsChannel 5′s John Henry the establishment is popular with police officers. In 2008, the same former officer involved in Tuesday’s shooting also shot a person who attempted to rob the same bar. That suspect survived, and no one else was hurt.

It did not turn out the same this time.   This time three armed robbers entered the bar.   One robber ran at the retired officer, and fired.   The officer drew his concealed pistol, and fired back, hitting that robber in the eye, disabling him and putting him out of the fight.  But the other two robbers started firing as well.   The retired officer was wounded in the leg.  He wounded one of the other robbers in the shoulder.   It is not clear which robber shot him; a woman was shot in the back of the head by one robber; she died.   Two more bar patrons were wounded.  From ksdk.com:

That’s when authorities say 20-year-old Derreaun Davis and the third suspect began firing their weapons. A 63-year-old woman was shot in the back of the head and was rushed to the hospital in critical and unstable condition. A 73-year-old man was shot in his ankle and fractured his tibia. He is listed in critical but stable condition. Another man, 66, was shot in his buttocks. He was taken to an area hospital where he was treated and released. The former officer was shot in the leg and taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition.

A very nasty situation all around.  One innocent dead, three wounded.  Two robbers wounded, one on the loose.  

You would think that word would get around that this is a bar for armed robbers to avoid.   But  memories may be short, especially if you do not read the papers.   Even with quick thinking and good marksmanship, the retired police officer was wounded with two other patrons and an innocent woman killed. 

The world is not perfect, but it is small comfort to the survivors to know that it could have been worse.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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