An 80 year old man successfully defending his business and himself from gun toting criminals in Norco California. Fox News. Craig Cope said he knew something was wrong when the BMW carrying the suspects pulled up to the store and men with weapons came out. Cope then grabbed his shotgun and shot one of the suspects that was armed with an AR-15 rifle. The suspect ran back to the BMW screaming "he shot my arm off". The suspects were arrested and the one that was shot is expected to survive. Cope credits the fact that he hunted when he was a kid. Cope was also critical of California politicians and their failure to deal with crime and criminals. Cope returned to work on Tuesday despite having a heart attack in response to the incident.
#WATCH: "He shot my arm off," cries would-be robber after 80 year old #Norco store owner shoots him with a shotgun. Four arrested, one remains in hospital. Store owner expected back at work. pic.twitter.com/i3LAVdv5WL
— Jeff Vaughn (@JeffVaughn) August 2, 2022
#BREAKING: "More people need to vote and vote the right way," says the 80 year old #Norco store owner that blasted a would-be robber with a shotgun. Owner Craig Cope is back to work today, and has this message for politicians... pic.twitter.com/F72iaUsogm
— Jeff Vaughn (@JeffVaughn) August 2, 2022
My Comment:
I know that I am a day late and a dollar short on this story but I wanted to cover it anyways. I would have done so yesterday but I had to work some overtime and didn't have enough time to do so. It's a slow news day anyways so I hope it's ok that I wrote this one up.
I think it's very likely that Mr. Cope saved his own life there. Those criminals appeared to be heavily armed and the man he shot had a rifle pointed at him. He was more than justified in shooting him, but it's important to note that the guy with the rifle was not the only armed criminal. It appeared that one of the other guys had what appears to be a shotgun as well. If he hadn't opened fire he would have been outgunned.
Thankfully, the suspects panicked when Cope opened fire. They had him outgunned but it didn't matter, once the first guy got shot nobody else wanted to try and confront him. And it certainly didn't help that the suspect panicked and said that his arm was shot off, though it clearly wasn't. Their spirt was broken and they fled.
It does show that being outgunned isn't the end all be all in self defense situations. Though I would prefer a rifle in that kind of situation, it is clear that a shotgun can work too. What mattered is that Cope had his gun ready to go and was willing to use it and was able to win.
It is no surprise that this incident happened in California. Crime there is out of control and Cope was certainly right that many of these criminals have no business being out in the streets. The fact that these men were willing to point guns at an old man who did nothing to them just because they wanted money and maybe booze means that these guys probably should have been locked up years ago. My guess is that they have long criminal records but without the suspects being identified it's impossible to know for sure.
I do like that Cope called out the politicians for this situation. Though I am glad that he was able to defend himself I do think it's a bad sign when an 80 year old has to pull a shotgun on someone to survive. California does not seem to be interested in actually fixing these problems, though there are signs that is changing. Several prosecutors in California are either going through recalls or have been recalled for failing to deal with crime.
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