This should generate a lot of discussion:
Indiana's News Center has learned that the Fort Wayne pizza store employee who was shot and killed on the job over the weekend had a gun at the time of the robbery.
[. . .]
23-year old Chad Brunson, the night manager, was shot in the head early Sunday, after two black men with their faces covered burst in and demanded cash.
A police source said Brunson pulled out a gun during the holdup, and that when officers responded, they found Brunson on the floor with gun in hand.
[. . .]
Indiana's News Center has learned that Brunson had pulled a gun on a would-be robber during a hold-up attempt back in April.
The store's owner told him after that to leave the gun at home, but on Sunday morning he had one when police found him dead.
What went wrong? Did he freeze, or not remember he had the safety on? Did having the gun give him a false sense of security? Did seeing it make the robbers go a step further than they would have? Unless the surveillance tape shows something, there can be only speculation, and people are free to use their own feelings about how one should deal with armed intruders.
Mitch Harper has pointed out that demonstrating it has a handle on such crimes is as important as anything the city can do:
The cost of such a murder is spread over a much wider area than the location of the pizzeria and the homes of Mr. Brunson's family and friends.
You see, that pizzeria is located in the neighborhood where my wife and I lived. I have eaten many pizzas from that shop. I have run past it many times. Many friends still live in the neighborhood in all directions from that pizzeria.
The fear that flows from such an event corrodes the neighborhood and corrodes the city.
The pizza shop had been targeted by robbers before, and one explanation for the gun us that Brunson didn't feel safe without it. We can argue about whether it was wise to count on it, but the city can't afford for that feeling -- that we're not safe leaving our front doors without being armed -- to be widespread.
I'm familiar with that area, too. It's not far from where I live, and it's across from Hartley's, where I eat frequently. This won't stop me from visiting that neighborhood, but it will make me nervous being there, at least for a time.
