A Connecticut clothing storekeeper lethally shot a thought looter during a shootout last week, yet was injured in the trading of gunfire, as per police.
“A concise battle occurred between the store representative and one of the suspects who took out a gun,” the East Hartford Police Division detailed.
Police distinguished the store representative as an agent, however NBC Connecticut revealed it was the storekeeper who was in the vicinity working late that evening.
Two men wearing dark ski veils entered the dress store Humble and Paid Co. soon after 10:30 p.m. on Thursday fully intent on burglarizing the store, the police said in an official statement.
The storekeeper was hence shot in the back by one of the suspects yet figured out how to return shoot with two of his legitimately possessed guns.
The store owner was able to strike one of the suspects multiple times, while the other suspect reportedly fled during the first struggle during the incident, according to police.
The injured suspect, identified as 26-year-old Jashar Haslam of Hartford, was treated at the scene and then transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“It’s a very decent area, don’t get me wrong besides from this. This is like the first time that I know anything like this happened here,” Navdeep Singh, the manager of neighboring store Bruno’s Liquor, told Fox 61.
The store owner was also treated on the scene for his gunshot wound to the lower back, and then transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are still searching for the second suspect in the case. Police have not released additional information on the suspect or the injured store owner.
The incident was included in the Heritage Foundation’s Defensive Gun Use Tracker, which keeps a tally of instances across the country where legal firearms are used in self-defense.