An Ohio pizza delivery driver fatally shot an alleged attempted armed robber with his concealed carry weapon.
The situation unfolded at an Ohio Papa John’s when two masked men entered the store after 11 p.m. on Sunday and reportedly sprinted toward the employees with a crowbar and a knife. An unidentified delivery driver working for the store then fatally shot one of the alleged robbers, 21-year-old Gage Melton, while a second suspect fled the scene.
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The employees then called 911 to report the incident and were told by dispatch to stay in the store and attempt to aid Melton while awaiting police. But the employees did not have enough towels to stop Melton’s bleeding, eventually reporting to dispatch that he wasn’t breathing.
The delivery driver, a legal concealed carrier, reportedly placed his firearm on the counter for police to take when they arrived at the scene.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office reportedly believes the shooting was justified, though the prosecutor’s office has yet to weigh in on whether it will consider the shooting self-defense.
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“If you have a lawful right to be where you’re at, you can stand your ground and use deadly force in response to a threat of deadly force,” Tom Hagel, a law professor at the University of Dayton School of Law, said of the shooting. “If [the shooter] is being threatened with serious bodily harm or death, and it is presumed that is happening, if he is being victimized as a victim of an armed robbery, it’s assumed they’re threatening his safety, then he can use deadly force without any duty to run away.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a “stand your ground” law in January that allows for individuals to use deadly force without first attempting to retreat in the event that they encounter a deadly threat.
