Thousands of Americans shop online marketplaces like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace every day. Unfortunately, a few listings have armed robbers trolling for potential victims, posing either as sellers or buyers. In Baton Rouge, one woman wanted to sell an XBox on Facebook Marketplace. In doing so, she almost lost her life to an armed robber.
Fortunately her case has a happy ending. Despite the Facebook Marketplace armed robber’s efforts to not only rob her, but kill her, she fought back and survived without physical injury.
The seller produced her own firearm and shot back at the robber, sending him fleeing…while leaking. Baton Rouge police found her robber, Dane Johnson, aged 20, at a local hospital. While he failed his effort to win the room temperature challenge, he succeeded in catching charges for armed robbery and attempted murder.
From The Advocate:
A man who robbed and shot at a woman who was selling him an Xbox fled and was arrested after she managed to wound him with her own gun, Baton Rouge police say.
Police issued an arrest warrant for 20-year-old Dane Johnson on Sept. 29, the day after the shooting. He was booked Wednesday evening on counts of attempted murder and armed robbery…
The victim told police Johnson contacted her earlier that afternoon to buy an Xbox she listed on Facebook Marketplace. He agreed to meet at her apartment when Johnson got off of work later that evening.
When Johnson arrived at the apartment, he approached the victim and held a black pistol to her head, the affidavit said. The victim dropped the gaming console and fled to her car. Johnson picked up the Xbox and began shooting at the victim.
The victim was able to get her hands on her own pistol, fire several shots at Johnson, then flee to her car and call police.
Armed robberies are not unusual during internet-arranged meetups for pricey or high demand items. In fact, a dear friend of mine told me how he nearly got himself killed trying to save a few bucks buying a used iPhone for his wife for Christmas.
The moral of the story: do some research and arrange to meet in a public location whenever possible. Also, bring your gun and maybe some friends with guns, just to be sure.
As for Johnson’s victim: we hereby bestow our Defensive Gun Use of the Day on her for her courageous response to a life-threatening attack.