A resident of Boonville, Missouri, became a hero this week when he detained a convenience store robber at gunpoint until police arrived. What makes this story interesting is that our Good Samaritan, Jim Hayes, didn’t have his gun on him while he was in the store. Nor was it in his car. In fact, the gun was in his home when the stick-up happened.
According to a witness, the robber (Elijah Carter, pictured above) took a knife and hammer from the counter and demanded the cash in the register. That’s when Hayes walked out of the store, got behind the wheel, drove home, got his gun, got back in his car, and returned to the store in time to stop the robbery attempt.
When the police arrived, they found Carter detained at gunpoint.
“There were four other people, women, in the store,” Jim said to reporters. “I figured I got a minute or two to get home and get back and get my gun before he would be able to do anything.”
Jennifer Surrat, whose daughter was working at the store, commented: “We are so glad that someone took the time to pay attention and decided to return and help our daughter out. She was very scared. So thank you once again to the citizen and the BPD for their help getting this taken care of quickly.”
“I guess anybody in my position would have done the same thing. I didn’t do anything special,” Jim added. “I’m just glad I could be there to help and that nobody got hurt.”
So are we, and we’re very glad Hayes had the luxury of time to execute a defensive gun use without the gun being immediately accessible.
Carter is now detained at the Cooper County Detention Center with a $150,000 bail and is being charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon-exhibiting, and receiving stolen property.
Here’s a report via KOMU:
