By Brandon via concealednation.org
A Vietnam veteran was out for a typical day, and walked into a Sycamore, Georgia gas station to break a $20. His day changed quickly when a young thug came in with a gun. The veteran, Don Rogers, is being hailed a hero by the gas station clerk for likely saving his life. “I wish the day could’ve went by without this happening,” said Rogers. “I just did what I had to do.” . . .
“I heard somebody say “put the money in the bag.” So I looked up and I seen this gentleman holding a pistol on the clerk,” said Rogers. The firearm-carrying Rogers was scared, but he knew what he had to do. “And when I did, he looked over at me and turned my way and I fired a shot. And he grabbed his side and then I fired two more shots before he got out the door,” said Rogers.
Rogers hit the suspect, 18-year old Devin Burton, with two of his three shots. Burton ran out of the gas station empty-handed and got into a car driven by 17-year old Marleigh Agner. The pair took off but stopped along the way to call 911, as Burton’s wounds were too severe.
“Well, I was hoping nothing like this would ever happen, but I was glad I had my weapon with me,” Rogers said.
Rogers believes that every legal gun owner should carry their firearm with them at all times, and we couldn’t be happier to hear that statement.
“People are just sick of people running them up,” said Turner Co. Sheriff Andy Hester. “And robbing, and stealing, and pillaging, and people are tired of it. These people that’ll go out and do this kind of stuff need to realize- it ain’t always gonna fare to their favor, just because they’re a predator.”
People are sick of this, indeed. While we never want to be forced into a situation where we need to use our firearm, it’s important to remember why we carry in the first place. Like Rogers, we refuse to be victims to these frequent crimes.
Bravo brother on a job well done!
But the only lives he saved were un-black ones. So does it really matter? ???
Kill em all and let God sort them out. Good job.
“Some men just need killin”.
Most of the Vietnam vets I have met are like this. They don’t look for a fight but they also don’t run from them. Good job and God speed!
Let’s throw in a kudo to the High Sheriff, too, as someone who “gets it”.
Fortunately that’s common in Georgia. I was having a conversation with a stranger and a cop the other day and the stranger said he was looking to get into guns and the cop highly recommended an AR.
“Fortunately that’s common in Georgia.”
Not everywhere in Georgia.
Athens, Georgia is known as “The Berkley (California) of the Southeast”.
There’s always exceptions. Fortunately it lets you know where to avoid.
That is because Athens-Clarke County is home to the University of Georgia, the largest school in the state, and one that is predominately a liberal arts school. Couple typical progressive academia with a county and city government that have been controlled by the democrats for decades, and you get “Berkley of the Southeast.”
It may have changed by now, but when I was in school there (Accounting major, not finger painting), Athens held the title of highest poverty rate for a city its size. Something like 20%. Typical of liberal/progressive strongholds.
However, if you drive out to any of the surrounding counties, it gets much more rural and much more conservative.
Congratulations Mr.Rodger!
That just shows how stupid some robbers are, to go into a gas station and try and rob it, without looking around to see if there might be an armed citizen on the premises.
Oh, one other thing, this guy was not a “gentleman”
Mr. Rogers is being very polite.
Then he took off his ass-kicking shoes and laced up his tennies.
“Don’t mess with an old guy. He won’t fight you. He’ll just shoot you.”
Words to remember.
Or run you over with his Buick…
Wait, or was that don’t use the crosswalk in front of an old guy?
If he hits you with his Buick, it’s okay since he’s only going 6 MPH. In a 40 MPH zone.
Ralph do you need glasses, old guys will hit you doing 60 in the 40, it’s his wife that would be doing 6. 🙂
My version is a bit different, but the lesson is the same. Remember, he didn’t get to be old by being stupid.
That’s not even close to being true.
You must’ve not dealt with many teachers and college professors.
How about ‘combat veterans like Rogers don’t get to be old by being stupid’?
You are in my prayers tonight Don Rogers , I believe you did what you believe was necessary and probably saved a life . Your trials may have just begun . I hope not . I hope you can accept your choice and others will not judge you unfairly , including the law in your community . These are difficult choices , but as a man who has chosen to carry a fire arm you had already made certain decisions that led to todays outcome . I honor your decision to defend the defenseless and put your own safety on the line for your fellow citizen . Your service for your country has now been tested again and I hope it will be the last time you have to deal with evil . God bless Don Rogers .
He should be fine. GA stand your ground and Castile doctrines are both very good. Shortly put, you can use lethal force to defend yourself or anyone else from any forceful felony. That includes armed robbery.
My wife keeps putting Castile doctrine in the shower, but it smells too girly.
Well played sir
Although Castile was a castle, it is not the name of the Castle Doctrine, which doesn’t apply anyway since he was not at home in his castle. His real issue is not the law but the psychological impact of what he did, which you can see in his posture in the photo. As with most normal people, shooting someone is not an easy thing to handle.
THIS IS TRUTH , Keep him in your prayers and support his choices . Thanks for the clarity and common sense Mark N.
Most of us never want to injure someone or take a life .
Dunno about posture. I think he’s checking the bottom of his shoe. “Is that gum? I hope that’s gum…”
Welcome home, bro, and good job!
God bless you and yours.
Good job. God bless.
If the right guy gets shot, and the right guy does the shooting…
Just happened to think off what Mr. Rodgers said about shooting the guy two more times before he got out the door. Unless the robber had his gun pointing towards Mr. Rodgers, as he left the station, some hungry for a case, DA, might consider that additional shots weren’t necessary.
Myself, I probably would have put at least 5 into him, but that’s not what the law allows in many states.
I’m not an attorney, so all I’m saying is “guesswork”.
As long as there was a gun in the bad guy’s hand, that’s all the justification anyone will need to beat the rap. In addition, if the courts do it anywhere close to what they do in DC, they’ll leave Rodgers alone because he is still a material witness and will have to testify against both robber and getaway car drivers – and the DA wouldn’t be smart to alienate the heroic Mr. Rodgers.
When deadly force is justified, we shoot to stop the threat. At the moment each shot was fired, the threat was still ambulatory, and therefore not yet stopped.
But, yes: it’s a good thing Angela Corey operates a few hundred miles farther south, or this hero could be speciously prosecuted, too.
Doubtful. Sycamore is a town of about 500 in south-central GA. The sheriff isn’t gonna charge him with anything, the county DA will probably give him a medal, and the gas station will give him free gas for a month. Gotta love rural GA. (I live in central GA too, but not near Sycamore)
Part of carrying a firearm is knowing what NOT TO SAY as well as what to say to law enforcement if this happens to occur . There are key words to avoid when giving your account of the incident and also words and phrases that will help you in case some leftie decides they want to pursue prosecution . Say , I believe their or my life was in jeopardy and you don’t say ” I wish I’d killed that bastard ” . Don’t even use the word
‘ kill ‘ . There are several books that deal with this issue and I would suggest all OC or CC citizens to study this issue .
Looks like he was open carrying.
I noticed that too, all the more reason the bad guy should have noticed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the crooks gun turns out to be fake.
Open carrying? Unpossible. According to the OC antis, if that were true, the perp would have shot him first.
The perp never saw him.
I thought perps had OC-detecting RADAR, though?
There is no way he was open carrying! All the conventional wisdom says that if you are open carrying, you will be the first person the bad guy shoots, and the robber didn’t shoot him. Ergo, he must not have been open carrying. /sarcasm off
Thank you for your service Mr. Rogers. This time too!
That’s funny I drive a Buick an ’04 with 60k and only three winters , as it was my dads and they wintered in Fla.
I got stopped by a Trooper, who asked if it was in storage and remarked on how clean it was. Oh and btw my inspection was up 6 months ago…. Told me to stay safe brother and off I went .
I love my Buick so utr , nobody thinks pistol and shotgun on board And driver can knock off 100 chin ups in ten minutes .
Yep just an old guy in a Buick….
If you can see over the dashboard, you do not qualify as an “old guy in a Buick.”
Wow , this story and these comments are starting to bring me down . First , I went to school with a lot of veterans of that war , just a few years older than me and I just bought a 1963 Buick Skylark Special out of a garage in Georgia . 58,000 original miles with the factory spare tire still mounted in the trunk . That car is four years younger than I am and it’s considered an antique . Man , I bet I feel 10 years older than I did before I read this story and the subsequent comments . I may be considered an old man but I’d like to see someone mess with my 1963 Buick Skylark Special with it’s 1963 school teacher hot rod all aluminum Fireball V8 .
Part of the reason old folks had to look through the steering wheel was that most old cars had huge steering wheels. They were needed because power steering was an expensive option back in the day and a small wheel didn’t give enough mechanical advantage to allow a small older person to turn the wheels especially when the car wasn’t moving. Be proud of a cool old car!
When stupid is as stupid does, the bullet will do what it does…
“Dying’s no way to make a living.”
Mr. Rogers made a tough decision, but the right decision. Mr. Burton chose poorly, and reaped the whirlwind of his decision.
Awesome…I applaud his courage…and hope the scumbag died.
Really glad everything worked out well for Mr. Rogers. He did a good thing in hopefully keeping one more criminal off the streets for good, and I don’t mean that in the “severest” of terms, I mean I hope the stick up man learned something from this. If he didn’t then well maybe the next time calling 911 wont really be necessary.
Guess that’s one skel that should of stayed away from Mr. Rogers neighborhood.
I see what you did there!
Good guy wins. Good…
when there are riots they should have a scanner that de activates food stamp cards
Welcome Home Brother! that robber was Beau-coup Dinky Dow! You did the right thing! Flashbacks and Depression can be expected! my self I never wanted too touch another weapon after the SE Asia War games run by A*** hole politicians, then a twisted sister shot at myself and Daughter! lets just say the Job got done,{have never been totally unarmed Since} Hopefully,Twist Loving Democrats {sick F**ks that they are} will not try to make a Mountain out of a mole hill! Semper FI, Fair winds and following Seas!
Rogers attained a 67% hit rate…and he’s an old, fat, “yahoo with a gun”.
The sarcastic side of me wants to say: “suck it, Bloomberg! Your police department couldn’t shoot as well as Rogers did!”.
But I’ll refrain and just say that if an old, fat former servicemember can do that, exactly why aren’t we arming Soldier’s (and sailors and Marines and airmen) to defend themselves against the Hassan’s (Ft Hood shooter), Abdulazeez’s (Chattanooga Marine recruting center shooter), Muhammad’s (Little Rock Army recruiting center shooter), and Alexis’s (Navy Yard shooter)?
This serves as a discussable moment. There are some in our group that would have done nothing in this situation. I don’t know how I would react in the same situation, and so please read no judgementalism in what I’m about to say.
I think that we shouldn’t necessarily only act when our lives (or family member’s lives) are being threatened. I would suggest that by defending others we are in a sense inoculating the community in a way that makes it less likely that we or our loved ones will have to experience this later. We are a part of creating an environment toxic to criminal activity. Each situation is different, so play it by ear. But do what we can to put the right kind of pressure on our social environment.
Just by looking at that picture I can see a viet nam vets hat, cammie shirt, open carry holster and a gent that looks old enough to have been there and done that.
In other words, there should be a cartoon ballon over his head saying….”Don’t phuck with.”