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Defensive Gun Use by Jon Lewis Alexander (courtesy news-leader.com)

OpFam. Operational familiarity. Like this: “The guy with a gun picked the wrong clerk. How wrong? A veteran of four tours in Iraq. A 30-year military man. A former prison guard, private investigator, professional extraditor of federal prisoners and — perhaps most important on this particular Sunday night — a proud owner of a Walther PPX 9 mm handgun. Loaded, with one in the chamber, like he always carries it. Jon Lewis Alexander, 54, of Marionville [Missouri], thwarted a robbery about 9 p.m. Sunday at Beer 30 on East Logan Street in Marionville — after the would-be robber pulled his weapon first. As a store security video shows, Alexander used his left hand to push the robber’s handgun back while — in a smooth but rapid motion — pulling and swinging his 9 mm into the robber’s face. The man’s mouth, to be exact, as the robber haplessly holds his own weapon at his side. ‘One of the policemen told me later, ‘You’re a lucky man,’ ” Alexander said Monday. ‘I said, ‘I think he (the robber) is a little luckier than I am.’ ” Click here to watch the security video via news-leader.com.

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52 COMMENTS

  1. I’m calling BS on this one. Looks staged to me. I’ve never seen a security camera in a retail setting pan, tilt, and zoom to follow the action. Also, I doubt that a fellow combat vet would draw on an armed perp and fail to immediately put two rounds into the center of mass.

    • As far as I can tell, the security camera wasn’t panning and tilting, it was the video camera recording the security monitor footage on replay…

      I suppose the robber hasn’t been caught and sadly this is a DGU that will never get counted by the gun grabbers…

    • It’s quite clear that this is video footage from a cell-phone being pointed at a computer monitor displaying the actual security camera footage.

      Here’s how you can tell:

      1. The frame of the computer monitor is clearly visible, including the monitor’s power, menu, and adjustment buttons.
      2. The wall behind the monitor is clearly visible.
      3. The monitor stand, power cable, and part of the desk it is sitting on are all visible throughout the entire video.
      4. Vertically oriented 16:9 aspect ratio video is a hallmark of cell-phone video taken by folks who either can’t, or don’t know how to (or that it’s even possible), rotate the image.

      Hope that helps clear things up.

    • I say it is fake because of its content. The bg drew so slowly and the clerk didn’t actually swat the gun away. If you look closely the bg just drops his hand back down faster than the clerks arm is moving to grab it. And then the bg just stands there face to face with the clerk while any normal robber would take a step back to continue fighting or run. I think these guys staged this and the guy recording this vid on his cell phone was a buddy they wanted to freak out.

      • The security footage was not recorded on a cell phone; the video you are seeing is someone recording on their cell phone the security footage playback.

        Also, not all people or robbers are the same. This robber looks like a non-professional who wasn’t fully committed/wasn’t expecting any resistance and got a big surprise. In fact I’ll bet he was more scared before, during, and after that event than the cashier ever was.

        TTAG even had an article a couple days ago talking about how the body’s natural reaction is often just to freeze.

        • 1. I didn’t say the security cam footage was from a cellphone, I implied that the owners/employees sat a buddy down in front of the backroom security monitor to play a prank on him and he happened to pull out a cellphone to have a memento.

          2. The robber looks cool, calm, and collected to me. Granted, the quality is doubly terrible since this is a cellphone capture of a security cam. Based on what I see, when the clerk resists there is no surprise or shock on the robbers face. No reaction whatsoever. If he was frozen by fear there at least would have been some initial reaction or at least signs of stiffening muscles.

          3. The way the robber’s hand falls looks completely unnatural, you can clearly see the clerk’s hand is chasing it. If the robber was surprised then how did he have time to react? Let’s say he has quick reflexes. Then why did the robber make no other moves after this point. The clerk had not yet drawn on him, yet he makes no other movements. For a guy with good reflexes this does not look right.

          In summation, there is an actual story linked further down in the comments so this event appears to be true. To me, in a vacuum, this video looks fake. It may be the terrible quality causing artifacts or irregular frame rates, making me see things that aren’t there.

  2. Awesome move – and I’m going to monday morning qb this one – but having your pistol now within striking distance is a no-no. Proper etiquette would have been to brush the other guys gun aside, step back while drawing and start letting the dawgs of 9mm hell loose. But like I said, totally MMQB’ing here.

    • Then again, the idea of cauterizing the hole so he doesn’t bleed all over the floor isn’t a bad idea. Guy would probably have to ‘clean up on aisle 2’…

    • Some say that on quiet nights, you can still hear his bowels liquefy.
      I’m happy not knowing what it’s like to sprint with a massive deuce in your drawers.

      • I wear boxers and lose fitting pants. That way a deuce is free to escape and go it’s own way and not slow me down any.

        • The French experimented with green uniform pants in the mid 80’s. Then the Berlin wall came down and Germany re-united. In one quick movement the French were back to brown pants.

  4. I don’t believe this story. Everyone knows that if you open carry you will just get shot first. This video is fake because open carry allowed for a quicker and smoother draw with the free hand.

    • The clerk got the jump because he was mentally prepared and the bad guy was not and thought he had an easy mark.

        • In addition, looking at how slow the gun was presented by the perp and this someone staggered retreat and the fact that he didn’t re-holster I suspect he was impaired, perhaps drunk

  6. Am I the only one that thinks the world would be a better place if the clerk had shot that POS would-be robber? How bad would you feel if you were in the clerks shoes, and the robber goes out and shoots somebody else in a botched robbery?

    • Josh, what the robber does when he gets out of jail isn’t the clerks problem or responsibility. It’s the robbers. If you kill someone when it’s not needed, what makes you different from the bad guys?

    • Yes, I agree the world would be better off without this POS, but a decision to fire or not shouldn’t be made based on what this guy might or might not do in the future but only on the immediate threat to yourself – which from the events depicted seem to justify lethal force. Restraint worked, thankfully, in this vets favor this time, but could have gone differently with a different and more aggressive or desperate BG.

    • I’d just as soon not shoot the BG, because then I wouldn’t have to deal with the paperwork. And ideally, he’d go out and tell his a-hole buddies not to hit that store anymore, because that old guy behind the counter will effin kill you.

      • Unless they decide to come back and attack in a pack.

        The world’d be better off with the crim dead. Who’s to say he won’t go on to victimize someone else in the future who may not be as well prepared to defend themselves?

    • I’m skeptical as well, at 54 yrs old with 30 years service and “4 dep” to OIF and then all his other cool guy accolades? Idk about this one. Not only that but he looks like he has pretty long hair…..when was the last time a 1st Sgt or Sgt Maj was able to let go of the military and reassimilate into society properly, on that basis alone him having anything other than a Ranger high n tight draws my suspicions.

      • I know plenty of people how let their hair grow when they get out why wouldn’t they? If there is no regulation and they want long hair

  8. The clerk’s draw in the video is pretty nice – smooth, clean, and the business end of his Walter right in the bad guy’s mouth. The fact that the BG didn’t die is a miracle – he should thank God the clerk chose to exercise restraint and not fire. Looking over the comments here on TTAG, it looks like more than half of y’all would have no problem painting the BG’s brains all over the store.

    Clean up of aisles 1-10.

  11. I choose to believe it’s a true story, because I like it that way and I just don’t care that much. If this particular one isn’t true, that doesn’t change the fact that stuff like this happens every day without making the news.

  12. I hate to say this. It seems to me the clerk should have pulled the trigger. Absolutely nothing was stopping the criminal from taking one step back and firing on the clerk.

    Don’t get me wrong. I am all in favor of drawing and NOT pulling the trigger in some situations. This situation did not seem to fall into that category.

  14. Why does everyone think it’s fake? Maybe this thief wasn’t fully committed to robbing the store. Likely he expected no resistance at all, his OODA loop collapsing the moment the clerk pushed his gun hand down.

    Real people don’t act like they do in the movies. If that were the case, every DGU would result in a spectacular firefight. But most criminals hightail it the moment the good guy’s gun comes out.

    Here’s a perfect example of a surreal DGU. I always wondered why the mom holding her toddler didn’t beat it or at least get on the floor. She just stands next to the holdup man. Condition white — it’s not just for victims. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AA_dgRdDhk

    • Also, it’s fairly common to find out later that the gun they used to knock over a place wasn’t even loaded. So there’s a decent chance that he couldn’t have shot if he wanted to.

  16. I’m a little disappointed so many people think this is a fabrication of some sort. I’ll grant you that some details could have been embellished, either for the benefit of personal privacy/security, or that the newsie reporter could have been just another dumb girl. And security footage comes in all kinds of quality.

    But….

    I grew up in Marionville. Actually, a mile up US60 in the Logan community (not the street). And I live and work only a few more miles up 60 these days. I still eat out in Marionville from time to time, and although I’ve never patronized the establishment, there’s no reason to doubt the validity of this story.

    Now, we can debate the actions of both parties to our heart’s content, but let’s try to set aside the conspiracy theory stuff for now. IMO all’s well that ended well, and if they catch the twat so much the better. Hate to say it but he’s probably been in my store at one point or another, and being as I’m not interested in encountering the perp in the future I have to admit that I wished the clerk had drawn and fired immediately. But I wasn’t there.

    Tom

  18. Well, whether it’s fake or not, What is people’s opinion of its value for showing to the gun-naive, accompanied by a “The gun-grabbers would disarm the clerk.” message?

  19. The only thing im gonna call bullshit on here is the fact that a man with such a great resume is standing behind the counter of a convenience store making minimum wage. Thats Bullshit! The employment problem is this country is dispicable

  21. It is at least questionable. Take a look at the quality of the pictures. Have you ever seen a video system in a small retail store in such great color and definition? That is a big clue. The other issue is the BG leans in as his hand is pushed away so the cleark does not have to reach so far to put yhe gun in his mouth, how helpful..

    Would not the BG back away as the clerk is just pushing his right hand away and not grabbing his right hand?

    It is difficult to believe this one.

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