duquesne rideshare jitney driver shoots robber
Courtesy Twitter
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If you drive a cab or operate a ride share vehicle, there’s always a risk. You never know who’s getting in the back of your car or what’s on their mind. Uber and Lyft have policies preventing their drivers from carrying firearms, but a lot of their drivers ignore that prohibition in favor of being able to defend themselves.

On Wednesday, a Duquesne, Pennsylvania jitney driver picked up a couple at about 3:000m.

(Crosby) Marshall said he had picked up the man and a female passenger minutes earlier. He said he knew something was wrong when the man began sending him along an alley, then suddenly told him to stop his SUV.

“I turned around when he said he was going to rob me, then he hit me with the gun,” said Marshall.

That’s when Marshall tried to get away, but the man with the gun came after him. Fortunately, Marshall is a licensed concealed carrier.

Marshall said that while bleeding, he managed to get out of the car. He said the female passenger ran, and the man got out, too. Marshall said the man was pointing a gun at him.

“I was backed in a corner,” said Marshall. That’s when he said he fired his weapon.

Police say Marshall fired three times, killing the man. They said Marshall had a permit to carry the firearm and is not charged.

“I just had to do what I had to do,” said Marshall. “I’m just happy to be here.”

Marshall hasn’t been charged and, given the fact that the 73-year-old had a permit and was clearly defending himself, likely won’t be. Another life saved thanks to the timely use of a gun in a defensive situation.

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31 COMMENTS

  1. Best thing about ride share is that the company has ALL the personal information of whoever asked for the ride, including credit card info, home address, and phone number, time of request, pickup point and requested drop off point. Unless the phone was stolen.

    Next best thing – you don’t need to have any cash in the car. Riders are not allowed to pay in cash and there is a button on the app to give you a tip if they want. You would sometimes get a cash tip but they were rare and usually minimal. This means few people have any interest in trying to rob a ride-share driver.

    Downside- Guns are prohibited to the driver AND the passengers. Right. How do you know if your passenger is packing?

    I don’t drive for Uber anymore, but I can tell you I NEVER went on the app unless I had a pistol in the car. Until or unless you need the weapon there is really no way for Uber or Lyft to know you are armed.

    The biggest reason for that was I was driving a nearly new Chrysler 300. Cash on board or not, every time I pulled up to take a ride, or even stopped at a drop off, I was a target for carjacking and I knew it.

    • So, you sayin’ those of some unfortunate demographic actually *like* them a Chrysler 300?

    • The jitney driver wasn’t a ride share driver with Uber, Lyft, or similar legal ride share company with an app that has the riders information. Being an illicit jitney driver in a cash only illegal business with unknown customers servicing low-income areas is more dangerous than being a typical Uber or Lyft driver.

      Another article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has more info about the jitney business.
      Pittsburgh has a unique attachment to its illicit transportation system. While other cities stamped out jitneys 100 years ago or saw the emergence of illegal “dollar vans” for immigrant populations, the Pittsburgh area still has nearly the same system of unregulated private cars servicing low-income neighborhoods that playwright August Wilson dramatized in his first major work three decades ago.
      …
      In Pittsburgh, jitney drivers congregate at grocery stores and the Downtown Greyhound station, or at jitney stations sprinkled around the city and suburbs. They are usually storefronts or garages where drivers pay dues to take calls for jitney pickup…

      Pittsburgh jitney service illegal, but thriving
      ttps://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2013/09/07/Pittsburgh-jitney-service-illegal-but-thriving/stories/201309070167

    • Yup, those are all great things about ride share companies. I’m sure they’ll make the driver’s survivors very happy.

    • “Until or unless you need the weapon there is really no way for Uber or Lyft to know you are armed.”

      yes. But while in most jurisdictions it is just a violation of your contract, a civil tort where the most that can happen is termination of your contracting arrangement, in quite a lot of US jurisdictions it is a per se criminal violation. With some jurisdictions having laws prohibiting carry on public transport and uber and lyft defined as public transport just the same as cabs, when engaged in ride sharing – such as in my own jurisdiction.

      In that case you may go to prison for licenced otherwise legal carry in you own car , made even more likely if a duty to inform state as well. You also may well be violating your carry insurance by willfully engaging in a criminal act by carrying while driving for a ride share company.

      So know you local laws before making assumptions.

  2. That’s why it’s called a concealed carry permit,,, no one supposed to know you got a weapon,,, the ONLY place I personally don’t pack heat in is a Federal building,,,

  3. Bravo for the driver, does Pennsylvania have duty to retreat? Either way the driver did not freeze or have to beg for his life, he appears to have reacted in a logical manner despite the stressful situation. When flight was no longer an option he quickly moved to fight.

    • Well, according to the story, he WAS trying to retreat, for all the good it did him.

  5. It appears that the armed robber never fired any shots at the driver. I wonder if the armed robber’s handgun was part of the 43% (or thereabouts) of criminal firearms that do not function? At any rate, as the saying goes: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

    In terms of the armed robber’s victim selection, “He chose — poorly.”

    • In the TV news video (linked to in the article) you can see three cuts between driver’s eyes where the passenger pistol-whipped him. The passenger may not have tried to shoot the driver, but rather beat him into submission. Either way, he did “choose poorly” in robbing this 73-year old driver.

    • Mad, I won’t either. My son bought concert tickets for my birthday last month. I’ve carried in this particular venue many times. This time there was a college kid at the door with a magnetometer and a T-shirt that said, “SECURITY.” He wanted me to leave my weapons in the car. Me, “You know if I get killed it’s your fault.” Him, “Don’t worry. No one is getting in here with a gun.” Me, “If an active shooter shows up you’re going to be the first to catch a bullet. Doubt your T-shirt has a ballistic rating. Come on John. Let’s go home.” His jaw fell open. Nothing like a good slap in the face with reality. Enjoyed the 🍣 sushi dinner before though.

      • This middle-aged security officer would politely ask you to return it to your car. Regarding an active shooter possibility, they’d have to deal with the two AR-15 armed police officers out at my 10 and 2 from the facility entrance. And those are just a couple of many stationed around the perimeter of the building’s exterior.

        There’s no way in hell that I’d want to be in a concert venue with many armed individuals.

        Kudos to the driver for permanently removing the threat.

        • PimpDaddySkippy, really? Who would use that screen name? Wanna be rapper that couldn’t make it? This place didn’t have two AR armed L.E.O.s at 10 and 2. Not on either rear flank. No tail gunner on 180. Then they leave the main entrance to little old you? By yourself? Even so, what are you guarding? A branch of the Federal Reserve Bank? Driver? I never mentioned a driver. If it makes a difference, that was me. This guy a couple of weeks ago was what we called “eye wash” when I was in the Army. Looks good. Doesn’t do anything.

        • Also Pimp, understand. He didn’t find my weapons I told him up front I had them.

  8. What time is 3:000m?

    Glad the driver was able to defend himself successfully. I personally believe (though it’s tough to prove). That he also reduced the likelihood that other drivers will get robbed.

  9. Pennsylvania has NO duty to retreat law, Section 505 (B), page 14 of the “Crimes Code of Pennsylvania”. Section 507 could also cover the situation.

  10. “Pennsylvania Ride Share Driver Shoots, Kills Armed Robber”

    And sadly, he’ll now probably be sued by the “victims” family for “wrongful death”…because we all know, “he was such a good boy”…

  11. Dan,
    Typo “…driver picked up a couple at about 3:000m.”
    Should be “… 3:00 pm”

  12. Is there any info about the driver loosing his gig with the ride-share companies? I’m gonna guess even though he saved his oen ass, the companies really don’t care about his ass.

    • The TV news story linked to in the article says the driver
      MARSHALL SAYS HE WAS TREATED FOR HIS INJURIES AND IMMEDIATELY DECIDED THAT THIS WAS HIS LAST RIDE AS A JITNEY DRIVER. >> I’M JUST THANKFUL TO BE HERE.

      The jitney driver wasn’t a ride share driver with Uber, Lyft, or similar legal ride share company with an app that has the riders information (and prohibits legally-armed drivers and passengers). He was an illicit jitney driver in a cash-only illegal business with unknown customers. He was able to legally carry a concealed pistol with his permit without risk of being fired.

    • You’re right. We old men didn’t get old by being stupid. I didn’t regularly carry until after I got on Social Security. At nearly 72 years old, I can no longer beat up anyone (if I ever could) or run away. Therefore, if I get threatened by someone to where I feel my life or health is endangered, I’m going to use my gun. When you get old, a life sentence if it came to that, is not as much a threat it was when you are young and free lodging, food and healthcare might not be so bad.

  15. This article should be forwarded to the Pittsburgh city council and mayor so they can reconsider their little feudal gun control zone.

  16. uBER, lYFT and any similar company are NAIVE liberal ideas. The creators of such “services”NEVER take into account the SAFETY of what they are doing. Its all about using the internet to make MONEY. The whole idea of such services is in the realm of NAIVETY. Take a CAB and PAY FOR IT!!! I mean what dod they do BEFORE such juvenile services were made by some sniveling millenial simp(s)

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