Sandy MaloneHarris County, TX – A 79-year-old gun shop owner exchanged gunfire with two armed robbers early on Tuesday morning after he caught them on his property trying to break in.
The incident occurred at about 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 7 when the owner of a gun shop located in the 2000-block of Kennings Road heard a commotion outside, KHOU reported.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the gun shop owner, who is a military veteran that also lives on the same property, went outside to see what was happening and encountered two burglars who were trying to break into the gun shop.
Sheriff Gonzalez said the men had hooked chains to the front door of the store and also to a vehicle, KHOU reported.
The sheriff said that the store owner stepped outside and saw the vehicle yank the front door of his gun shop off the hinges and watched at least one of the suspects enter the store.
KHOU reported that the suspects noticed the elderly man watching moments later and opened fire on him.
The gun shop owner told deputies that he returned fire and struck at least one of the would-be gun thieves before they fled his property.
Then 911 received a call about a man lying in the street about seven miles away from the gun shop at 4:41 a.m., according to a post from Sheriff Gonzalez on the department’s official Facebook page.
Deputies said the man was in the middle of the road next to a car found with its doors open, KHOU reported.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two handguns were recovered near the dead man that are believed to have been stolen from the gun shop on Kennings Road, KHOU reported.
Two other suspects were taken into custody at the scene but officials haven’t released any information about who they are or their connection to the incident.