My view: The man in Texas was justified. Any one stupid enough to commit a crime against another man or woman should realize the risk they are taking and the possible consequences. They should all be shot, period.
When I started my first job at a large grocery store in Tennessee, the manager had a long talk with me about the fact that the store was robbed regular, and to make sure I knew what I was getting myself into working the evening shift as a cashier. The store was in a rough part of Nashville. Two months after I started working there, one night as I counted the money in one of the drawers in the front office. The manager told me to duck, I noticed he had his .45 Colt in his hand. I ducked and he fired, killing a man standing there holding a gun on one of the cashiers. I was scared but I understood what had just happened, and felt the manager had just saved the cashiers life. I did not feel one bit sorry for the robber. As we stood there waiting for the police to show up, the manager told me his view, that to always shoot to kill. The one time he did not, the man got up and cut him bad with a knife. The following year I had been promoted to stock manager myself, and the owner required that I go armed since I was now a manager. I was working one night, and as I came from the meat dept. to the main office in the rear of the store, there stood a man with a gun on the store owner. I quietly slid out on the top of a cooler display case, looking down on the guy. I very calmly said "Ha", the guy spun around and shot the case. My bullet hit him high in the chest, angling down, he stepped forward one step and fell. The following day the manager shot the man's brother, when he came in looking for me. My case went to the Grand Jury, some hot shot new Assistant DA, said the store had too bad a record of killing would be robbers. He wanted to prosecute this case. The ADA claimed I shot the man in cold blood. The Grand Jury said since he fired first I was justified, then laughed the ADA out of the court room when he did not agree. The ADA tried to take it to a second Grand Jury, till the State Attorney General told him to back off. But the publicity this case drew helped out the store. Criminals shied away from the store, knowing the manager would shoot them in a heart beat. Also, the customers felt safer knowing we were armed and would not put up with robbers. Back then we cashed a lot of payroll checks, so a lot of money flowed through that store.
A year later two days before I quite to go into the Air Force, I was forced to use that gun again. I made the daily deposits to the bank everyday for the store, and the drug store next door. I then picked up the cash for daily operations for both stores. I delivered the case bag to the grocery store, then took the second case bag to the drug store. After giving the money to the drug store manager I went over to the lunch counter to talk to a new girl working there. Suddenly the girl I was talking to screamed, I turned and saw a man running away with the money bag I had just given the manager. The manager was lying on the floor, and I could see blood on her face. I ran out the nearest door, drawing my pistol as I ran. I came out on the sidewalk right behind the guy. I yelled at him, he twisted around bringing his gun up as he turned. I just pointed and shot, never bringing my gun higher than my waist. I hit the guy, he screamed and dropped the money bag as he fell against a car. The guys in the car grabbed his arms and pulled him into the car as it drove away. I picked up the money bag and returned to the store. The drug store manager had a cut on her face and a broken jaw from being hit with a gun in the face. She was in hysterics, screaming and trying to talk. The young woman had ran away from the scene in panic,(she quite and never came back). A customer was trying to take care of the manager and had called the police. When the police came I gave them my statement. Later that evening I heard that, Two hours later the police had found the car abandoned in a parking lot at the Old Hickory dam. The man in the back seat had bled to death. I was never again contacted by the police or anyone about the incident.
