LAS VEGAS — A donut shop employee, who shot a would-be robber, is raising questions about the best way to protect yourself and your business.
Every single day, workers across the Las Vegas valley face suspected criminals, forcing them to make life-and-death decisions. Some choose to arm themselves and are prepared to shoot.
Police say the owner of the Donut Hut stopped an attacker by pointing a gun at him. Officers arrested Alfonso Montellano in connection with the robbery.
Seeing the shop full of police officers is not unusual, but late Wednesday the cops were not there.
“My first thought was like, ‘I can’t believe he’s trying to rob a donut shop because that’s like police haven!'” eyewitness Kelly Johnson said.
Metro Police say Montellano came into the shop, jumped behind the counter and demanded money from the girlfriend of the Donut Hut owner, who was working behind the counter at the time.
She called her boyfriend to come to the front and to get the gun. The owner pointed the gun at the suspect, who tried to take it from him. The three of the them struggled for the gun and it went off hitting the suspect in abdomen.
“One of the employees was shooting at one of the guys who was trying to rob her,” Johnson said.
The suspect was arrested after he showed up to the hospital to get treatment for the gunshot wound.
People try to rob shops throughout the Las Vegas valley several times a month, Metro Police said.
Just hours before the attempted robbery at the Donut Hut, two men robbed a store near Charleston Boulevard and Pecos Road. One of the men held the employees at gunpoint. The other stole what he could, according to Metro Police.
“The criminals are coming in groups of three or four. They’re disabling the owners and in some cases, killing the owners simply because they won’t be identified,” Bob Irwin with the Gun Store said.
Irwin says he sees this all too often, especially for stores displaying signs that say “no firearms allowed.”
“I see those as an invitation to those robbers because the criminal of course is going to carry anyway,” Irwin said.
Irwin trains many business owners how to safely defend themselves using a firearm.
“We tell everybody to carry the gun in a way so they can draw it away from their body,” Irwin said.
Police say anyone who chooses to carry a firearm should be trained in how to use it. Gun store owners agree. They say assailants can sometimes try to take the gun, so people should be trained in how to defend against that.
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