A robber made a poor choice in victim selection on Tuesday when he attempted to hold up an armed individual at a gas station.
Police in Orland Park, Illinois, responded to the incident around 9:00 a.m. and later transported the suspect to a hospital with at least one gunshot wound, as reported by a local TV station. The event was captured on surveillance video, which was shared on social media.
“I would hope that he would just give up his keys, let him take his car, and the guy wouldn’t have to use his weapon. Luckily, he had a weapon on him, and he wasn’t afraid to take it out,” said Naseem Elmosa, whose family owns the gas station.
The posted surveillance footage revealed the robber approaching a customer and brandishing a gun, prompting the customer—who had a concealed carry permit—to draw his own firearm and fire two rounds in response. The suspect was hit at least once.
“He was masked. It was clear on plain view sight that this person, he was armed, of course,” Elmosa noted.
Police were looking into the incident, but did not reveal the identities of either the would-be robber or the customer. Authorities indicated that the customer was cooperating with the investigation.
“It’s just crazy to see here in Orland Park. It’s just scary for everybody around here, especially having a family-owned business. Never came across this issue before,” Elmosa added.
Illinois enacted its concealed carry law after a December 2012 ruling by a divided panel in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which determined that the state’s ban on concealed carry and refusal to issue permits violated the Second Amendment. The law, passed by the Illinois Legislature, went into effect in 2014.
