A man looking for cigarettes and for an unarmed victim got neither Friday morning.
Alton Lindsey said that a man approached him asking for cigarettes in the parking lot of the Jackson, Mississippi, Motel 6 where he and his co-workers were staying.
Lindsey, who is from the west coast, told the man he did not have any.
That’s when the man turned away to leave but then wheeled back around towards Lindsey.
“Betcha’ ain’t got one of these,” the would-be thief said, drawing attention to a gun he had pulled, according to Mississippi News Now.
“As the unknown male walked away, he turned around and pointed a weapon toward the complainant and advised the complainant that he bet he did not have that, which he was directing toward the weapon he was holding in his hand,” Jackson police department spokeswoman Colendula Green said, according to WAPT.
But the assailant miscalculated his odds.
“He pulled a gun on him and my boss pulled his little pistol out and I guess he shot him in the chest,” Christopher Atwood told WAPT.
Atwood said that after being shot, the assailant fired at him.
“We heard a gunshot and we stepped outside and that’s when I saw the guy backpedaling and we yelled, ‘Hey’ and he turned and fired at us,” said Atwood.
A bullet hole was found in the window of a vehicle that witnesses said belonged to Lindsey.
The assailant fled the scene but was later apprehended at a nearby apartment complex. He was taken to the hospital. His injuries are non-life-threatening.
Lindsey was taken into custody, according to WAPT. But Mississippi News Now reported that he is currently not facing charges.