An Ohio pizza delivery driver allegedly shot and killed an attempted armed robber Sunday evening with a concealed carry weapon, WBTN reported.
Two armed men wearing face masks entered a Papa John’s in New Carlisle in a robbery attempt after 11 p.m., according to WBTN. An unidentified pizza delivery employee shot and killed one of the robbers, 21-year-old Gage Melton, with a firearm while the other suspect escaped the scene, according to the outlet.
An unnamed Papa John’s employee present at the scene told an emergency dispatcher that the robbers sprinted towards the employees with a crowbar and knife, WBTN reported. The 9-1-1 operator instructed the two employees to remain inside and attempt to aid Melton, but they did not have enough towels to stop the bleeding.
The employees reported to the dispatcher that Melton was not breathing. By the time authorities arrived, the driver, a legal conceal carrier, had placed his firearm on the counter in order for officers to retrieve it, WBTN reported. (RELATED: ‘We Don’t Think He Did Anything Wrong’: Gun Rights Group Details Why They Think The Rittenhouse Shooting Was ‘Self-Defense’)
Ohio police are still searching for a second robber who fled the scene on foot after the shooting happened. https://t.co/R6Mp9Ztrag
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) June 22, 2021
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Tom Hagel, a legal expert, believe the shooting was a justified use of self-defense, saying that one has the right to use “deadly force” when faced with a threat. The prosecutor’s office has yet to confirm whether the shooting can be considered as a self-defense case, WBTN reported.
“If you have a lawful right to be where you’re at, you can stand your ground and use deadly force in response to a threat of deadly force,” Hagel, a law professor at the University of Dayton School of Law, said. “If he [the shooter] is being threatened with serious bodily harm or death, and it is presumed that is happening, if he is being victimized as a victim of an armed robbery, it’s assumed they’re threatening his safety, then he can use deadly force without any duty to run away.”
Hagel confirmed that the robbers’ concealed deadly weapons further justifying the shooting as self-defense, WBTN reported.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio signed a “stand your ground” law in January to allow an armed individual to use deadly force in self-defense without retreating from the potential threat.