Shop Owner Kills Robber

[ccheese]

The Virginian-Pilot
© June 30, 2008
By Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer

VIRGINIA BEACH
Ferdinando Abbondante wanted the masked man to go for the cash register.
When a man carrying a gun sneaked into Dominick’s Pizza and Pasta just after 10 p.m. Saturday and demanded that he open his safe, Abbondante tried to tell him that there was no money in there, that he should go for the register instead.

“I told him to walk to the register, get the money, leave my store, and no one would get hurt,” said Abbondante, who owns the pizza shop. “In a situation like this, they see the money, they’re going to be happy and walk away.”

The man had his gun trained on one of the restaurant’s employees, Abbondante said, and kept insisting: “Open the safe! Open the safe!”

The safe was where Abbondante, a former security officer, kept his handgun, which he carried with him when he left the restaurant at night with the day’s receipts. If he opened it, he thought, the man would see the gun and start shooting. But he didn’t see any other choice.

So Abbondante opened the safe. The man fired once, and missed, Abbondante said. He fired back – he doesn’t remember how many times – killing the intruder.

“I’m not proud of it, because when you kill a person, you take somebody else’s life. That’s not good at all. Nobody wants to do that,” he said. “But in this case, I’m happy. I think I saved my life and my employees’ lives.”

Police said they had identified the man who was killed but were waiting to notify his family before releasing his name.

Dominick’s was closed Sunday as employees worked into the night, scrubbing the restaurant with the help of a professional cleaning crew. Abbondante said he plans to reopen today.

The shooting was something that employee Ravyn Pearce says she never wants to go through again.

“It was so shocking. It was insane,” said Pearce, who at one time had the gun pointed at her. “People always say, 'If I was in that situation …’ but you never know what you’re going to do.”

A fitting end !!!

Charles

[Haztoys]

Weres the ACLU when you need them ...That man had rights ..

.NOT the moment he went into that store with a gun to rob it...

[eddie_brunette]

Sounds like a normal day in SA, sad though

edd

[wilbur1]

Well done!!!!

[ToughOmbre]

Originally Posted by Haztoys

Weres the ACLU when you need them

No clear-thinking, decent, law-abiding American should ever have use for the ACLU.

I know you were being Haz, but I never pass up an opportunity to trash that un-American organization.

TO

[Bucksnort101]

Too bad for the criminal, glad the gun owner had a cool head and a steady hand and did not allow the perp to get a second shot. I feel for the shop owner, killing a man would not be easy and he has to live with his action the rest of his life, but the perp shooting first should tell you he was willing to take a life (lives) and his actions were justified.
And this is preciseleyt why I support national conceled carry laws. Notice the Cities with the highest crime rates in this country bad handgun ownership, Chicago, and DC are the first that come to mind. There is a reason for this.

[freebird]

Originally Posted by Haztoys

Weres the ACLU when you need them ...That man had rights ..

OMG! have that man arrested and hauled away! Keeping an illegal handgun and then shooting someone with it!

Oh, hold on that Virginia, not Washington D.C....

[Haztoys]

Originally Posted by ToughOmbre

No clear-thinking, decent, law-abiding American should ever have use for the ACLU.

I know you were being Haz, but I never pass up an opportunity to trash that un-American organization.

TO

Trash the hell out of the ACLU Mr Tough ..I'm with you on that...

The ACLU has no common scents... Its like the Navy lady and the prayer.. Join a group that has been run one way for over 100 years then bitch that its been run that way for a 100 years...Change the rules because "I" showed up.. ...And I'm upset...

Why do people do that....The rules are this ..Play by them or don't play..

Back to the shoting ...Were all armed to the teeth here in Northern small town Arizona .No real crime ..You will get your a$$ shot around here you dick around.. You bet...

[Bucksnort101]

I'd like to move to a town where it is well known the populace is well armed and the mojority are leagal to carry a weapon. I bet crime rates would be almost non-existant and people would get along with thier neighbors much better.

[freebird]

Originally Posted by Haztoys

Weres the ACLU when you need them.

The ACLU had a legitimate purpose IMO, helping citizens to combat discrimination, and defend free speech.

Unfortunately it has veered so far off-track that it has become somewhat of a joke

[drgondog]

Originally Posted by freebird

The ACLU had a legitimate purpose IMO, helping citizens to combat discrimination, and defend free speech.

Unfortunately it has veered so far off-track that it has become somewhat of a joke

Zealously protected every right except rights of victims and the 2nd Amendment

[freebird]

Originally Posted by drgondog

Zealously protected every right except rights of victims and the 2nd Amendment

If I remember the history correctly, they did alot of good work in the early days, opposing segregation era laws that prevented free speech & assembly.


They have gotten more radical over time...

[RabidAlien]

The good thing is, the shop owner has a store full of witnesses that he tried to get the idiot to rob the register...where he had no gun. Then, when he saw the gun in the safe, the perp fired *first*, and missed. With a deadly weapon, ya don't give the idiot a second chance to correct his aim. *g* I think the owner should get a frikkin medal, who knows how many other businesses have been saved because he's no longer there to rob them? Of course, the family will whine and complain about "his rights", and probably get the ACLU involved (or they'll get themselves involved, as long as it hits the headlines)...and then sue the gun manufacturer because MTV raised their poor child the wrong way while they (the parents) were out doing crack or popping out more babies or something. In the end, unfortunately, the dang shopowner, who was defending his property and his employees, will probably end up taking the blame for it.

[Njaco]

Police said they had identified the man who was killed but were waiting to notify his family before releasing his name.

His name should be plastered actoss the front page as a deterent .... wait, scum like this probably don't read.

[Soren]

In short: The shop owner did what he had to do, he was forced to do it or die really.