Woman with concealed carry permit shoots up Home Depot while trying to stop shoplifters

Michigan police still haven’t decided if they are going to charge a 47-year-old woman with a felony after she opened fire at alleged shoplifters at a Home Depot.

According to The Detroit News, the woman happened upon a store security officer who looked like he was trying to stop a shoplifter. When the suspects tried to escape in their vehicle, the woman pulled out her concealed 9mm handgun and opened fire.

Police believe a bullet struck one of the tires of the vehicle as the suspects escaped. It’s not known if either of the men, who are still at large, were hit.

Reports say that the woman had a concealed carry permit and was cooperating with law enforcement.

Watch a report on the story from WXYZ in the video below:

Update: Police later confirmed that the woman who fired the shots “was not being threatened by a fleeing shoplifter when she decided to fire multiple shots at him in a Home Depot parking lot,” according to the Detroit Free Press.

Experts interviewed after the incident don’t think the shooting was justified.

“It’s my worst nightmare as a CPL instructor,” said Doreen Hankins, owner of Detroit Arms, which holds CPL classes. “You have to know the entire situation before you pull that handgun out. And I don’t see that a shoplifter at Home Depot fills any of those criteria.”

“To use a concealed weapon in Michigan, a CPL holder needs to think that there is an imminent danger of death, great bodily harm or sexual assault, or think there is a similar danger to someone else,” said Rick Ector, a firearms trainer who runs Legally Armed Detroit, adding that a gun is “truly a tool of last resort.”

CPL holders who misuse their guns could face a wide range of charges — among them felony firearm, reckless use of a firearm and felonious assault.

Hankins, the owner of Detroit Arms, said of the shooting, “None of it makes sense. Even if it were law enforcement, they wouldn’t do that.”

She added, speaking of CPL holders: “You are not a police officer. You are not a person out there protecting the public at large.”

Featured image via YouTube

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.

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