NORCO of California I hunted a lot when I was little, says an 80-year-old California liquor store owner who was seen on tape shooting a shotgun at a would-be burglar. The armed suspect fled his place of work shouting, “He pulled my arm! after the early morning incident at Norco Market & Liquor in Norco, Calif., located east of Los Angeles.
An armed suspect walked into a Southern California liquor store where he was pushed away by 80-year-old owner Craig Cope
“I would always look out for my customers, my staff and myself. Fortunately, I was alone here in this case, so I only had to worry about that. The store owner, named Craig Cope by ‘CBS LA’, said, “I took care of it and that’s it.
He continued: “When I was young I hunted a lot. “I would put a meal on the table. Therefore, I can still remember events from a long time ago.
Cope told “CBS LA,” “More people should vote, and they should vote properly, and I think politicians… There’s a lot of people who don’t understand what it’s like to try to manage a small business, so I doubt it will win me many friends.
“And when they let people out, let’s face it, we have horrible people. There are bad people. We don’t need bad people. It’s a scary situation when that happens, so we have to lock them down,” he added.
When the man pointed the gun squarely at me, there wasn’t much time to consider my options, according to Mr Cope, who spoke to “FOX11”.
I refused to give him a chance. I recognized it as a semi-automatic weapon, and it may have been changed to an automatic version that would be more like a machine gun, but I’m not going to let it fire the first shot then. I knew what was going to happen when I looked over and saw them getting out of the car while wearing gloves, masks and a gun,” he continued.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office reported that the 23-year-old unnamed shooter, who was seen brandishing a rifle in security footage, was later discovered at a local hospital “suffering from a gunshot wound consistent with shotgun blast”. Although his condition is still serious, he is stable and when he is released, he will be put in prison.
Police say three other men who were allegedly in a getaway vehicle during the attempted burglary are now in jail and are being investigated for conspiracy and robbery. According to media reports, Cope returned to work on Tuesday, August 2, 2022 after suffering a heart attack following the incident.
