An armed robber who tried to hold up a store in Ohio is now dead at the hands of an armed citizen who shot the man in self-defense - but according to the assailant's family, the robber was the real victim here.
According to WHIO TV, 23-year-old Roosevelt Rappley walked into a Dayton, Ohio Dollar General with a handgun and demanded the clerk hand over money from the cash register.
In response, a second store employee, who was armed, pulled out his own firearm and shot Rappley in the chest. The suspect managed to make it out of the store, where he collapsed in the parking lot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
To make matters worse, this apparently wasn’t the first time Rappley had run into trouble with the law.
“The deceased did have a pending weapons charge that was waiting to move forward,” he said. “Right now we are looking into the possibility of this individual may have been involved in several other commercial robberies,” said Lt. Jason Hall with the Dayton Police Department.
According to several eye witnesses, Rappley aimed his firearm at multiple store employees while demanding they fork over the money, including the armed employee who police later confirmed was in legal possession of a gun.
"I just had somebody try to attempt and rob me over here at Dollar General on Gettysburg,” the employee explained in the 911 call from the scene. “Came in with a firearm, threatened to take money out the drawer, pointed a gun at me and my staff members," the caller told dispatchers. "He pointed a gun at me, I had a firearm on me, I pulled my firearm and I shot him in self-defense."
And it looks like he had a right to be concerned for his own safety to the point of carrying a gun. WHIO TV reports the Dollar General location had already been robbed four times this year alone.
But now, Rappley’s siblings want you to know it was the clerk acting in self-defense – not their felonious brother – who was the real bad guy in the story.
"He's got some responsibility, but not all," Rappley's sister said. "Right and wrong is wrong, that was wrong for that clerk to shoot my brother in the chest."
"Yes, he's robbing them. Oh, well! Call the police, that's what you're supposed to do. You're not supposed to take matters into your own hands!" she continued.
Dayton, Ohio family outraged their sibling was shot dead by a store clerk while attempting an armed robbery
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 12, 2019
pic.twitter.com/Z5r5OZnAgm