Good Guys 2-0!

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2002-08-27 07:24am

http://www.news-press.com/news/today/02 ... otout.html

Dad shoots intruders to save daughter, self

Semiautomatic gun under pillow foils attempted robbery in hotel room

By SHARON TURCO, sturco@news-press.com

A guest at a North Fort Myers motel shot and killed one man and
critically injured another when they forced their way into his room
Saturday morning to rob him and his daughter, authorities said.

Steven D. Robey, 46, who was pinned to his bed with a gun to his head, reached under his pillow for his .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol and shot both men to save his and his daughter’s lives.

The suspects shot in the 9:44 a.m. attempted robbery at Howard Johnson, 13000 N. Cleveland Ave., are thought to be responsible for a string of armed robberies at Southwest Florida hotels since Aug. 12, said Lee sheriff’s Capt. Richard Chard.

Robey was treated at the hotel for bite wounds to his finger, a swollen foot and minor injuries to his neck, according to a sheriff’s office report.

His daughter, Sarina Robey, 16, was not injured, Chard said.

Phillip C. Nelson, 42, of 2145 Barker Blvd. died at Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after being shot.

Ernest Major, 22, who moved to Lee County from West Palm Beach last month, suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen, arm and leg, Chard said. He was listed in critical but stable condition Saturday night at Lee Memorial Hospital.

Although he remains in the hospital, deputies arrested him on charges of attempted murder, attempted robbery and felony murder, a charge that can be imposed when somebody dies while in the commission of a crime, said Lee Lt. Richard Dobson.

Detectives did not charge Robey with a crime, though the investigation is ongoing.

Robey has a license to carry a concealed weapon, records show.

Dobson said the state attorney’s office will look into the shooting and determine whether it was justified.

Chard said the initial investigation shows Robey was in fear of his life and was defending himself.

“A gun was pointed at his head and a man was taking his daughter in the bathroom,” Chard said. “I feel I would have responded in the same way.”

Robey declined to talk to the media, fearing retribution from the suspect.

The Robeys moved to New Smyrna Beach from Cape Coral last year, but decided to move back.

They were staying in North Fort Myers while house hunting, said Kim Swanson, a spokeswoman for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators spent Saturday interviewing Robey and his daughter to determine what happened.

Early Saturday, his daughter still sleeping, Robey ordered room service. When it didn’t come immediately he headed to the hotel’s office for a danish and coffee.

“They were most likely waiting for a victim, and saw him walk back to his room,” Dobson said.

A few minutes after he got back to the room, there was a knock at the door.

Instead of a hotel employee with breakfast, Nelson was standing there and asked for money, with Major standing off to the side, according to a report.

Investigators said when Robey refused and tried to shut the door, the men pushed their way into the room.

Nelson forced Robey onto the bed holding a gun to his head.

At the same time, Major grabbed Robey’s daughter and dragged her into the bathroom.

Investigators said that’s when Robey reached for his loaded semi-automatic pistol he had hidden under his pillow, quickly loading a round into the chamber.

Robey turned and fired at Nelson who still held the gun to his head, hitting him several times. Detectives did not discuss the wounds, citing the ongoing investigation.

Then he turned to Major, who was holding his daughter, and emptied the gun at him.

Detectives think Major fired back with a small-caliber handgun at some point, although he did not hit Robey.

“He was in fear for his life, and his daughter’s,” Chard said.

One of the bullets pierced the wall into another unoccupied room.

Major ran off, as Nelson struggled with Robey, hitting and kicking him, before falling to the floor, dying.

As her father struggled with the attacker, Sarina Robey ran to the front desk, where a clerk called 911.

“She was pretty hysterical,” said Megan Geers, 21, who was staying in the hotel with a wedding party. “She was crying a lot. I didn’t know what to think.”

Alan Wirshborn, the motel’s general manager, said nothing like this has happened at the motel since it opened in 1985.

He said the motel was working with authorities, but declined to comment further.

A few minutes later a second call came into the sheriff’s office reporting Major was outside 2145 Barker Blvd. severely injured by gunshots.

Major spoke briefly to detectives before paramedics took him to the hospital, Dobson said.

Both men have previously served time in prison on theft convictions, according to Florida Department of Corrections records.

Nelson was last released from prison in July 2000. He’s served three prison terms on Lee County convictions of grand theft and carrying a concealed firearm, the records show.

Major was released from prison in July 2001 after serving a two-year sentence in Palm Beach robbery and grand theft convictions, the records show.

Robey has never been arrested, said Dobson, who did a national crime background check on him.

Nelson’s death marks the 28th homicide in Lee County this year. Last year 23 people died in homicides in Lee.

Investigators say the suspects may be the same men responsible for a trio of armed robberies at hotels along U.S. 41 and another one last weekend in Charlotte County.

The descriptions of the suspects are similar as is how the suspects’ went about robbing the victims, Dobson said.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-08-27 08:41am

Look thats not a gun I'm point at your head

Damn fine work, He had a gun to his head and managed to get both

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2002-08-27 08:50am

Mr Bean wrote:Look thats not a gun I'm point at your head
Damn fine work, He had a gun to his head and managed to get both

Completely blows away the strawman agrument most hoplophobes use...

"They can just walk up and put a gun to your head....so concealed
carry is useless..."

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-08-27 09:05am

damn what was I thinking when I wrote

Look thats not a gun I'm point at your head

I don't even have any idea what I ment

But it shows he managed to get a round in and get the guy with the gun at his head, probably was not looking at him.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2002-08-27 11:35am

Now what would happen if pistols were illegal? The robbers would have them and the victims wouldn't, resulting in the rape and murder of them. Makes me want to join the NRA.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-08-27 12:53pm

You guys are entirely too quick to idolize this idiot. He sleeps with a loaded gun under his pillow! It's just dumb luck that it worked out in his favour (particularly since he had a gun to his head at the time).

If this guy had an accident someday and his daughter died, you would be the first to stand up and say "what kind of fucking moron keeps a loaded gun laying around all the time; he was just asking for trouble; he gives all responsible gun owners a bad name".

The number of accidents caused every year by idiots who keep loaded guns unsecured in their homes is far, far greater than incidents like this.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2002-08-27 01:14pm

Investigators said that’s when Robey reached for his loaded semi-automatic pistol he had hidden under his pillow, quickly loading a round into the chamber.

Not sure what this means, but it looks like he had the gun under his pillow, with a fully loaded clip, but had to pull back the slide and load a bullet into the chamber. And he most likely had a saftey on. So in order for it to fire at all, it would have to magically slide back, magically turn its own safety off, and then magically pull its own trigger. Even without the safety, it would still have to magically slide back and magically pull its own trigger. And in such a high crime area with his 16 year-old daughter, I don't blame him at all.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » 2002-08-27 01:26pm

Darth Wong wrote:You guys are entirely too quick to idolize this idiot. He sleeps with a loaded gun under his pillow! It's just dumb luck that it worked out in his favour (particularly since he had a gun to his head at the time).

If this guy had an accident someday and his daughter died, you would be the first to stand up and say "what kind of fucking moron keeps a loaded gun laying around all the time; he was just asking for trouble; he gives all responsible gun owners a bad name".

The number of accidents caused every year by idiots who keep loaded guns unsecured in their homes is far, far greater than incidents like this.

Well, how do you know the safety wasn't on? I don't know your experience with firearms, but it only takes the flick of a thumb to activate or deactivate the safety on most handguns, and most everyone I know or have heard about who keeps handguns do so for personal defense so it seems only logical it would have been loaded. Obviously, as IRG CommandoJoe has pointed out, a round would have been kept in the chamber so he is either very comfortable around firearms or very stupid.

But I do agree, firearm safety ignorance is one of the leading factors that give birth to ridiculous movements such as the "Brady Campaign". They'd like to ban guns all together with convulated lies and half-truths based on erroneous, misinterpretated, or incorrect information rather than educate the public on proper firearm safety and use.

Don't ban guns, kids! It's what Hitler would've wanted!

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2002-08-27 01:38pm

It's always good to see a properly trained individual like this defend his family so well, but with most, this outcome is not common. If you compare the number of self defense shootings with the number of accidental shootings, the result would be sub .500.

Besides, keeping a loaded gun under the pillow can be dangerous. You could be banging your girlfriend one night and accidentally set it off. I'd imagine being shot during sex isn't fun.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » 2002-08-27 01:58pm

Witness wrote:Obviously, as IRG CommandoJoe has pointed out, a round would have been kept in the chamber so he is either very comfortable around firearms or very stupid.

Actually, I see where I misread. It MIGHT be possible, though, if he somehow cocked it when it was under his pillow.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2002-08-27 02:33pm

If you leave the gun under the pillow while having sex, and having a bullet loaded into the chamber with the safety off, you deserve to be shot to learn your damned lesson.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-08-27 03:15pm

If this guy had an accident someday and his daughter died, you would be the first to stand up and say "what kind of fucking moron keeps a loaded gun laying around all the time; he was just asking for trouble; he gives all responsible gun owners a bad name".

Acutaly we would not(Or I would not)

I'd say accidents happen, He keep a loaded gun under his pillow oh well, If it had been in the drawer or under his bed it would not have done him much good there would it?

Wong people don't buy guns Not expecting to use them(Well smart people don't) If the gun is not within reach at all times what use is it at all?

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2002-08-27 03:22pm

Mr Bean wrote:Wong people don't buy guns Not expecting to use them(Well smart people don't) If the gun is not within reach at all times what use is it at all?

Meh. Buy a gun if you want one. Hell, buy a Maxim. Claim it's for hunting. But you're starting to hearken back to the 'a well dressed gentleman always bears his sword at hip' manner of thinking. You're approaching Mogadishu lifestyle, where everyone walks around armed every day, all day.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2002-08-27 03:38pm

If the bad guys had not put him on the bed, then the gun would not have been of any use either.

Keeping a loaded gun under your pillow is not good gun safety.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-08-27 04:04pm

Keeping a loaded gun under your pillow is not good gun safety.

Acutal Depends on the Lock and then agian I don't think most people walk around Hotels Armed

*Exuse me Desk Clerk?
Allirght Alright heres all the money don't shoot!
Err thanks for the Money but I wanted a Danish
Oh... There in the back near the bar
Thanks! Oh thanks for the money
Your going to give that back right?
Hey its not like I robed the place you gave it to me

Oh and have a nice day

Went from true example to Humor oh well

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-08-27 04:16pm

How safe it is really depends on the weapon. If it has an external hammer, then it's quite safe with to keep a round in the chamber. Just keep the hammer lowed. Pretty much all .45 autos have external hammers.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2002-08-28 10:04am

Darth Wong wrote: The number of accidents caused every year by idiots who keep loaded guns unsecured in their homes is far, far greater than incidents like this.

*begins foaming at mouth*

Don't pull accusations like that out of your ass Wong. You may be a good
Vs. debater when dealing with fictional universes, but real life demolishes
your baseless claims of firearms being accidents waiting to happen.....

http://www.justfacts.com/gun_control.htm

1995 Fatal Accident Totals

Motor Vehicles 43,900
Falls 12,600
Poisonings 10,600
Drownings 4,500
Fires 4,100
Choking 2,800
Firearm 1,400 (1.5% of fatal accidents)

* For Children 14 and Under

Motor Vehicles 3,059
Drownings 1,024
Fires 883
Choking 213
Firearm 181 (2.7% of fatal accidents)
Falls 127
Poisonings 80

* There were 259 fatal firearm accidents for 15-19 year olds in 1995. (8)

* There were 6,319 fatal motor vehicle accidents for 15-20 year olds in 1996. (9)

More people die from choking on their food than are killed
accidentially by guns.

Granted, the NRA's safety rules stress keeping the gun unloaded
until ready to fire, but that's a liability with a personal-defence
firearm.

It takes over twelve pounds of pressure on the trigger of a Beretta
Model 92F to fire it when it's loaded. Somehow, I don't see the gun
going off just because you sneeze on it.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » 2002-08-28 11:57am

1995? Is that the most recent you can find? Jesus.

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2002-08-28 01:45pm

One of the problems of promoting arms as a viable method of defense is that you cannot control the acess of those weapons to anyone who wants one.
Then you'll have juvenile shooting with daddy's home arsenal, bank assaults with heavy weapons and far greater probability in dying by simply getting robbed in the street.

In the E.U we have more weapons control and.. guess.. Less people being shot.

The man is good, or lucky, but he could have got himself and his girl killed for certain if we wasn't that good or lucky.
How many times does that happen?

It's no good to get emotional with one case. The man won the jackpot, that doesn't mean it's a good way to get rich.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2002-08-28 02:10pm

A damn fool who got damn lucky as far as I can tell.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2002-08-28 02:22pm

Ya know, if they required firearm safety classes before you can buy a gun I guarantee you the majority of the firearm accidents would drop signifigantly. This guy just got lucky. Plain and simple.

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2002-08-28 03:01pm

MKSheppard wrote: Firearm 1,400 (1.5% of fatal accidents)

But, still, there are certainly more deaths due to accidents with firearms than lifes saved by this manner. Lord Wong seems to be right.
I mean, the case reached the newspaper..

How many times does that happen with accidents?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-08-28 03:01pm

In the E.U we have more weapons control and.. guess.. Less people being shot

Lol.... Let me share a little fact with you, You know the number of people who where shot last year in the UK by accident with guns where they are illeagle?

Sixty-one

Know the number of people in Switzerland where Assualt Rifles as abundant and have the third highest number of hand-gun owner-ship in the world whop are killed by guns on accident?

Three.

Gun Control, is not the Problem the problem is lack of gun safty, I learned under an Vietnam vet during the Eighties how to handle a Rifle and Hand-gun over three weeks, for a total of 18 hours before I was allowed to handle a gun on my own. And then I was allowed to handel everything from M-16s to Israily Desert Eagle Handguns down to the smaller .22 Target Shooting Pistols and Rifles

However in the US if I want a gun I can sit through an hour long video plus half an hour or less on the range then go mearly on my way with a gun

Lack of teaching and funding is getting idiots killed and despite the general good part of that occsionaly they take out those smarter than them to while clearing the rifle aimed at the door without removing the round

Somtimes its a JW behind that door, Sometimes its a neighbor being nice, either way the result is not pretty

Post by **Colonel Olrik** » 2002-08-28 03:07pm

Obviously, you're completely correct about the training.

Still, 63 is still an extremelly low number by U.S standards

And I don't believe the numbers to vary greatly in other countries of the E.U

Witness · Post by **Witness** » 2002-08-28 03:30pm

Colonel Olrik wrote:One of the problems of promoting arms as a viable method of defense is that you cannot control the acess of those weapons to anyone who wants one.

Who said that was the goal?

Colonel Olrik wrote:Then you'll have juvenile shooting with daddy's home arsenal, bank assaults with heavy weapons and far greater probability in dying by simply getting robbed in the street.

Unbased and ridiculous claims.

Colonel Olrik wrote:In the E.U we have more weapons control and.. guess.. Less people being shot.

I'd like to see your figures for that. As far as I know, every country that has confiscated firearms experienced a significant increase in crime.

To be honest, I'd rather do away with all mandatory firearm registration and background checks. The mandatory firearm registration allows any tyrannical government to know who has a gun and who doesn't while background checks take up a lot of departmental resources that could be used in catching real criminals.