Grocery store shooter not charged even though No gun sign posted

[JG55]

Grocery store shooter not charged, speaks about incident

By Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel

The Aldi customer who shot an armed robber in the store Monday won't face any criminal charges, prosecutors confirmed Friday.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said the law allows use of reasonable force in threatening situations, regardless of whether the shooter has a concealed weapons permit.

"He disrupted an act that potentially exposed himself and others to great bodily harm," Chisholm said. Video footage from the store showed "he acted reasonably and in a controlled manner during the encounter," Chisholm said.

The customer, Nazir Al-Mujaahid of Milwaukee, held a news conference to discuss the incident. Al-Mujaahid, 35, called it nothing to brag about, but that "sometimes you have to do what you have to do."

Al-Mujaahid said he and his wife stopped at the store, at N. 76th St. and W. Villard Ave., for some last-minute dinner items. They'd never shopped at the store before, he said.

He said they had just walked in when he noticed the suspect approach the cashiers holding up a shotgun with the stock cut off and a bag, demanding money in a very agitated way. Fearing for the safety of himself, his wife and others in the store, he said, he unholstered his semi-automatic 9mm handgun, cocked it and kept it down at his side as he motioned another customer behind the robber to move away.

When the robber turned the shotgun toward him, Al-Mujaahid said, he fired six or seven shots from about 20 feet away. He said he hit the suspect in the leg and forehead. The robber then dropped the shotgun and bag, and fled the store. Police arrested a suspect and an accomplice later. They had not been formally charged as of Friday morning.

The whole process took less than 30 seconds, he estimated. He said he has not seen the store video, but that he was assured by detectives at the scene that he would likely not be charged.

He said he knew from his recent training that you need a clear head, breathe right and "commit to a decision."

Al-Mujaahid, an Internet marketer, said he's always been a gun rights supporter and previously exercised his right to openly carry a firearm. When Wisconsin adopted a concealed carry law last year, he applied for his permit in November. He said he obtained it Jan. 17 or 18.

He said he did not notice the sign at Aldi prohibiting weapons in the store, and that if he had, he would have gone elsewhere. He said since he began to carry a concealed gun, he has stopped from going into other businesses where he did see the sign.

Al-Mujaahid said he hopes the incident will deter other criminals from using guns in areas where law-abiding people may defend themselves.

At the news conference, Al-Mujaahid plugged his new website, ccwadvocates.com. It reads in part:

Learn from Real People like you and me, normal Ordinary Citizens that have awaken the spirit of personal responsibility and freedom that this country was founded upon!

Sign up to hear exclusively from the Man that stopped an Armed Robbery at a Milwaukee Aldi store. Many have called him a hero, we like to call him our brother!

The Michigan company whose firearm and CCW training course Al-Mujaahid took in November was already touting the case on its website Thursday night.

[patbax2]

The story says he hit the guy in the leg and FOREHEAD? And he still ran off?

[Oh Shoot]

The story says he hit the guy in the leg and FOREHEAD? And he still ran off?

Oblique shot with any handgun caliber can careen off the ole bean. We're not carrying death rays.

- OS

[Guest bkelm18]

Oblique shot with any handgun caliber can careen off the ole bean. We're not carrying death rays.

- OS

Still... a bullet bouncing off your head probably smarts a bit.

[Oh Shoot]

Still... a bullet bouncing off your head probably smarts a bit.

If it doesn't drop me, probably just make me run faster than I thought possible though!

- OS

[QuietDan]

Still... a bullet bouncing off your head probably smarts a bit.

That'll leave a mark!

. . . and a brown streak in your pants. . . .

[Makiaveli]

Good to hear he isn't being charged....now let's hope the store changes it's policy.

[Dennis1209]

Still... a bullet bouncing off your head probably smarts a bit.

Being a 9mm, probably like a wasp sting and may have even left a small red mark

[Oh Shoot]

Being a 9mm, probably like a wasp sting and may have even left a small red mark

Well, it did take 8 posts to get there.

- OS

[Patton]

You never know, the first homicide I ever worked was a single shot from a 22lr. I have also went to the ER to talk with a shooting victim and he was talking to me plain as day with a 44mag round in his shoulder, alcohol and guns don't mix.

[DaveTN]

At the news conference, Al-Mujaahid plugged his new website

Of course he did.

Sign up to hear exclusively from the Man that stopped an Armed Robbery at a Milwaukee Aldi store. Many have called him a hero, we like to call him our brother!

[DWARREN123]

He plugged the robber so let him plug his web site!

[Guest Kamikaze]

Man, if he was carrying a .45 that guys head would be a canoe.... J/K

Although that is why I changed my wife and myself to more powerful handgun calibers. She carries a .357sig and I am changing from .45 to 10mm next week. Of course it may not have made a difference, but it can't hurt.

[Guest ArmaDeFuego]

Yay, another caliber war thread!!

[walton6467]

We're not carrying death rays.

- OS

But wouldn't it be cool!

[chances R]

Man, if he was carrying a .45 that guys head would be a canoe.... J/K

Although that is why I changed my wife and myself to more powerful handgun calibers. She carries a .357sig and I am changing from .45 to 10mm next week. Of course it may not have made a difference, but it can't hurt.

The whole purpose was to stop the threat.......which he did, and good for him. BUT he fired 6 or 7 shots and 2 connected. IMO a larger caliber is not the answer. As always it is accuracy that counts, misses don't.

[dats82]

Yay, another caliber war thread!!

No war, everyone knows bigger ALWAYS wins out. We all know the only thing worth having starts with a 4; it just that wayward souls still are not willing to admit it to themselves.

[Guest PapaB]

We're not carrying death rays.

- OS

You obviously haven't seen my wife when I've made her mad.

[sigbrown1297]

He said he fired 6 or 7????? Makes you wonder where the others hit. Cocked the handgun? I don't know about you guys, but when i carry, i carry ready to go.

[Guest cardcutter]

" he fired six or seven shots from about 20 feet away. He said he hit the suspect in the leg and forehead."

At 20ft and he cant hit a man size target five out of seven shots? While I applaude the effort it seems to me this guy needs some serious range timewith aa good instructor.

Still he did step up when it counted.

Edited February 5, 2012 by cardcutter
spelling

[TMF]

As much as I would like to bag on someone's inability to shoot, let's remember that there was a weapon pointing at him when he began to fire. Most people here have only experienced a "one-way" shooting range. Those that have experienced the "two-way" shooting range are aware that your technique may drastically change from what you're used to when shooting at paper... specifically, you have more to worry about than just hitting the target; you have to worry about the target hitting you.

Being able to ignore the instinct to shield yourself from harm and fully commit to an aggressive act is not something most people can do on the fly, especially when they're out shopping for groceries. This is even harder to do than what military/LE experience in a gunfight because they are already mentally committed (for the most part) before entering a decisive engagement and even when reacting to contact (that's why SOPs exist). This mindset alone is a significant difference to that of a citizen out doing their thing.

So what I'm saying is give the guy a break. Chances are he's never had a gun pointed at him before and he's never had to point his gun at anyone either. That can be profound experience for some the first time around. I reason to bet that some of the sh*t talkers might be messing their pants a little if they found themselves looking down the barrel of a hostile weapon. The thing to take away from this is that he chose not to be victimized and a couple of bad guys learned a valuable lesson. It was a brave thing to do and we should recognize that aspect of it.

[jonlisha]

I can understand, from the way the article reads the robber had the shotgun on him about the same time he was drawing on the robber, he panicked and went into full KILL IT WITH FIRE mode and fired wildly hoping to stop the man before he took a shot of 12 gauge. I've also read that the shotgun was unloaded so you can imagine the robber was trying to be as threatening as possible with it knowing he actually had no real defence against the armed shopper.

Either way, he should get some more trigger time with his weapon and practice quick and accurate follow up shots so if he does end up in this situation again he won't have to rely on firing as many shots as possible to save his life.

On the subject of caliber size, I've been in a hostile situation on my property before with some uninvited guests who refused to leave, I had my EAA Witness .40S&W in hand and honestly I found myself wishing I had a bigger caliber seeing as how I had two hostile people and one me with one ten round mag and about 10 feet between us, I found myself doubting my ability to take them both down in time if they were to charge at me.

One more story my grandfather told me, he used to carry a S&W in .357 Mag on duty, one day he was called to some sort of disturbance with a drunk man, I'm not sure of the details but ended up in a gun fight with a drunk rifle wielding man at close range, he fired six shots of .357mag into the mans centermass without stopping him, he said the moment he decided to switch to semi auto mag fed handguns was when he was trying to reload that damn revolver as an angry drunk came after him, another officer with a 9mm hipower ended up stopping the man while my grandfather was reloading, one 9mm round struck the mans spine stopping him instantly.

Morale of the story? stop worrying about your caliber size/gun and shoot em in the head.

[gnmwilliams]

The story says he hit the guy in the leg and FOREHEAD? And he still ran off?

It didn't say he ran in a straight line though 😁

[Sidinman]

Not to be a smart a**, but it said he hit him in the head once, and he still ran away.

[RobertNashville]

We certainly don't need another caliber war; everybody knows that the 10MM is the king of the hill but most people are too wimpy to carry it.