Bakery Owner Shoots Robber Armed with Toy Gun

A south suburban bakery store owner who watched on a security monitor as robbers ushered two employees at gunpoint to the back of his store leapt into action and shot one of the men, hitting him seven times. The robbers’ gun, however, was a toy.

The shooting happened Tuesday at about 3:30 p.m. at Cal City Bakery.

“When they get two-thirds of the way back, the owner decides, this is not going to turn out well,” Calumet City Police Chief Edward Gilmore told the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday. “He gave them the money. ... So he pulls the gun, fires, strikes the first offender that was pointing at them seven times.”

The men fled but police found the wounded man shortly after the shooting.

“While we don’t advocate citizens taking the law into their own hands, in this case it seems the owner did everything the right way,” Gilmore said. “He was in fear of his life and the life of his employee, and he acted in a prudent manner to save his life and the life of his employee, based on the facts he knew at the time.”

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