Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Store owner pulls gun on robber -- then gives him cash out of compassion





Touching story:


When a bat-wielding man walked into a Shirley convenience store and demanded cash, store owner Mohammad Sohail pulled out a rifle in self-defense.

And when the would-be robber dropped to his knees and begged forgiveness, saying desperate economic times had pushed him to the edge, Sohail did the unthinkable:

He put down the rifle - and handed the desperate man $40 and a loaf of bread.

Most of the incident, which Suffolk County Police said was reported in a 911 call at 12:35 a.m. on Thursday, May 21, was captured on a surveillance camera at the Shirley Express.
"He started crying," Sohail said of the would-be robber's reaction once the store owner pulled out his rifle.

As Sohail said: "He was saying: 'I have no money. I have no food. I have no job. I have to take care of my family.' "

A longtime Shirley resident and immigrant from Pakistan who's been on Long Island more than 20 years, Sohail said he knows times are tough.

Which, he said, is why he was willing to extend a hand.

"This wasn't someone who was 16 years old," he told Newsday. "It was a man. He said: 'Please, don't shoot me. Please, don't call the police.'


Exactly the kind we need at times like this, in fact.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Total setup...
Holiwood at it's finest.
Perfect camera angle and no one especially a real robber would go in there with a baseball bat..

Total fakeout..
Oh yah I'm Islam now too..
Whatever..