Dayton Dollar General employee defends self and staff from armed robber

Ohio media are reporting that an employee at a Dayton-area Dollar General was able to use a gun to defend his own life and that of several employees after a man pointed a gun at them during an attempted robbery.

From the article:

Witnesses at the Dollar General told investigators that a person entered the store, revealed a handgun and then demanded money from the cash register, Hall said.

A worker, who was not working at the cash register, was armed and confronted Rappley.

Witnesses said that he pointed the gun at employees, Hall said.

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In a 911 call, a man told dispatchers that a man with a gun attempted to rob him at the store.

“He pointed a gun at me,” the caller said. “I had a firearm on me. I pulled my firearm and I shot him in self defense.”

The caller also said that the suspect “shot back,” but it is not clear how many shots were fire during the incident.

The suspect, who is now deceased, has since been identified as Roosevelt Rappley, 23, of Dayton.

Rappley was known to police, said Lt. Jason Hall.

“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.”

Dollar General is wisely refusing to answer media inquiries about their safety procedures, and police are correctly noting that the employee was not legally required to have a concealed handgun license to carry on company property:

Dollar General did not confirm or deny if employees were allowed to carry firearms, but did say that they have “a number of safety and security procedures.”

“To protect the integrity of these measures, we do not comment on them specifically,” said a statement issued by the company. “We are continuing to review the circumstance surrounding this evening's events in Dayton, Ohio, and are cooperating with local authorities in their investigation.”

Because Dollar General is considered private property, the employee did not need a CCW, said Hall.

“As far the as the employee at Dollar General, he was legally possessing a weapon,” he said. “He was on private property at his place of employment.”

Police said that the Gettysburg store has been robbed four times this year.

Chad D. Baus served as Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary from 2013-2019. He is co-founder of BFA-PAC, and served as its Vice Chairman for 15 years. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website, and is also an NRA-certified firearms instructor.