Toledo CHL-holder defends self from armed robber

WTVG (ABC Toledo) is reporting that a 21 year-old Toledo man with a concealed handgun license (CHL) turned the tables on an armed robbery suspect early last week as he arrived home from work about 4:00 a.m.

From the article:

[Terrence] Reid’s family says he fired his gun early Tuesday morning as he was arriving home from work after his shift as a welder at a plant in Perrysburg.

"I'm laying down on the couch and I hear a big boom!" says the shooter’s mother.

Reid’s mother is a nurse who does not want to show her face out of fear for her own safety.

She was the first one on the scene.

"My son said, 'Mom, I just shot somebody,’” says Reid’s mother. “I said, 'Why?' He was all shaken up. He said, 'He just tried to rob me.'"

"He was a little quicker on the draw and he shot the suspect,” says Lt. Joe Heffernan with the Toledo Police Department.

According to the police report, Reid noticed something suspicious as he pulled up to his home. He told police a vehicle drove down his street and slowed down. Reid put his gun in his pocket and got out of his car.

However, the report says the suspect then ran up to the victim in the yard, pulled out a handgun and yelled, “Don’t move!”

Reid shot the man and called 9-1-1.

Heffernan is quoted as saying "We have no reason to believe that he did not fire in self-defense."

The suspect, who was later identified as Antonio Hadley, fled before police arrived. Police say he later checked into the emergency room with a gun shot wound to the abdomen.

Reid’s mother is quoted as saying her son bought a gun and got a CHL this year after two break-ins at the family’s home on Baker.

"I have a very good kid,” says the shooter’s mother. “He doesn't bother no one. He's not in a gang. He's not into none of that. He's just trying to make an honest living."

Tye Willis supports his neighbor’s use of force. Willis says he has been jumped and robbed himself. He says he is in the process of getting his own CCW permit.

"The guy just came out of the blue thinking he can get away with robbing a guy not knowing he is well-protected and licensed to have a gun with him,” says Willis. “So I think he did the right thing."

Police say the shooting remains under investigation and it remains up to the prosecutor’s office to take the case to a grand jury.

A complete list of known incidents involving Ohio CHL-holders defending themselves is available here.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.