Random acts of violence don't happen when expected. Are you ready?

One doesn't buy fire insurance because they expect their house to burn, car insurance because they expect to be in a collision, or life insurance because they expect to die young. So why do some say they only plan to exercise their right to bear arms for self-defense when they are expecting trouble? Every day in Ohio, we go to work, for a walk, or to their front door without expecting trouble. Will trouble find you? Will you be ready?

Click on the "Read More..." link below for examples from the past week of Ohioans who were neither expecting trouble nor ready for when it found them. But find them it did.

Lancaster: Shooting suspects sought

A Lancaster man is recovering from gunshot wounds at a Columbus hospital.
William T. Brown, 29, of 1681 E. Main St., told police he had been walking in the parking lot of the former Big Bear Plus store at 1710 E. Main St. when he was attacked.
Brown said he was near the bus stop at one end of the parking lot of the shopping center just after 10 p.m. Saturday when two individuals approached him. Both were wearing masks and told Brown to get down.
Lt. Dan Shupp said Brown told police it was all over in a couple of minutes.
"He reached in his jacket for his wallet to give them," Shupp said. "They then pulled out guns and shot him in the hand and the thigh."

Newark: 2 men shot, seek help at Wendy's

Police received the first call at 11:09 p.m. from the Wendy's restaurant at the corner of Ohio 16 and Dayton Road, according to Capt. Al Zellner of Newark Police. Two men were taken to Licking Memorial Hospital from that location, suffering from gunshot wounds, Zellner said.
Witnesses who were ordering food in the drive-through said a man approached them to ask for help, while two of his friends lay on the pavement.
One of the two men on the ground was unresponsive and the other was conscious with a gunshot to the leg, said Amanda Whisner, of Newark.
"They said they had been robbed," she said.
The three men had pulled into the parking lot in a silver Mitsubishi, said police, who were still trying to determine where the shooting took place.
Shortly after, at 1:07 a.m., another gunshot victim arrived with his wife at the Newark Police Department, according to Capt. Greg Keefe of the Newark Fire Department. This man, identified as about 30 years old, lives on Marne Road, several miles from the Wendy's on Ohio 16, Keefe said.
He had also suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, Keefe said, who added that his injuries did not appear life-threatening.

Akron: Taco Bell window robbed at gunpoint

An unidentified woman got more than a meal from her trip to the Taco Bell, 993 Graham Road, early Friday.
Witnesses told police an unidentified woman ordered a taco shortly before 1 a.m., then pulled up to the drive-through window wearing a pair of pantyhose over her head.
"She stuck a silver handgun through the window and demanded money,'' Stow Police Lt. Rick Myers said.
The woman fled in a late model red car with an undetermined amount of cash.
A male Taco Bell employee was assigned to the window.
Representatives for Taco Bell did not return calls for comment.

UPDATE: Woman charged in Akron restaurant robbery

Akron: Masked gunman holds up restaurant

A masked gunman robbed a Long John Silver's restaurant Tuesday night.
Employees at the restaurant, 2520 Romig Road, told police that the man entered about 9:30 p.m., displayed a handgun and told them to place money in a bag.

Columbus: Fake Police Officers Target Elderly

Two people posing as police officers preyed upon on an elderly woman.
Columbus Police say the pair knocked on a woman's door Saturday and said they needed to see her money.
"Dressed in black clothes with a badge, they came in and wanted to know where we keep our money," the 90-year-old victim told 10TV.
The woman did not want to be identified for fear of the fake officers coming back to hurt her.
"And when he opened the door, they pushed their way in and said they were police officers,” the woman described.
Her 73-year-old son was home with his mother at the time. The victim says the man and woman told her they were investigating a bank robbery and needed to see her money.
“He took it out and looked and said, 'oh yeah, it’s counterfeit'," she said of the man impersonating a police officer.
The two impersonators then showed the elderly woman a picture of a man they said could have robbed a bank. Next, they told her to write a check and to go get more money out of her bank so they could check to see if it was also counterfeit. That's when the victim's son got suspicious and said he was going to call their captain.
Before he could make the call, the two phony police officers got away. But they didn’t leave empty handed.
"My money was still laying on the table. And they grabbed it, and out the door they went,” the woman said.
"I'm mad and frustrated and scared to death.”.

Dayton: Church's Chicken Target Of Overnight Robbery

A fast-food restaurant was held up overnight, and now police are searching for the robber. The robbery happened at the Church's Chicken in the 2400 block of North Gettysburg Avenue. According to police, a man entered the business and demanded money. Authorities said employees were still inside the restaurant when the robbery happened. Police said no one was hurt during the robbery.

And from "no-guns" Great Britain: 105-year-old woman terrorised by burglars

The first pictures have been released of the 105-year-old woman who died after being targeted repeatedly by burglars.
Amelia Whale, shown here celebrating her 100th birthday, refused to move from the home she shared with her younger brother Leonard in Islington, despite four break-ins in 18 months.
Police installed security bars and CCTV last year after the third burglary. But that did not stop Bernard Gallagher, 23, and Mark O'Brien 26, raiding her home last September and stealing £2,000.
The pair, both travellers, were caught on camera and traced to a campsite. They now face jail.
But Miss Whale, known to her friends as Dolly, will never see them receive justice. She died from natural causes last month after living in fear. Her friends and family said she never recovered from the trauma of the break-ins - and have called for lengthy jail sentences to be imposed.
Former neighbours Sheila and Tony Ashby said that Miss Whale's health deteriorated after the raid and that she had died fearful of becoming a victim yet again.