Posted: Dec 1, 2009 01:05 AM
By Nicole Garcia
Fresno –The U–Save liquor store on Tulare and Maple Avenues in Fresno was open for business the day after a store clerk turned the table on an armed robber.
Police say 29–year–old Fernando Valencia and another man tried to rob the clerk at gunpoint Sunday night.
Valencia had a semi–automatic gun, and so did the store clerk.
"He had pointed the firearm at the business owner, at some point in time the business owner became fearful, when he found an opportunity to shoot the suspect, he did," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.
Valencia died inside the store.
Valencia has a criminal history, which includes car–jacking, carrying a concealed weapon, and stealing vehicles.
The deadly confrontation was all caught on surveillance video.
The police chief says the killing looks to be an act of self defense.
"It's too bad... Whatever the clerk did, I think he did a good job," said Mark Singh, a liquor store manager.
Singh says businesses in that area, are prone to armed robberies, which is why he makes a weapon available for his overnight cashiers.
"Everyone who works behind the cash register, they have access to the gun," said Singh.
And the police chief fully supports business owners' rights to arm themselves for protection.
"In this incident, where the store owner made the decision to arm himself and shoot someone, as tragic as it is, that business owner had the right to defend himself in his own business and defend his property," said Chief Dyer.
Chief Dyer says there has been a spike in business robberies recently in Fresno.
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Rather nice to see a good news story out of California for once.
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