World-Herald News Service
OMAHA - A 32-year-old Omaha man planned only to pick up a prescription and buy ice cream when he went to his local Walgreens in the Benson neighborhood.
Instead, Harry J. McCullough III shot and killed a would-be-robber, 18-year-old Marquail Thomas.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said Tuesday afternoon that McCullough's use of deadly force was "appropriate and justified" and that he would
not be charged in the slaying.
"There's no question that he had the right to defend himself and protect the lives of the others in the store," Kleine said.
Nebraska law allows an individual to use force when his life or another person's life is threatened.
However,
McCullough was cited by police for carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor.
He had a permit to carry a loaded handgun in plain view - for example, in a holster - but he did not have a concealed weapons permit, said Omaha Police Officer Jacob Bettin.
McCullough pulled his handgun from the waistband of his pants before he shot Thomas, authorities said.
Kleine said civilians normally shouldn't put their lives at risk to prevent a crime.
However, "If someone feels threatened, they have the right to defend themselves," he said.
No one else in the store was injured.
Mark Bohaty, a firearms instructor in Bruno, said he didn't know the details of what happened in the Walgreens store.
Bohaty said he teaches students in his firearms courses that using lethal force cannot be a gun carrier's first option when threatened.
"It is truly a last-resort type of thing," he said.
"The threat needs to be real, immediate, and they must be convinced that if they don't use deadly force, they are going to suffer critical injury or death as a result of the threat against them," a family member or a stranger.
Bohaty said people must use their judgment on whether lethal force is appropriate.
"There's no pat answer," he said.
Police said two masked men entered the Walgreens at 6101 Northwest Radial shortly before 9 p.m. Monday.
McCullough had just purchased his items and was placing his credit card back into his wallet, said his lawyer, James Martin Davis.
One of the robbers, identified as Thomas, pointed a short shotgun in the direction of the cash register, where several customers were standing in line and told them not to move.
Davis said his client was armed with a .40 caliber pistol and fired after Thomas put the shotgun against the back of a woman using the ATM machine near the store entrance.
Davis said McCullough described Thomas' weapon as a Remington 870 sawed-off shotgun that holds five rounds. Kleine said the shotgun was not loaded.
Thomas dropped the shotgun and fled from the store, but he collapsed outside.
The second man, 17-year-old Angelo Douglas, scurried to the back of the store.
Police are still looking for a getaway driver who drove out of the parking lot after Thomas fled the store.
Robert Elfinger, a spokesman for Walgreens, said the store is cooperating with police and declined to comment further. The store opened at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Several customers were shopping and a few chatted about the incident.
Davis said McCullough has held several security jobs, which was why he carried his weapon frequently.
McCullough worked in security at the College of Saint Mary from April to October in 2008, a human resources employee at the college said. He currently is employed by the Nebraska Medical Center, Davis said, but not as a security officer.
McCullough was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in 1997. Davis said that case involved a knife. He was convicted of driving under the influence in Washington County in 2006.
Douglas was booked into the Douglas County Youth Center on suspicion of robbery and use of a weapon to commit a felony. Kleine had not decided on charges against Douglas as of Tuesday night.
Douglas has no criminal record, other than misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of law. Those charges were transferred to juvenile court in March.
Thomas was convicted of obstructing the law earlier this month in Douglas County Court and served three days in jail. He also was convicted of possessing an ounce or less of marijuana in Douglas County in December.
It was almost exactly a year ago - April 29, 2009 - that Thomas was shot when two males approached a crowd near 21st and Evans Street and and opened fire.
Armed robber shot and killed in Omaha
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Originally Posted by Alberto
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