ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA — Billy Joel famously sang about the decline of this once budding city in his song “Allentown.” I don’t know if he ever imagined things would get this crazy there. Not happy with scoring one successful robbery, an armed robber walked into the store right next door and tried to rob that place too. It didn’t work out too well.
Mussa first robbed Pennsylvania Avenue Cold Beer and Beverages at gun point. Immediately afterward he went into Drake’s Pizza and committed a second armed robbery, the DA’s office said.
Via WFMZ
A beverage facility employee who was a victim in the first robbery confronted Mussa inside the pizza shop while Mussa was committing the second robbery, the DA’s office said.
Mussa turned and pointed a gun at the beverage facility employee, the DA’s office said.
The beverage facility employee, who was armed with a lawfully-possessed semi-automatic pistol, shot Mussa when Mussa pointed the gun at him as Mussa was turning and about to flee from Drake’s, the DA’s office said.
The Breakdown:
Our armed robber, Mussa, walked into Pennsylvania Avenue Cold Beer and Beverages. Once inside, he robbed the place at gunpoint. It was a success for Mussa as he walked out with the cold cash handed to him. Instead of fleeing the scene, he decided he wanted more.
In the same strip mall as the beverage company Mussa just robbed, is a pizza place called Drake’s Pizza. Mussa walked inside with his gun and committed a second armed robbery. However, this is where the plot thickens.
An employee from the beverage company followed Mussa outside after he left the scene of the first robbery. The employee then entered Drake’s Pizza shortly after Mussa. This employee was armed and brought his own firearm to the scene.
The employee raised his firearm at Mussa. In response, Mussa began to raise his firearm at the employee. The employee in turn fired several shots, striking Mussa and one of the pizza employees. Mussa died minutes later in the parking lot.
The Bad:
There are a lot of bad things coming out of this story. First, lets talk about Mussa. Not that we want to critique or advocate good armed robbery policy, but it’s hard not to point out Mussa’s greed. Most thugs would be pretty happy to get out of an armed robbery attempt with their cash haul. Not Mussa. He stayed in the same strip mall and went after another quick score. It cost him his life.
Then we have the beverage employee. He was the victim of an armed robbery. It’s an emotional experience to be part of something like that. When it was over and Mussa left, he decided to try an do something about it. Instead of calling the police and waiting to file a report, he followed Mussa outside.
What was the employee planning on doing? He had a firearm with him, which he did not use during the robbery. What was his motive to follow Mussa?
Ultimately, he followed Mussa into the pizza shop, eventually shooting and killing him. Along with shooting an employee of the pizza shop by mistake. You can understand why the employees motive can be questioned here. His own life was no longer in danger, yet he ventured outside with a firearm to track down the guy that just robbed him.
The Good:
The good news, for the employee, is that after a detailed investigation, the police determined it was a good self defense shooting. Using multiple store camera’s and speaking to witnesses, they determined that the employee was justified to shoot.
Mussa was pointing a loaded gun at the pizza shop employee. He also did turn his gun to the beverage employee before he was shot. There is definitely good justification for the shooting.
Fortunately, the pizza shop employee that was shot did not sustain serious injuries. He was shot in the buttocks while running away from the scene.
What do you think? Should the beverage employee have left things alone once the robbery was over? Or did he do the right thing in pursuing Mussa and stopping the second robbery attempt?