On Monday night, an armed robber attempting to rob a north Georgia convenience store was stopped by three customers who used their own guns.
The robber, Shawn Sutton, and his wife, Melody Sutton, arrived at the Ideal Mart in Ellijay just before 6:30 p. m. Monday evening. As reported by The Blaze, “Shawn Sutton entered the store pretending to be a customer while Melody Sutton waited in their car.”
The Ellijay Police Department said Shawn Sutton pretended interest in buying an energy drink. Shawn didn’t buy an energy drink; he pulled a pair of women’s panties that were around his neck and manipulated them to cover his face. Face covered, Shawn went behind the counter and pointed the.45 handgun at the store clerk’s head and demanded money.
However, events did not transpire the way Shawn Sutton anticipated. Shawn “ran into some serious problems” when three customers, described as “gun toting,” intervened by pulling out their own handguns.
“Unfortunately for Sutton, he hit the good-guy-with-a-gun jackpot on this particular evening,” the article states. Not favored by the odds, “three customers at the store at the time — two inside the building and one pumping gas —had guns.” They pulled them out and confronted Shawn Sutton.
Police said one of the three customers was “legally carrying” a concealed gun and “intervened in the robbery” immediately. A second customer ran to his car, got his gun, and reentered the store to “assist the first customer in subduing the suspect.”
As reported by the police, “as the suspect was trying to leave the store, the third customer at the gas pumps came inside the store with his gun “to assist.” Displaying enviable judgment and poise, as well as a comprehension of the law, “the first customer then instructed the two other customers not to shoot since the suspect had been disarmed.”
After the police arrived, “one officer told the suspect — who was still trying to leave — to get on the floor.” Shawn Sutton was not compliant. The police officer Tasered him and took him into custody. The couple was reunited, briefly, when other officers took the suspect’s wife, Melody Sutton — who was in the couple’s car — into custody. As reported, Mrs. Sutton offered no resistance.
Shawn Sutton faces charges of armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Melody Sutton faces charges of armed robbery and intimidation, WSB-TV reported. Both Suttons were being held without bond at the Gilmer County Adult Detention Center. A final grace note to the event: each of the intervening customers had legal permits for their guns.
