Concealed-carry permit holder flips the script, shoots and kills alleged carjacker
The fatal encounter took place in a company parking lot, an official says.
— -- A Wisconsin man, using a gun licensed under a concealed-carry permit, shot and killed an alleged carjacker in his company’s parking lot, a city official said.
The unidentified employee, 24, had just arrived for work at Milwaukee Machine Tool Corp., shortly before 6 a.m. Monday when a man named Carlos Martin, 21, allegedly attempted to carjack him with a gun, Milwaukee city alderman Cavalier Johnson told ABC News.
Police have provided few details.
The Machine Tool worker had a concealed-carry permit, Johnson said, and used his legal weapon to shoot Martin, who died from his injuries.
The debate over concealed-carry weapons and the virtues of the “good guy with a gun” has been reignited after the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, this month killed 17 students and educators.
While people who have concealed-carry permits are trained to deal with the consequences of taking a life, that’s never the intent, according to concealed-carry permit trainer and gun expert Dean Hazen of Urbana, Illinois.
“It’s a terrible thing, the worst thing you can possibly do in your life with never-ending consequences,” the retired police officer said. “The intent is never to kill anybody. The intent is to stop the threat. Whether they live or die is not up to you.”
But intent or no intent is beside the point for Johnson, the Milwaukee alderman.
“I think that whether it is mass shootings or what we have here, the root cause is trying to make sure that people who shouldn’t have guns don’t have them in the first place,” he said.
The Milwaukee Medical Examiner did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for results of Martin’s autopsy.
Police said the shooter is cooperating with their investigation, after which the Milwaukee District Attorney’s office will review the case and decide whether to bring any charges.
Milwaukee Machine Tool declined to comment on the shooting.