77-Year-Old Firefighter Shoots and Kills Would-Be Robber in Chicago

in Authors, Defensive Use of Firearms, Jordan Michaels, This Week
77-Year-Old Firefighter Shoots and Kills Would-Be Robber in Chicago
The perpetrator threatened the man with this firearm. (Photo: Chicago PD/Twitter)

A 77-year-old former firefighter shot and killed a man who was attempting to rob him at gunpoint in Chicago earlier this month.

The firefighter, who has not been identified, possessed a valid concealed carry license and firearm owner’s identification card, according to Fox 32. Right now, no charges have been filed.

The incident occurred around 12:30 p.m. in a garage in a south Chicago neighborhood called West Chesterfield.

According to police, Bernard Peterson pulled out a subcompact Glock loaded with an extended magazine and demanded the man’s belongings. The vehicle Peterson was driving had been carjacked the day before.

Rather than acquiesce to Peterson’s demands, the 77-year-old pulled out a gun of his own and fired at the would-be robber. He hit Peterson in the head and chest, and the robber was pronounced dead at the scene.

SEE ALSO: Chicago Concealed Carrier Fatally Shoots Armed Thief Out on Parole for Weapons Charge

While robberies are down from historical averages, Chicago has seen a spate of robberies in recent weeks. Robbery and aggravated robbery are up 18% and 10%, respectively, over the last four weeks, and aggravated robbery is up 3% since 2019.

This year alone, police have received 6,668 robbery complaints and 5,736 aggravated robbery complaints.

This firefighter was fortunate not to have fallen victim to a different, much more worrisome category of crime. Chicago has seen a 67% rise in “shooting incidents” since 2019, and a whopping 59% increase in murder over the same time period.

Like many cities across the country, Chicago has seen a spate of violent crime as COVID lockdowns and civil unrest have borne fruit.

In addition, viral videos have emerged showing flagrant, broad-daylight shoplifting. This September video purports to show three crooks making out with bags of products from a Chicago Ulta while other shoppers look on.

SEE ALSO: Chicago PD Forms ‘Gun Investigations Team’ to Combat Violence, Meanwhile More Inmates Were Released this Year

Chicago isn’t the only area experiencing a rise in flagrant theft. In San Francisco, pharmacy chain Walgreens announced in October that it would be closing five of its retail stores due to ongoing crime. The company told local media that theft in the city is at five times the chain’s average.

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About the author: Jordan Michaels has been reviewing firearm-related products for over six years and enjoying them for much longer. With family in Canada, he’s seen first hand how quickly the right to self-defense can be stripped from law-abiding citizens. He escaped that statist paradise at a young age, married a sixth-generation Texan, and currently lives in Tyler. Got a hot tip? Send him an email at [email protected].

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  • LJ November 22, 2021, 11:28 am

    You did what you had to do sir, don’t look back. Thank you for taking this piece of trash out of the gene pool.

  • LarryD November 22, 2021, 11:16 am

    I read in the ChiTown Tribune that the 77 yr old gentlemen is a retired Fire Dept Captain. Great shooting on his part! Being a retired Fire Dept Captain means he has some political pull the average citizen does not, and that probably greased the wheels to expedite his Illinois State CCW license. The average citizen here still has to jump thru hoops to get their CCW.

  • jim November 19, 2021, 4:09 pm

    First, the firefighter appears to have been trained in the John Wick School of Shooting: One in the chest, one in the head.

    Second, Chicago’s “high and climbing” rate of armed criminals is SHOUTING PROOF that CRIMINALS DO NOT OBEY GUN LAWS. So, when all the good people give up their guns, they will be subjected to the whims of violent criminals with guns. No such thing should ever be allowed in the U.S.

  • Kb31416 November 19, 2021, 9:55 am

    CCW taking out the trash.
    A heart warming story to start my day with. ❤️

  • Mark K November 19, 2021, 9:49 am

    So . . . Chicago is extremely anti-gun; it’s one of the toughest places in the country to get a Concealed Carry license. Robbery and Aggravated Robbery are up significantly (though down from “historic” averages). And today — just today — there are TWO items here at GunsAmerica Digest where legal CCW carriers (IN CHICAGO — imagine THAT!!) prevented crimes. One confronted two thugs trying to steal property and then returned fire when they opened up, killing one; the other defended himself from a personal robbery when threatened with a criminal shooting; that criminal ended up dead too. Both were repeat offenders; one of them out less than 2 days after being arrested on a weapons charge.

    One wonders when the sensible citizens of Chicago are going to wake up and decide that maybe — just maybe — an armed, law-abiding citizen is a benefit to society, not a detriment. I have friends in Chicago — bright, mostly sensible people — who seem unable to appreciate that basic truth. I used to think that they were all still stuck in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre-mobs with Tommy Guns-mindset. But that can’t be anymore. There aren’t more than a handful of Chicagoans alive today who could possibly remember any of that. It’s a puzzle. Why can’t they see the truth?

    • Kane November 19, 2021, 12:20 pm

      Waiting for the CC “permit” and the FOID are a big problem throughout IL but I thought thw whole state was a “shall issue” state. The case of McDonald v Chicago changed the laws in Chicago and in fact Cook County. It’s still unclear on the legal ownership of some firearms. No SBR’s though unless DOJ and ATF redifine to expand that to include types that have already been sold as handguns. Now NYC is facing another court case that could chane the “may issue” laws.

  • Armed and Dangerous November 19, 2021, 9:00 am

    What a great job Lorrie Lightfoot is doing

  • Bob November 18, 2021, 2:28 pm

    Interesting to note that Pritzker’s appointees to the Prisoner Review Board have NEVER gone through the senate confirmation process because he pulls their appointment right before the cutoff and then reappoints them a day or two later. He is responsible for the felons being released so they can commit more crimes.

  • Kimball November 18, 2021, 11:02 am

    Censorship. Really?

  • Kimball November 18, 2021, 10:57 am

    This shows the reason why Biden wants to take our guns. So we can’t protect ourselves against all the good little boys and girl that never anything wrong. F J B.

    • Dano November 19, 2021, 3:54 pm

      So what guns is he taking? You are full of shit.

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