A Phoenix woman has been arrested for aggravated assault after she shot a store employee while trying to stop a robbery in progress.
The incident took place at an Ace Hardware Store on Saturday around 9:15 in the morning, according to police.
Nya Reyes, 45, was walking her dog near the store when she spotted two people running from the store being chased by store employees. In one version of events reported by ABC 15 Arizona, Reyes saw one of the alleged suspects get into a blue sedan and begin driving away. Then, the other alleged suspect hopped in while the car was moving.
Reyes fired at least two “stop shots” toward the vehicle in an attempt to disable it, according to court documents.
The vehicle drove away and was gone before the police arrived.
At least one of Reyes’ shots had hit an Ace employee in the knee. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
In another version of events reported several days later by 3TV/CBS 5, the second “suspect” was actually another store employee. That person did not get into the sedan and drive away but was instead hit by Reyes’ bullet.
SEE ALSO: Oregon Pastor Cited for Shooting at Tires of Robbery Suspect’s Vehicle
Reyes stayed on the scene and willingly disabled her firearm when police arrived, according to ABC 15. Along with aggravated assault, the woman is facing a charge of discharging a weapon within city limits. She was released on a $25,000 bond and is expected to be in court on February 8th, according to 12 News.
The shoplifting suspect is still at large.
This isn’t the first time a concealed carrier has unsuccessfully tried to stop a robber’s getaway car. Last year, a pastor in Eugene Oregon named Aaron Taylor was cited by police after he tried to stop a robbery suspect by shooting at the tires of his car.
No one was injured, but as we wrote at the time, firing at a moving vehicle is almost never a good idea:
Firing at a rapidly moving rubber wheel also presents serious safety concerns, both for the concealed carry holder and bystanders. Bullet trajectory can be unpredictable, and a ricocheting projectile (or piece of a projectile) could easily injure anyone standing around the vehicle—even assuming a shot could be placed on the tire.
SEE ALSO: Ep. 7 Should I Shoot? The Fleeing Suspect And the Good (But Dead) Samaritan
Incidents like this also provide fodder for anti-gun activists looking to outlaw concealed carry nationwide. Despite the fact that no conclusive evidence exists to prove a relationship between concealed carry laws and accidental gun-related injuries and deaths, media outlets frequently report on accidental shootings as a way to castigate gun owners.
Bloomberg News, for example, published an article in 2014 titled, “Americans Who Carry Concealed Weapons Keep Accidentally Shooting Themselves in Public Bathrooms,” and Buzzfeed followed up in 2018 with a similar article, “These Good Guys With Guns Accidentally Shot Their Friends And Family Members.”
For the good of the gun rights movement, concealed carries would be wise to keep their firearms concealed unless they find themselves in immediate danger of injury or death.
Yeah, its morally and legally justified to shoot someone shoplifting a pack of hacksaw blades.
Twits like this genius are why gunowners get bad press op-eds about “shootouts at the OK corral” and civilian concealed carry
All cross eyed CCL holders should be forced to have red dot sights on their pistols.
Did she get her gun money from a telethon?
This is almost funny…
Lesson learned: Don’t ever pull your gun to protect other people’s property…. none of your business.
Was it confirmed that she did have a CCW ? In AZ. you can carry without one. In my CCW class we were told ( paraphrasing ) are you sure you want the problems that come with a shooting for someone stealing an IPhone.
Gun Digest another worthless Liberal rag that gets moderated(most likely by CNN). No doubt managed by a few old farts with no backbone, and no guts to stand up for the Constitution/Flag or Country.
Sigh…
No good deed ever goes unpunished.
In this case: Stupid is as stupid does…
There are dark times ahead for all of us.
Be prepared!
You Idiots have to mention the poor women has facial hair that has nothing to do with the story.
Try going to humour school and educate yourself on the art of being successful at making others laugh.
lol , bitch has a stash , don’t be mad bro.
No Lives were in danger, so you don’t get to shoot anyone.
People are pretty stupid, especially store employees who chase or fight with robbers. Most companies have policies that prohibit this and will fire the employee for this behavior. If you get injured or killed trying to stop a robber, you will be lucky if your employer even sends flowers to your funeral. The companies will replace you with another warm body before you take your final dirt nap.
This “Hollywood” style heroics; of shooting out the tires or shooting to wound, evidently has an effect of the less informed of society. Even El Presidente gave out home defense advice that could result in murder charges at the worst and manslaughter as a minimum, firing a shotgun blindly through a locked door. Get training, know the law and act with restraint,
Notice that the store didn’t post her bail, offer to pay for her lawyer or even say, “Thanks”. The reason is this bystander acted alone, over something that wasn’t her business and shot at least one innocent person, perhaps crippling them? She thought she was a “Good Guy”, but she is actually one of the “Bad Guys”. Jail awaits her over NOTHING. Luckily no one was killed or seriously injured.
Getting a bullet in the knee sounds like a pretty serious injury to me.
No kidding.
I was at the jail intake when she came in. Strange bird. Read her pc statement I couldn’t believe it.
Many clowns out there that do not know, or understand the Laws a gun owner must follow.. Do stupid things win stupid prizes, for her it’s jail.
God bless the sheepdogs among us. I would use my EDC to defend others as well as myself; but it is only one tool in my kit for being a good citizen, and you don’t drive nails with a screwdriver.
In this case she would have been more help by leaving that gun in the holster, and engaging with evidence gathering tools like her eyes and cell phone.
Being a good witness brings down bad guys too.
Just picturing this incident in my mind is absolutely hilarous…lighten up there Fudd’s and enjoy the story, guys like you are part of the problem NOT the solution.
My “line in the sand” goes like this: if all they want is the cash register- none of my business. If they point a firearm or any weapon at me or mine it’s show time. If they say “everybody on the floor or into the backroom” it’s game on. Otherwise I have no obligation- legal,moral, or fiduciary to defend Oobi-Goobi- Babalooch’s cash register. Why dosnt he,him, her, it, have a firearm and defend his livelihood? Dont give me this shit about being a sheepdog. I’m nobody’s dog and couldn’t care less about the sheep. This story illustrates what happens to dimwits that think they’re a sheepdog- with little training and most likely zero combat experience. I’m not telling anyone else to follow my formula- do what you want but just be dam sure you know what you’re doing.
So lemme get this straight, if someone is holding a gun in Oobi-goobis face , you’re just gonna walk away, thinking not my problem?
Duh!! Not my money and not my family. There’s too many what if people in this world.
How do you know the person “holding a gun in Oobi-goobi’s face” isn’t an undercover cop making an arrest? I like the last line of Mike’s post: Be damn sure you know what you’re doing. In the case of the Ace Hardware incident, she shot an innocent person. That’s a no-no no matter how you slice it.
I have no problem with Mike’s reasoning.
If the lady had followed the leash law, none of this would have happen. Any dog will bite. No such thing as “don’t worry my dog won’t bite you”.
I love dogs, but it’s the owners responsibility to restrain the dog.
Now two lives are messed up.
Wtf are you talking about?
Idiot. Her life was not in danger, nor were anyone else’s. The perps were running away. I have no use for thieves, however from my understanding she had no idea who was the perp and who was an employee. If you want to carry you better damn well know the laws. Plus she has now given the anti-gun crowd something to crow about
Damn right
This idiot is a classic example proving some people need to go to classes before being allowed to purchase.
I agree with you 100% This makes everyone who knows & understands the law look bad. Playing right into the anti-gunners agenda.
You nailed it
Nice lil mustache.
So when should you intervene with a weapon? Robbery has been committed, felons are fleeing, no one is in immediate danger. Why would you shoot? You’re not the police, and having a gun doesn’t give you any powers/rights to act as one. Laws only protect you from defending someone who is in danger of bodily harm or has penetrated your home/property and are a threat or perceived threat. You still have to convince cops/jury that you had a reasonable reason to feel threatened. I wouldn’t pull my gun to stop a robber UNLESS I knew for sure someone had actually been shot… I might then, but depends on circumstances. In this case, a robbery with felons fleeing, no one obviously hurt, no gunshots heard? Sorry — not putting myself at risk for a robber who might have got away with a couple hundred bucks from a cash register (really don’t care if it was a million…).
(in Austin Power’s voice)
That’s a MAN, baby…..
Uh Sir, I am going to have to cite you for failing to address the individual by its preferred gender pronoun.
I was thinking the same thing…lol!!!
Studies show CCW holders are 5 times less likely to commit a crime than a law enforcement officer. But the anti gun crowd uses every little incident like this & blows it up out of proportion. Like the democrats are doing with riots.
Not sure how to fix this. Most CCW classes are not very informative as they are usually 1 day courses. But I think we can all agree that this person learned all about firearms from movies and TV. She needs to watch ‘Last Action Hero’. She definitely needs to do some reading about the use of self defense. Hope they have suspended her CCW license.
ALL such courses, if they follow prescribed format, DO teach that concealed carry is NOT a vigilante license, does NOT make you a law enforcement officer, and you NEVER shoot unless your own or someone else’s life is in clear and immediate danger. Millions of people safely carry every day knowing that. This one particular individual apparently did not, so the MSM will try to paint every civilian who carries with the same brush.
Should we kill every cat because we see one eating a bird? Should we put to death every rescue dog because someone it’s trying to rescue actually drowns? Liberals and common sense is an oxymoron. I feel for the poor jackass who symbolically represents the ignorant shits he represents. Mule.