ORLAND PARK, Ill. — A masked would-be robber picked the worst possible mark at a south-suburban Shell station Tuesday morning: a legally armed motorist who was just trying to fill up his tank.
Around 9 a.m. at the pumps near 151st Street and Harlem Avenue, surveillance video shows a man in dark clothes and a face covering walking up on a customer filling a black Acura at pump No. 4. Police say the suspect pointed what appeared to be a gun and tried to stick him up.
The customer didn’t hand over the keys.
In seconds, the Illinois concealed-carry license holder reached behind his back, pulled a pistol from his waistband, and opened fire, at least two shots, according to the station manager who heard them. The masked man dropped a weapon, crumpled, then got up and limped away. Cops later scooped him up and hauled him to a hospital. The motorist wasn’t hurt.
Naseem Elmosa, whose family owns the station, said the place has never seen anything like it.“We never had an issue like this at our gas station,” he told NBC Chicago. “Luckily, he had a weapon on him he wasn’t afraid to take it out.”
Orland Park police confirmed the shooter is a state-registered CCL holder who is cooperating. They have not released names. The suspect’s condition has not been made public; a TV source claimed he was hit in the face. Investigators say no one else was hurt and there is no threat to the public.
The clip, grainy, 42 seconds of suburban daylight turning into a Western, exploded online. Commenters immediately crowned the driver Quick Draw McGraw. One quipped he put “lead in the dude and unleaded in his car at the same time.”
Police are still investigating. All parties are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. But the video is unambiguous about one thing: the guy at the pump didn’t wait for a report to be written. He finished the job himself.
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