There was a hail of gunfire as a jewelry store employee made the decision to shoot back – armed with an AK-47 rifle he keeps behind the counter – at four armed men who opened fire on his customers and staff during an attempted robbery.
The owner of Jeff’s Jewelry Store, Jeffery Turner, told police that four men stormed into his store, brandishing firearms. The armed thugs then demanded jewelry, purses and other items causing Turner to pull an AK-47 semi-automatic rifle from behind the counter.
When the armed thieves opened fire amidst store employees and customers Turner returned fire with the AK-47 rifle. At least three store employees drew their concealed firearms and returned fire on the suspects, striking one of the shooters multiple times, killing him instantly.
The dead robber’s three accomplices fled the store in a white Dodge Charger. Police found the Charger abandoned not far from the jewelry store and say the three suspects are still on the loose despite roadblocks and assistance from a DEA helicopter.
“You always have a right to defend yourself, especially when the robber shoots at you,” said Turner’s attorney E. Tay Bond, who said all the witnesses and Turner reported the four men started shooting first. “Jeff does keep an AK-47 for defense purposes.”
Conroe Police Department’s Lt. Dorcy McGinnis said, “There was a lot of gunfire”. She also reported the store’s windows were broken out from the “bullet spray.”
Alice Long, who was working at The Cabinet Company in the same strip center, said she heard the commotion: :”I head what I thought was a car backfiring. Then I heard sirens real close.”
This isn’t the first time Jeff’s Jewelry has been targeted. In November of 2014, five men in a plumber’s van backed up to the store, jumped out, and smashed down the door with a sledgehammer.
“We weren’t even open yet,” Turner told local reporters. “We were still putting the jewelry out … (An employee) grabbed our shotgun. The robbers saw he had it, and ran out, saying, ‘They’ve got guns. Let’s get out of here.’”