Store owner trying to stop robbery is arrested for firing handgun, California cops say

An Oakland store owner was arrested after trying to stop a robbery and firing his handgun, police said.

A 36-year-old man faces one charge of felony assault with a firearm after police said he fired his weapon outside his store on Monday in Chinatown, KTVU reported, citing the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.

The man was released Tuesday on $60,000 bail, the sheriff’s department said, according to KTVU.

According to police, officers responded to a shooting report on Ninth and Franklin streets on Monday evening, the East Bay Times reported. Officers were told that someone tried to take a woman’s camera and a store owner fired gunshots at the alleged thief, who fled in a vehicle after the incident, police said.

“Our message really is that we don’t want to see our business owners or others begin to arm themselves,” Oakland Chief of Police LeRonne Armstrong said in a Facebook video.

“Particularly, we don’t want people to fire weapons into our community. When weapons are fired in our community, there could be unintended victims; people who are hit by gunfire. And we want to avoid that as much as we can,” Armstrong said.

Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Carl Chan told CBS San Francisco: “When I talk to the entire community they feel sad that someone is trying to help others and ends up to be the one arrested or being in custody.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 8:09 AM with the headline "Store owner trying to stop robbery is arrested for firing handgun, California cops say."