Out of many scenes emerging from last night’s rioting and looting, one in particular has stood out as a store owner reportedly from Rochester, New York, is filmed pulling up close to his store before grabbing a shotgun from the back seat of his car and firing at looters vying to break into his premises.
In the footage, the man drives up the sidewalk before parking in a space across the street from his store building. He calmly gets out of his car, opens the back seat door, and pulls out a pump action shotgun before walking toward the looters and opening fire.
As the owner fires two shells at the dispersing looter, the bystander filming the incident cheers on the gun-toting entrepreneur.
The cameraman gives a lively narration of the incident: “yo, look at this, this is the owner. Yo, this is the owner, right here.
“Yo, he’s about to let it off. He’s about to let it off on them,” he adds before cheering the man waving a shotgun. The cameraman laughs and cheers as the looters are dispersed.
https://twitter.com/OrwellNGoode/status/1266945655219654659
The video was well-received on social media as several viewers sided with the store owner attempting to protect his property.
One edgily commented: “I don’t understand why more looters haven’t been shot. I’m disappointed”
To which another replied: “That’s a good point especially considering that these store owners are likely suffering financially from the pandemic, and probably don’t want to deal with people actively trying to topple their businesses.”
“Police have left the area, leaving otherwise law abiding citizens to fend for themselves. Is this moral of him? I don’t know. Is it rational? I’m afraid it is,” tweeted a third person.
Another said: “I may be old school, but I still love a shotgun as a personal defense weapon.”
While a fifth celebrated: “This gives me so much hope.”
Although this image has done the rounds on social media, a different clip from Rochester showed two business owners brutally beaten up by looters after attempting to stand up for their property.
https://twitter.com/BasedPoland/status/1267065371888058370
