Near midnight on July 18, a pizza-delivery driver on his first day on the job stopped at an apartment complex in Philadelphia, Pa., for his next scheduled delivery. However, when he got out of the vehicle, two masked men allegedly pointed a gun at his back and forced him into the back seat of his car, demanding his valuables and keys. The driver somehow extricated himself from the back seat and fired two shots at the suspects in a “shootout,” striking one of the ambushers in the buttocks. The wounded man was being detained and faces charges once released from the hospital. The pizza company told reporters one of the suspects had placed the pizza order, and the driver’s brother was on the phone with him when the incident occurred, so police were able to interview him as a witness. Reports fail to indicate whether the driver chose that to be his last day on the job as well. (cbsnews.com, Philadelphia, Pa., 7/19/23, and The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, N.C., 7/19/23)
Two homeowners returned home the morning of July 19 in McDonald County, Mo., to find that a stranger had broken in and barricaded himself inside a room. The suspect, a 62-year-old man, fired a shot at them, so the two armed citizens returned fire, striking the man in both thighs. They then disarmed the intruder and held him until law enforcement arrived. The man was transported to the hospital and faces charges of burglary, assault first degree, armed criminal action and possession of a controlled substance. (foxnews.com, New York, N.Y., 7/25/23)
