Richmond Store owner grateful for man who shot robber
Three days after Mustapha Kassou was shot in an attempted robbery in his store in South Richmond, he said that he owed his life to the man who ended the ordeal by shooting the robber.
Yesterday, Kassou returned to Golden Food Market on Jefferson Davis Highway for the first time since he was shot there Saturday afternoon.
Kassou said the masked robber walked into the store shortly after 1 p.m. and seemed startled to see about eight people inside. The robber told everyone to get on the floor, and then he fired at Kassou and hit him twice, he said.
"When the guy shot me, I was waiting for him to finish me," Kassou said. "I was knocked down behind the cash register."
The other armed man pulled a six-shot revolver from his holster and told the robber to drop his weapon, Kassou said. When he didn't, authorities say, the man shot the robber once in the torso, took the robber's gun and called police.
Witnesses told police it appeared the robber ran out of bullets and tried to reload. Some people in the store told the man to finish off the robber, witnesses reported.
"Everyone was telling him to kill him," Kassou said, "but he said, 'I can't do it.'"
Saturday's incident was the second such shooting at the store in a month.
The two shootings at Golden Food and the fatal shooting of a shopkeeper last month in another store just blocks away have alarmed some nearby residents, although police say the number of violent crimes along the Jefferson Davis corridor has been declining since May.
Councilwoman Reva Trammell, whose 8th District includes the corridor, and police Cmdr. Steve Drew will hold a public safety meeting for Jeff Davis-area business owners tonight from 6 to 8 at the Satellite Restaurant, 4000 Jefferson Davis Highway.
Kassou was released from the hospital Sunday, but he was limping and in obvious pain yesterday. He sat inside his store with family members, but he kept the front door locked. He said the shootings have made him scared of almost everyone.
He said he was struggling with whether he should reopen the store. He does not know how he would support his wife and two children if he chooses to keep the store closed.
Kassou said he is considering returning to his native Morocco. He said he is an American citizen and has lived here about 20 years and loves this country.
"It's not worth it anymore," he said, adding that he will arm himself if he reopens the store.
Kassou said he still is alive because of God -- and because of the man who drew a .45-caliber Western-style revolver and ended Saturday's robbery by shooting the gunman.
"He saved a lot of lives," Kassou said. "He was like an angel who came to save everybody."
Authorities say the robber was wounded after he shot Kassou and fired on customers.
Neither Kassou nor the police would identify the man who shot the robber. Authorities said an initial investigation indicates the man acted lawfully when he shot the robber.
Police have charged James Grooms III, 30, of South Richmond with attempted robbery, use of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon.
He remained in critical condition last night at VCU Medical Center.
A woman who said she is one of Grooms' relatives declined to comment when reached by phone yesterday.
Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or
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Quote from Jack000
“yours doesn’t work. the end. and with all you wonderful gun carrying men out there that think it’s your duty to protect the rest of us from criminals, you aren’t doing a good job. the criminals are winning. and your fear, your ego, your “right” is keeping legislation from even attempting to solve the problem. “
Jackooo, I am a licensed Concealed Carry permit holder. In my state that means I have made it through many layers of scrutiny on my current life and past history by both the state and Federal athorities. I did not go through this trouble to protect you or anyone like you from the bad guys. I did this to protect my family and those loved ones I consider worth the certain S-storm that will become my life should I ever need to perform the selfless act performed by the hero in this story. We do not carry weapons of defense to be bold or important. In fact, it is just the opposite for me I want to remain unnoticed but I will remain situationaly aware and confident in my constitutionaly protected abilty to defend myself and those that I love. I hope you have someone in your life like that. Also there are many women who have made the sacrifice of their personal history and privacy, as required with much of our current legislation for good guys to be legal, just as I have to attain the status of legal gun carrier so don’t assume it is a guy thing. Your saviour could be a wonderful gun carrying woman.
If more people made the effort to join us maybe we would be able to turn the tide on the bad guys. Right now the BGs feel invulnerable because they so outnumber the defenseless. Increase the legaly armed numbers and the brazen acts of these criminals may go down because they may start to think about the potential to die before they act.
No matter the BS excuse anyone makes for this thief, it wont heal the hurt his actions caused to a lot of people.
Most of all his parents!
It only acts as a catalyst for the next derailed youth, thinking an excuse makes crime ok.
It is so sad to hear what happen to James. He was a good person, just fell into a bad predicament. I just couldnt believe it when i heard from my father that he had died. He was my Cousin and I will miss him dearly and Allah has been with him along the way with everything he has been through.Its so crazy because i was thinking about him a couple months ago just wanting to see him one more time.I just wanted to see James before he closed his eyes this morning and I prayed today that he would make it pass 48 hrs or wateva time he had left but I know Allah had him in mind. I have done my crying and all of that and I jus send my condolences to all his loved ones and his loving father and mother.
What happened here is proof positive that law abiding citizens MUST have the right to defend themselves. It’s not right for everyone. You will never convince jack000 that we already have enough laws on the books. He gets his info from the mainstream press. Let Jack000 continue to be a sheep, as a matter of fact, encourage him to stand on a corner of Jeff Davis handing out literature on the evil of gun ownership for felons. If he takes the bait, you won’t have to spend so much time rebutting him online. Hey Jacko, hope you have health insurance.
stranger,
Thanks for the laugh.
stranger.. to be honest.. that is ridiculous… your “buddy” was robbing and attempting to murder innocent people.. He kindof lost is “right” to go about his merry way at that point.
I will put it even more simply for you (and not in caps.. find your caps lock key)
Robbing and attempted Murder=Bad
Protecting innocent people=Good
IF U KNEW MR.GROOMS, U WOULD KNOW THAT THIS IS (WAS) NOT HIS CHARACTER. IT’S SAD TO KNOW THAT YET ANOTHER LIFE HAS BEEN TAKEN FOR A SENSELESS CRIME. MY HEART AND PRAYERS GOES OUT TO THIS MAN AND HIS FAMILY.
THE INDIVIDUAL THAT THINKS HE DID SOCIETY A FAVOR, U DIDN’T…U ONLY HAVE TO FACE FATE ON JUDGMENT DAY. I HOPE AND PRAY U CAN JUSTIFY THIS TO UR MAKER, (AND NOT YOUR PARENTS EITHER!!)
THERE WAS NO HERO IN THIS SHAME ONLY A TRAGEDY. ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL LOST TO SOCIETY AND TURNED TO THE STREETS.
MR.GROOMS WILL ALWAYS BE LOVED AND MOST IMPORTANTLY HIS GOOD MEMORIES WILL BE CHERISHED…...
Well Said ProudAmerican24…If more people understood that criminals don’t pay attention to laws, many of society’s problems would go away.
jack000…what you don’t understand is we already have legislation to keep your so called “thugs” from getting guns. It doesn’t work because the thugs bypass the laws and the system and acquire them illegally. The same way Americans continued to drink alcohol during prohibition, and the same way people still smoke marijuana today. Making something illegal doesn’t make the problem go away.
We already have sufficient laws on the books. We need to work at enforcing them, and at the same time loosen the un-constitutional restrictions on where law abiding gun owners can carry. The keyword there is “law abiding.“ The good guys are the only ones who obey the law. Criminals break the law. You can invent whatever laws you want but the criminals don’t care and will just sit back and laugh at you. If a law was all you need, why not just post a sign on our borders saying “all crime is prohibited beyond this point.“ But that would only work in your wacko liberal fantasy world. The rest of us live in reality and understand the world is an ugly place, and you need to take the proper measures to defend your life. If you choose not to that’s fine I respect your decision. But don’t stop me from defending myself.
the one thing that all the gun laws in the world have never been able to stop is the illegal traffic and use of guns.
‘To disarm the people…was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.“
Patrick Henry
You know why there’s a Second Amendment? in case the government fails to follow the first one.
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