Badass or Reckless? Phone Store Owner Thwarts Robbery Attempt

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 29, 2010 5:40PM

Meet Mostafa Mohammad who on Tuesday thwarted an attempted robbery in the phone store he owns at 64th & King St. when he wrestled the would-be robber and managed to get the gun away from him. According to the Trib's report of the incident, the gun went off just as Mohammad reached for the gun, striking another employee in the arm (the injury was not life-threatening). Check out full surveillance footage here and the WGN 9 story on the incident below.

The perp got away and police are using enhanced images from the footage in an attempt to better identify him. Said Mohammad, "I had the opportunity to shoot him, but I'm not a violent person. I don't believe in that." On the one hand, we applaud Mohammad's heroics in stopping the robbery attempt and his bravery in defending himself and his store and getting the gun away from the would-be robber. On the other hand, what some see as "bravery" might be viewed by others as "recklessness." If the attempt to get the gun away had failed and backfired, well, we shudder to think how this story might have turned out.