Missed It By That Much

A photo taken at the bus stop at the ARCO station.

Close call: I could have been at this ARCO station waiting for the bus yesterday around 1700 had I run an errand. Indeed, I'll be running said errand w/in hrs. today. Hope nothing happens.

A man was hospitalized Thursday after being shot four times — including once in the head — by a man with a BB gun during a robbery attempt at a gas station in East Hollywood.

Officers were summoned just after 5 p.m. Wednesday to the intersection of Melrose and Western Avenues, where they found a man in his 30s conscious and breathing, according to Los Angeles Police Department Officer Tony Im.

Security video of the incident showed a woman walking out of the store with beer she had not paid for and the clerk chase after her, returning moments later with the beer. The woman re-entered the store and an altercation took place between the woman and the clerk. At that time a man with a BB gun walked up and fired at the clerk as he fought on the ground with the woman.

“He (the alleged shooter) told him not to fight a woman,” a witness who asked to remain anonymous told NBC4. “He pulled out the BB gun and shot him.”

“The male shoots the clerk four times, one in the head,” LAPD Capt. David Kowalski told NBC4.

After the shooting, the woman allegedly was seen on security video kicking the clerk as he lay on the ground, then grabbing beer out of a cooler and walking out.

The suspects were a male and two females, neither of whom were immediately taken into custody.

Unless hit on the eye, getting a BB in one's head is no big thing. I had a BB stuck in my neck once ('though from a small explosive device, not a pellet gun, if that makes any difference in the force involved) & other than noticing that there was a sort of lump where I'd been hit, it didn't bother me. After a day or two of squeezing & worrying it, you can imagine my surprise when the BB popped out.

[mynewsLA.com]