Idiot robber on the loose

From our local newspaper:

Detectives are especially concerned about an armed robber who held up Atwells Mini Mart on Federal Hill last week.

During the holdup he “racked” his semiautomatic pistol several times, pulling the slide back on top of the handgun, according to Capt. Hugh T. Clements Jr., detective commander.

That motion causes a shell to move from the magazine into the firing chamber of the gun.

More to the point, it also ejects the cartridge that's in the chamber, so if you do it enough, you'll end up with an empty magazine and your ammo scattered on the ground. It only makes sense to do it once, and only if you are carrying a gun with an empty chamber (a safety measure probably not widely observed among armed robbers). Even if you only end up leaving a few extra cartridges lying about the scene of the crime, that's a pretty nice gift for the police -- especially if you've left your fingerprints on the brass while loading the magazine. Then again, I don't think this guy will remain at large for long:

A surveillance video of the robbery was provided to a television station to enlist the public’s help in identifying the suspect, and still photos from the video were printed on a flier that is being distributed by patrol officers, Clements said.

Posted by David on April 18, 2007 3:47 PM