A man who allegedly robbed a Greenwood convenience store at gunpoint Saturday is recovering from a gunshot wound he received during the incident.
Nathaniel Taylor, 26, 216 Noel St., was listed in good condition this morning at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Greenwood Police Chief Ray Moore said the robbery happened around 3:10 p.m. Saturday at The Greenland Market No. 3, located at 1407 Main St.
The chief said Taylor entered the store with a .380 Lorcin handgun drawn and demanded the store’s employees and customers get down on the floor. Taylor is seen on footage from the store’s security camera pointing his handgun at the back of the employees’ heads, according to Moore.
The store’s owner, Abdul Samaed Alkabsh, fired two shots at Taylor as the alleged robber was leaving the store with the money, the chief said. One of the bullets hit Taylor in the back.
Alkabsh, 29, said this morning that he’d never had anything like this happen to him before. “You’d expect it in the morning when you’re opening up or when you’re closing, not at 3:10 p.m.”
He said there were three employees and six customers in the store at the time of the incident.
Taylor collapsed outside the store.
“When officers arrived, the owner of the store had the suspect at gunpoint,” Moore said.
Taylor’s handgun and some $2,000 in cash, taken from the store, were recovered, Moore said.
Taylor will be charged with armed robbery, the chief said.
Moore said the shooting, as is standard practice, will be referred to a Leflore County grand jury for review, but he doesn’t expect Alkabsh to be charged. “He was perfectly within the law,” the chief said.
This is the second robbery suspect in Greenwood to have been shot in the act since Nov. 24.
Robert Lee Wilson, 33, 1011 Market St., was shot during a robbery of the Main Street One Stop. During that incident, Wilson shot and wounded store clerk Mansoor Alfarazaeeal, who returned fire.
Wilson has been hospitalized at UMMC for his wounds. Alfarazaeeal was briefly hospitalized.
Moore advised those inclined to commit armed robbery to think twice.
“This is the second time one has been shot while trying to rob a store. It’s extremely hazardous for them,” he said.
Moore said he was not advocating vigilante justice. Rather, he said, the “people are basically fed up with this. They’re tired of it.”
Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
