When someone acts irrationally and commits a crime, they’re typically held accountable for those actions, no matter who they are. But, not Adric White. After he was shot while robbing a Family Dollar store, his family wasn’t mad at him for his criminal behavior. Instead, they had a ridiculous response.
Adric White doesn’t make very good life choices. This became evident when, at just 18 years old, he decided to try to rob the Family Dollar store on Stanton Road in Mobile, Alabama, while he was out on bond for robbing The Original Oyster House at gunpoint previously. Unfortunately for White, his robbery plans would be foiled, this time by a good Samaritan, who was also shopping at the Family Dollar store at the time.
When the unnamed good Samaritan noticed a masked gunman, later identified as Adric White, leading one of the Family Dollar employees to the front of the store, the concealed carry permit holder decided to take action, Fox10 reported. “He had the gun to his head. He had him on his knees,” the man recalled, describing the scene that played out in front of him involving White and the employee. “I drew my gun on him and I said, ‘Hey don’t move.’”
Adric White didn’t listen. As the good Samaritan recalled, “At that point, he swung around, and before he had a chance to aim the gun at me, I fired.” Although he “didn’t want to shoot him,” the concealed carrying savior pumped out five rounds, dropping the would-be robber to the ground. Those five rounds struck White in undisclosed locations, and he was rushed to a nearby hospital to be treated for gunshot wounds.
Luckily for White, he survived, and while it’s understandable that parents and family members would be emotional had their child or loved one almost been killed, most would also be furious that their kid, who’s actually an adult and should know better, put themselves in that position. Not Adric White’s family, though. They were furious alright, but not with White, who was already a repeat offender at that point. Instead, their anger lied with the good Samaritan who shot the robbery suspect.
Instead of the whole “actions have consequences” conversation that they should have been having following the shooting that White brought on himself, his family voiced outrage that the boy had been shot “unnecessarily.” Speaking of the customer who shot White, an unidentified female member of the boy’s family said, “If his life was not in danger, if no one had a gun up to him, if no one pointed a gun at him – what gives him the right to think that it’s okay to just shoot someone? You should have just left the store and went wherever you had to go in your car or whatever.”
Of course, the good Samaritan had a different take on things the day after the shooting, saying that criminals “tend to think that they are the only ones with guns.” He added, “I’ve been legally carrying my firearm for a little over four years now, and thank God, I’ve never had to use it until, of course, last night. It just goes to show it’s good to have a concealed carry. You never know when you’re going to need it.”
The good Samaritan will not be charged with breaking any laws in the intervention, but the conflict does bring up an interesting question with the conflicting views expressed. Does a concealed carry permit give good Samaritans the right to insert themselves into situations that do not directly involve them?
While most would definitely agree that, if White had pulled his gun on the Samaritan, there would be no question that the concealed carry permit holder would be right to draw his own weapon. However, if the altercation was between the suspect and someone else and there was no intent on the part of Adric White to shoot the customer, should the customer have the right to intervene by using lethal force? Obviously, the best option would be for young men like Adric White to never put themselves or anyone else in this position in the first place.
But, apparently, White’s family doesn’t support the concept that if you don’t commit gun crimes, then you won’t get shot “unnecessarily” by a concealed carry holder who is simply protecting the lives of the innocent people in their community. His outspoken family member was definitely right about one thing, though.
The shooting was unnecessary. However, the fault doesn’t fall on the good Samaritan. With this having been White’s second known of offense at just 18, perhaps the family should spend more time self-reflecting than critiquing the reaction of others who had to witness a gun to someone else’s head because of their loved one’s decisions.
