The scenario has played out before. An armed robber is gunned down in the commission of a crime by a armed bystander who is “carrying,” and his family attempts to portray him as a hapless victim. In this case, there is a twist.
According to the Washington Post, on Saturday evening, a masked man entered a bodega on Chicago’s South Side Chicago armed with a pistol and announced it was a stickup. Unbeknownst to him, a customer in the store was also armed and fired multiple rounds, killing the suspect where he stood.
It appears on its face to be an open-and-shut case of instant karma, but the family of Reginald Gildersleeve, the dead man, is insisting there is more to the story. The gun used in the crime, it turns out, was either a toy or a paintball gun. What’s more, argues Gildersleeve’s stepdaughter Igbinosa Oronsaye, is the fact that he used to work in that store and knew the owner. The mask and fake gun, she submits, were all part of a Halloween prank gone bad.
But the cops aren’t buying that explanation. They are convinced that Gildersleeve was actually trying to rob the store. His lengthy arrest record, which includes at least one robbery, seems to lend credence to that theory.
Court records … show he had been arrested at least half a dozen times dating back to the 1980s. Several arrests had to do with narcotics, but most of the incidents involved theft or robbery. He was in and out of prison, with burglary convictions as recent as 2005.
As for Gildersleeve’s executioner shooter, charges against him “do not appear likely,” notes the Chicago Tribune. Among other things, the man, whose name is not being released out of fear of reprisal, had a valid concealed carry permit.
From all outward indications, the system worked this time.
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