Bessemer bank customer praised for helping halt gunman
Date: May 18, 2007 12:16 PM
FYI (copy below):
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070516/APN/705161813
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Bessemer bank customer praised for helping halt gunman

The Associated Press

Last Updated:May 16. 2007 10:57AM
Published: May 16. 2007 10:57AM

Law officers have praised a bank customer who pulled his gun
and helped deputies capture a gunman who opened fire during
a robbery of a Wachovia branch, killing two tellers and
wounding two.

Chris Chappell, who was in the bank Monday morning getting
$40 in change on the way to his job in Adger, fled the bank
when gunshots rang out, drew a gun for which he has a
concealed weapon permit, took cover by his sport utility
vehicle and alerted deputies who came up.

The gunman, cornered by Chappell and the deputies when he
tried to flee the bank with a hostage, stumbled and was shot
by Deputy Alan Rhea.

“It’s certainly commendable,” Jefferson County Sheriff’s
Sgt. Randy Christian said. “It’s obvious he played a key
role in keeping the guy there until we could get there.
It’s a great testament of someone willing to take action.”

“He kept him from escaping, and he gave deputies time to get
to the scene,” Bill Veitch, chief assistant district
attorney, told The Birmingham News in its moment-by-moment
account of the robbery and arrest.

Bessemer Mayor Ed May, while calling Chappell a “good
Samaritan and a brave individual,” added that “I would not
encourage anyone to do that.”

Chappell, however, said he just went by his instincts.

“I know what’s right and what’s wrong. There wasn’t nothing
I could do differently. I’m always going to do what I think
is right,” Chappell said.

William Merriweather Jr., 30, a 1994 Jackson-Olin High
School graduate who also attended Alabama State University
and Lawson State Community College, was taken into custody
after being shot outside the bank. He was charged with
capital murder in the deaths of the two tellers.

According to witnesses and police investigators, the gunman
fatally shot Eva Lovelady Hudson, then continued firing down
the line of tellers, killing Sheila Prevo. He shot two
other tellers, who survived, while demanding money, and
forced bank manager Myron Gooding to open the vault.

Grabbing a bag of money, he left the bank, only to find
Chappell waiting.

“I was prepared to shoot,” Chappell said.

According to the News account, the gunman threw his hands up
and went back inside when he saw Chappell. He eventually
came out holding Gooding as a hostage. By then, deputies
had arrived and Merriweather was shot and captured.

“I don’t think you had time to be scared,” said Chappell.

The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !