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Jeweler who foiled robbery says he’s no hero
2002-07-17
By Ed Godfrey
The Oklahoman

MARIETTA — Ronnie Norton said he never intended to kill the man who
attempted to rob his jewelry store last week: All he was trying to do
was keep from being killed.

When the gunman pointed a 9 mm pistol at his chest and ordered him
face-down on the floor, Norton, 54, said Tuesday he was convinced he was
about to die.

“From that point on, all I could think about was him shooting me in the
back of the head,” the jewelry store owner said. “I thought I was going
to die, and I had to do something.”

Norton for the first time spoke publicly Tuesday about last week’s
attempted armed robbery that ended in a shoot-out. He said he and his
wife, Barbara, have slept little since then.

“I sleep about two hours and wake up and don’t go back to sleep. My wife
is the same way. She hardly wants to get out of the house. We keep the
doors locked and are looking out the windows all the time.”

One week ago, two armed men walked into Norton’s Jewelry in downtown
Marietta at the close of the business day. One gunman was killed.

The other gunman escaped with two accomplices who didn’t enter the store
and were waiting outside in a car. Police are still searching for them.

Authorities identified the slain man as Dexter B. Dunnum, 23, of
Oklahoma City. Norton said he thinks Dunnum may have been casing the
jewelry store the day before.

Norton said he became suspicious of a man and woman who asked to see the
store’s most expensive rope chain and rope bracelet. There were other
customers in the store, and the couple left without buying anything, he
said.

Norton said he shared his concerns with his wife later that night. The
next day, the Nortons were preparing to close and were taking jewelry
from the display cases when his wife spotted two men walking outside
toward the store entrance, he said.

Being apprehensive, Norton said he quickly slipped a .32- caliber
handgun from his carrying case and into his belt. In the store, Norton
always carries a gun or keeps one within arm’s reach, he said.

The two men were larger and appeared younger than Norton. They were
dressed immaculately and identically, he said. They entered and one
asked to look at a $2,500 wedding set.

“I know it’s happening,” Norton said.

Norton said he walked to the safe to get the jewelry as one man
followed. Barbara Norton saw the man place his hand in his pocket and
she ran to the door, he said.

The other gunman sprinted to intercept her and grabbed her before she
could get outside,
Norton said. She hung onto the door by wrapping her right leg around it,
but the gunman was able to throw her to the floor, Norton said.

Norton said he was at the safe and turned to find a 9 mm pistol staring
at his chest less than a foot away.

“It’s cocked and ready to fire,” he said.

The gunman ordered Norton to the floor but he refused, he said. The
gunman repeated the order and waved the weapon in front of Norton,
giving the jeweler a chance to grab the man’s wrist and push the gun
away, he said.

“Everything is a blur from the time that struggle started,” Norton said.

During the fight for the gun, Dunnum was fatally wounded. He fell to the
floor as his accomplice began firing at Norton.

Norton, thinking the wounded man was firing from the floor, said he shot
him twice with his own handgun. Then realizing the second gunman was
firing the shots, Norton said he took cover and traded fire with him.

Norton said he dived behind the jewelry counter and started rolling as
the second gunman squatted and aimed with both hands on the gun.

The gunman fired twice but only put two bullets into the counter, Norton
said.

Norton said he rolled to the other end of the counter as the gunman ran
from the store.

Dunnum also fled but collapsed and died on the sidewalk in front of the
store. Norton originally told police he killed the gunman with Norton’s
weapon.

It was later learned the fatal wound was caused by Dunnum’s gun. Norton
said he was shocked when police told him.

“I had it visualized I had pulled my own gun and done it,” he said.

Dunnum had a criminal history, according to state Corrections Department
records. He had been convicted of first-degree robbery, grand larceny
and possession of stolen property.

Authorities think the same individuals may be involved in a similar
jewelry store robbery June 23 in Altus.

Norton’s Jewelry has been in Marietta since 1944. Norton took over the
business from his father 18 years ago. It is the first time anyone
attempted to rob the store, he said.

Friends are calling Norton a hero, but he credits his wife with
distracting the robbers “long enough to allow me to do what I did. She
pulled that other guy off me,” he said.

Norton said he and his wife plan to reopen the store, but their lives
have been changed forever. He said he is unsure whether he and his wife
will ever feel completely safe again.
“We are always, I think, going to be alert and ready for something to
happen.”

Norton keeps a gun with him everywhere he goes and said he may start
carrying two.
“I have it on me when I go to the shower. I will have it on me from now
on. I don’t ever see me not having that gun and being a little on edge.”

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