Man armed with BB gun killed in robbery
attempt

By KIMATHI LEWIS
Staff Writer

A man armed with a BB gun died while he and his partner tried to
rob a pair of Charlotte businessmen Thursday outside a motel on
Broad River Road, police said.

The robbers didn’t know these were ex-military officers, one of
whom built his career on teaching anti-terrorism skills to state
officials, according to newspaper reports.

Jonathan James Berry, 32, died outside the Best Inn at 1029
Briargate Circle after the businessmen shot him three times in the
chest and once in the side, Richland County Coroner Frank Barron
said.

Police charged Berry’s partner, Richard Sean Harley, 32, of 1119
Shirlington Road, with attempted armed robbery and conspiracy
to commit armed robbery, according to jail records. Harley was
not injured.

Harley, who has history of stealing, driving and domestic violence
offenses, was being held in the Richland County jail on $50,000
bail, reports showed.

Richland County sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Chris Cowan said
Thomas Bullins and John Nettles will not be charged in the 1 a.m.
shooting.

“They were lawfully carrying weapons,” Cowan said. “They were
well within their rights.”

The men did not know the guns aimed at them weren’t real,
Cowan said.

Bullins, reached at his North Carolina home late Thursday, said he
did not want to talk about the shooting.

“It was an unfortunate incident,” Bullins said. “Right now we want
to spend some time with our families and put it behind us.”

Bullins told investigators he and Nettles were leaving their room
when Berry approached what he thought was a handgun and
raised it to Bullins’ face.

Berry demanded money from Bullins, but Bullins grabbed Berry’s
forearm and the two got into a struggle, officials said.

Bullins then reached into his pocket and pulled out a .22-caliber
handgun, firing one shot that hit Berry in the aorta, Barron said.

That turned out to be the fatal bullet, Barron said.

After the first shot was fired, Nettles came out of his room,
officials said.

Nettles fired from a .45 semiautomatic, hitting Berry three times
in the chest as he continued to struggle with Bullins, Barron said.

The men, who are also trained paramedics, performed CPR on
Berry, but it was too late, the coroner said.

The men went after Harley, who was nearby at the time of the
holdup, but later fled, Cowan said.

He was caught near the pool at the motel, officials said. They
held him until sheriff’s deputies arrived.

After the men recovered the weapons from the thieves, they
realized they weren’t real, Cowan said.

Sheriff Leon Lott said Bullins and Nettles were in Columbia to find
out about South Carolina laws governing security companies.
They had meetings Thursday at the State Law Enforcement
Division and the police academy.

“They are ex-military Special Forces,” Lott said. “They picked the
wrong two guys because they’re trained to teach people how to
handle exactly the kind of situation they had last night.”

Special Forces soldiers are carefully selected, specially trained,
and capable of extended operations in extremely remote and
hostile territory.

Staff writer Clif LeBlanc contributed to this article.