Customer shoots, kills robber

Originally ran here as:
Customer killed robber, police say
By Rich Tucker, Times-Union staff writer
Sunday, July 15, 2001

FLORIDA -- A customer in a Gainesville convenience store yesterday shot to death a man police say was robbing the store.

The man who was shot was identified as Channing Michael Page, 27, of Gainesville.

Police said a man entered the Newberry Road store about 12:45 a.m. wearing a green ski mask. The man threatened to kill the clerk if he was not given $60.

Richard Connell Jr, 63, a customer in the store, drew a .38-caliber handgun. The robber lunged at Connell, police said.

Connell shot the robber three times in the chest. The robber, who was not armed, was transported to North Florida Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 a.m.

Police spokesman Keith Kameg said the shooting was still being investigated.

Additional Report, from another News Outlet:

An attempted robbery at a Newberry Road gas station early Saturday morning ended in death for the 27-year-old suspect, who was shot by a man visiting the store clerk.

A white male wearing a green ski mask, later identified as Channing Michael Page of Gainesville, entered the Shell Food Mart at 3850 Newberry Road about 12:45 a.m. Saturday and told the clerk to give him $60, according to police reports. The clerk, 68-year-old Quenton Wilson of Newberry, said the suspect held one hand in his waistband, implying that he had a gun.

"He demanded I give him $60 or he was going to kill me," said Wilson, who works the midnight-to-6 a.m. shift at the station three days a week. "I told him I didn't have any big money. He slammed his hand down on the counter and said if I didn't lay three $20s down RIGHT NOW, he was going to kill me."

Richard Connell, 63, of Gainesville, a longtime friend of Wilson, was inside the store at the time. After the suspect made several other threats to Wilson and Connell - the only people in the store - Connell drew a concealed .38 caliber revolver, said Gainesville Police Department spokesman Keith Kameg.

When Connell drew his gun, Kameg said, the suspect "lunged either at him or at the gun." Connell fired three times, hitting Page in the upper torso with all three shots.

Responding GPD Officers William Quirk and Scott Ferrel performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Page. Page was transported to North Florida Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 a.m. Saturday.

Kameg said no gun was found on Page.

Connell has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, Kameg said, and it is valid until 2006.

Kameg said the store's videotape corroborates the account by Wilson and Connell. He said an investigation was being conducted to see if any charges are warranted.

"As of now, no decision on charges has been made," Kameg said.

Connell, reached at his home, declined comment.

Kameg said a 1992 Honda registered to Page was found about a block east of the station in the Royal Park Theater parking lot.

Page, a 1993 graduate of Buchholz High School who went by Michael, worked for a landscaping company. He is believed to have lived at his mother's home in Mill Pond, which is about half a mile from the Shell station.

One of Page's aunts said the family had no comment.

Kameg said there were some similarities between this case and some other recent robberies.

"We're not releasing the locations, but detectives are going to look at some recent robberies in Gainesville," he said. "It's possible that Page might be linked to other convenience store robberies."

Page was arrested in 1998 for driving under the influence. He pled no contest and was adjudicated guilty.

In recounting the incident late Saturday afternoon, Wilson said he and his friend feared for their lives.

"He had his hand down in his shorts and never took it out," said Wilson, who has worked at the Shell station since 1980. "He was indicating that he had a gun. He was real threatening the way he acted.

"He grabbed me one time . . . by my shirt and right arm . . . and picked up the (ATM) keyboard and slammed it down," Wilson said. "He saw my friend and yelled at him too, something like, 'you stay still or you'll get it, too.' "

Wilson said he told Page he didn't have any $20s, although there were some in the cash box.

"But I don't even think I could have opened the cash box," he said, because he was so scared. "I figured if I gave him the money he was probably going to kill me anyway."

Bob Arndorfer can be reached at 374-5042 or [email protected].

Click the image to flush Mr. Page down the toilet.

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