MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — A suspected thief is dead and two others are on the run following an attempted ATM theft at a Murfreesboro gas station Friday morning.

The Murfreesboro Police Department revealed the unidentified man was killed by an armed civilian at the 7-Eleven Exxon on East Northfield Boulevard on Friday, Aug. 1.

Authorities said the three suspects backed a stolen pickup truck to the store around 5 a.m. and used a sledgehammer to smash a window before trying to pull the ATM from its base with a guy wire. A customer inside the store reportedly opened fire, hitting one of the would-be thieves.

“It's crazy. I mean, people are just nuts anymore. You don't know what to expect,” Murfreesboro resident Karen Laakkonen said. 

Police said they interviewed the armed civilian and released him. Investigators will now work to determine if the deadly shooting was justified. 

“They went there with what appears to be a pretty clear plan. They just didn't count on the citizen having a gun,” criminal defense attorney Ben Powers said.

The other two suspects fled the scene, abandoned the stolen truck at a nearby apartment complex, and escaped in a separate getaway vehicle, according to law enforcement.  

Attorney David King explained that under Tennessee's "Stand Your Ground" law, an individual doesn't have to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense — but certain criteria must be met. 

“On a commercial piece of property, for a person to do something like this, they have to be in fear, in imminent fear of personal harm, or in fear for their life,” said King. 

Powers told News 2 he believes that argument could be made. 

“When you smash a window and go into a store, you don’t get the presumption that you're going to act reasonable once you get into the store that you've just broken into,” Powers said. 

Still, both attorneys agreed that these cases can become complicated, and there are things armed individuals need to consider.  

“It's not just automatically a self-defense situation,” Powers said. “It goes through the scrutiny of law enforcement, the DA's office, and then if there are charges, potentially a jury, as well.” 

Detectives said this was an isolated incident, but the investigation is still ongoing. 

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/murfreesboro/legal-experts-weigh-in-after-armed-customer-kills-suspected-thief-in-murfreesboro/