HOUSTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A Houston jewelry and pawn shop proprietor shot and killed three alleged armed robbers despite having been bound and shot multiple times himself, police say.
"It is a pretty incredible story. The man was clearly defending his business, clearly defending his wife," Houston Police Department homicide investigator M.F. "Fil" Waters said. "It's amazing with all the bullets flying around in there that she wasn't hit."
The Thursday incident began at 2:08 p.m. when two men allegedly posing as customers came into Castillo's Jewelry and asked Ramon and Eva Castillo to show them some rings, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday.
After a third man walked in and announced he was robbing the store, the first two pulled out handguns and ordered the Castillos to the back of the store, where they tied up Eva Castillo. Houston Police Department spokesman Kese Smith said Castillo then pulled his own pistol from the back of his trouser waistband, killed the robber who tried to tie him up, went to his office and grabbed a shotgun to kill the other two men.
Castillo, 52, was shot three times but, apparently operating on adrenaline, walked outside looking for more gunmen before going back in to untie his 48-year-old wife, who was unharmed, Waters said.
"We've got bullet fragments all over the place, casings all over the place, shotgun slugs all over the place, so it's really hard to determine at this point how many rounds were actually fired -- but quite a few," Waters said.
Castillo was listed in critical but stable condition at a hospital. He is expected to survive, the Chronicle said.
