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Families of fatally shot robbers are calling for justice

Families of slain Pennsylvania robbers call for vigilante to be brought to justice.

By Evan Bleier
A gavel. (U.S. Air Force)
A gavel. (U.S. Air Force)

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(UPI) -- The families of two men who were killed by a "concerned citizen" while robbing a Pennsylvania convenience store want justice for the slain thieves.

William Medina, 24, and 18-year-old Robert De Carr were shot and killed during a robbery attempt at Krick's Korner store in Reading on Monday.

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After witnessing the robbery, the armed citizen, whose name has not been released, called 911 and waited outside the store. When the robbers emerged from the store, the citizen demanded that they stop and wait for police. According to District Attorney John Adams, when the robbers refused and pulled their guns, the citizen shot them in self-defense.

"He needed to defend himself because if he would not have used force, he himself may have suffered the wrath of those two gun-toting robbers," Adams said.

The fact that the citizen may have acted within the confines of the law isn’t helping to soothe the pain for the families that are involved.

"It's not fair," said Virginia Medina, William’s mother. "[William] had no right to lose his life over something that man could have called the police for. He took the law into his own hands and walked away scot-free."

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"How about if people just start running around here, policing the city on their own? How much worse is it going to get?" said Peter Ratel, Medina's cousin.

Taylor De Carr didn’t think Robert deserved what he got. "My brother was a good kid," she said.

The shooter has civil protection from being sued by the families under the Castle Doctrine, according to Adams.

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