12

In an answer to another question, there is a reference to this 2012 Natural News article, which in turn cites this NRA-ILA article, which cites "The Chronicle, Muskegon, MI, 8/23/95":

Plans to slay everyone in the Muskegon, Michigan, store and steal enough cash and jewelry to feed their "gnawing hunger for crack cocaine" fell apart for a band of would-be killers after one of their victims fought back. Store owner Clare Cooper was returning behind the counter after showing three of the four conspirators some jewelry, when one of the group pulled out a gun and shot him four times in the back. Stumbling for the safety of his bullet-proof glass-encased counter, Cooper managed to grab his shotgun and fire as the suspects fled. They were all later apprehended and the three present during the shooting face life imprisonment.

This incident is being used to defend the argument that guns are used defensively to avoid shootings.

The article sounds slightly fishy, in that the date of the attack isn't provided, the names of the attackers aren't provided, and the fate of the shopkeeper isn't clear. These are the sorts of details news articles would normally include.

Did this event happen?

Community
  • 1
Oddthinking
  • 140,378
  • 46
  • 548
  • 638
  • 4
    Not enough for an answer, but a search of the Muskegon Chronicle from 1997 (the earliest time I have access to) to the present comes up with nothing like this using any of the following keywords: "Cooper", "jewelry" and "shotgun". The likelihood that such an event would not ever be mentioned in subsequent years seems unlikely to me, since there would certainly be various court proceedings which would take some time. (And just to be clear, the keywords were applied disjunctively.) – Alan Munn Jun 23 '15 at 15:23
  • @AlanMunn: Can you show where you did the search? A link would be great. – George Chalhoub Jun 23 '15 at 16:46
  • 2
    @GeorgeChalhoub The search was conducted via [NewsBank](http://www.newsbank.com/libraries/public/solutions/historical/local-historical-newspaper-archives). This is a paywalled site, but many public and university libraries (my case) have access. I also expanded my search to look for "robbery" and found nothing. – Alan Munn Jun 23 '15 at 16:50
  • 2
    I'm not too hopeful, but I asked nra-ila about this through their "Contact us" form on the web site. I'll post something in the unlikely event I hear back. – user5341 Jun 24 '15 at 11:09
  • @alan - Another possible avenue: if someone has access to online court archives - the trial mentioned in the quote would likely be in close-by jurisdiction. – user5341 Jun 24 '15 at 11:11
  • 2
    @DVK Online court records in Michigan don't go back anywhere near that far. – Alan Munn Jun 24 '15 at 12:15
  • @AlanMunn - something like Lexus-nexis? (IANAL, so i'm reaching here) – user5341 Jun 26 '15 at 01:46
  • 1
    I messaged the Muskegon Chronicle to ask for archives from the mid-90s – warren Jun 26 '15 at 20:04
  • 4
    A Clare Cooper of Muskegon, owner of a jewelry shop, [died in 2019](http://funeralinnovations.com/obituary/321893/Clare-Cooper/) at age 83, so it's semi-plausible that, at 61, he was this fellow. – Sean Duggan Aug 28 '23 at 12:35

0 Answers0