A customer opens fire on would-be robbers at a Norwalk donut shop. Angie Crouch reports for NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019
Two armed robbers were met with gunfire from a homeless man at a doughnut shop in Norwalk early Wednesday morning.
The wild shootout occurred at Donuts in a strip mall on Rosecrans Avenue.
Two armed men entered the shop and attempted to rob the place, but a homeless man, who often sleeps in the doughnut shop, had a gun in his waistband and ended up in a gun battle with the would-be robbers.
"I was sleeping, and two guys came in, and one goes over the counter to deal with the donut guy," William Washington, the homeless man who got in a gun battle with the robbers, said. "The other one is standing next to me with a gun on me saying, 'don't move.'"
Washington continued, "As they turned to head out, I had to rack the slide on my weapon, because i don't carry it with a round in the chamber. I racked the slide, so when it went 'ching,' they turned around and started firing at me. I started firing back. They put five rounds in the back wall, and I put five rounds out here, hitting my own car."
The man finished his story, "We didn't find a blood trail, but one guy dropped his weapon. I picked it up and dialed 911."
Washington says police confiscated his weapon as evidence. He claims the gun is registered to him, although he does not have a concealed-carry permit. Washington was questioned, but has not been charged with any crime.
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Investigators say the armed robbers did not get any money, but the entire exchange was caught on surveillance video. So far, that video is not being released.
The same shop has been robbed several times before, and investigators did not know if the same robbers targeted the location in June.
