LF: Break-in leaves one dead after store owner opens fire (empties 30 round mag)

Title: Break-in leaves one dead after store owner opens fire (empties 30 round mag)
Source: Aiken Standard
URL Source: http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/080912-Shooting-Death
Published: Aug 10, 2012
Author: Karen Daily
Post Date: 2012-08-10 14:03:56 by Hondo68
Keywords: grabbed his AR-15, multiple gunshot wounds, retreated to reload
Views: 351

A North Augusta gun store owner used a semi-automatic weapon when he opened fire on three men who broke into his business early Thursday, killing one and sending two others to the hospital with gunshot wounds, officials said.

The break-in occurred around 4 a.m. at the Guns and Ammo Gunsmith, located on Edgefield Road in North Augusta, said Aiken County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Jason Feemster, a spokesman for the agency.

Stephen Bayazes Jr., 57, who lives in an attached apartment in the rear of the business with his wife, said he awoke to a loud bang and the silent store alarm going off.

Police said he got out of bed, grabbed his AR-15 weapon and found three men inside the store.

The men crashed a vehicle into the business and were smashing display cases and taking guns when he said he heard one of the men shout, "kill that (expletive deleted )."

He told investigators he emptied a .223-caliber 30-round magazine and then retreated to his room to reload.

When he returned, he said he saw the vehicle pulling out from the business.

But 20-year-old K'Raven Aude Goodwin, of Eastover, was left behind.

He was transported to Georgia Health Sciences University where he was pronounced dead, said Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton.

He died from multiple gunshot wounds.

K'Raven Aude Goodwin

Franklin Robinson, 27, of Gadsden, and Eddie Stewart, 30, of Columbia, were also shot and are still hospitalized. Investigators have obtained arrest warrants for Stewart and Robinson, and both men will be charged with first-degree burglary, grand larceny and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, police said. The suspects will be taken into custody upon their release from the hospital.

They got back into the van they reportedly used to crash into the building and traveled less than five miles to a nearby Waffle House on Martintown Road.

Once there, they sought emergency help, Feemster said.

Neither Bayazes nor his wife were injured.

Feemster said there are protections in the law that allow a person to use deadly force if he has reasonable fear of imminent peril when someone unlawfully enters a residence, occupied vehicle or place of business.

The sheriff's office is consulting with the solicitor's office.

All of the weapons stolen from the store have been recovered, he said, but he would not say whether the men were armed when they allegedly broke into the business.

According to a background check run by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division, both Stewart and Robinson have multiple felony arrests and convictions.

Goodwin had a previous felony arrest for burglary and grand larceny.