OXNARD : Gun Shop Owner Fires at Thief

The owner of an Oxnard gun store fired two shots Friday at a man who fled the store without paying for a gun, police said.

Anthony Montemorra, 65, owner of the Sportsmen’s Exchange on South C Street, said the man came into the store posing as a customer. Montemorra said he spent about 10 minutes showing various guns to the man at the store counter.

“He was handling one of them when my wife asked me a question, and I turned my head,” Montemorra said. “When I looked back, he had taken off with the gun.”

Montemorra, who was behind the counter, said he ran out the back door in an attempt to intercept the man. As he emerged from the store, the man jumped into a beige hatchback car and started the engine.

“I saw him point something at me that was bright and shiny,” said Montemorra, who pulled out a high-powered semiautomatic handgun he carries and fired two shots.

The man drove off with the gun, a nickel-plated .38-caliber revolver worth about $388, Montemorra said. Montemorra, who was uninjured, said he believed he hit the car.

Oxnard Police Lt. Robert Kelley said Montemorra’s actions were probably legal because he had a permit to carry a loaded firearm on the premises of his business, and because he apparently fired in self-defense.