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Robbery Victim Turns Tables on Bandit

Friday, September 21, 2007

Denise James
More: Bio, 6abc.com News Team

September 21, 2007 (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police had no trouble identifying a robbery suspect. He's the one with the bullet wound in his leg.

One of his victims grabbed the bandit's gun and turned the tables on him.

"I don't know what came over me. I just grabbed the gun from under his arm. I just started shooting," said Lillian Bailey.

She can't believe what happened at her Germantown hair salon as she worked past midnight.

When a client left the popular stylists business, a gunman lurking outside rushed in demanding money.

Her three clients gave him their purses and ran for cover in two back rooms. Lillian was shaken as she shared her frightening story exclusively with Action News.

"He went to reach for my pockets, but he put his gun under his arm with the pocketbooks. In that split second, I just grabbed the gun and started shooting," said Bailey.

The young mother thought about making it home to her children as she aimed at the robber and emptied his .38 revolver.

"After there were no more bullets, I just started bashing him on his head as he was trying to escape the salon," she said.

He got away. Lillian didn't realize he was shot until police found him unconscious in some bushes on nearby Johnson Street. He had a bullet wound in his leg.

The 19-year-old suspect, whose identity hasn't been released, remained in police custody at Einstein Medical Center.

Lillian said he came to the salon the night before asking about prices, but wasn't let in. When he slipped inside with a gun, she knew she had to do something to save herself because he looked high and out of control.

The tenderhearted 27-year-old still feels bad.

"It's like a double edge sword because I feel like I wanted to stop him from taking my hard earned money, taking these people's belongings. But then I didn't want to hurt anybody," she said.

She has not been charged with any crime. Police are trying to determine if the 19-year-old suspect was involved in a street robbery earlier that night where a robbery victim's dog was shot.

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