News

N.C. Man Calls 911 After Being Shot While Trying to Rob Store

Steve Lyttle

11/30/2011

Nov. 30--A 911 operator got an unusual call Tuesday night in Cabarrus County -- from a man who said he'd been shot by a clerk while trying to rob a store.

Kannapolis police say they will charge John Arthur Davidson III with two counts of robbery and assault, once he is released from Carolinas Medical Center/Northeast. He is hospitalized with wounds in his lower right leg and his upper right torso, and police say Davidson was wounded by a clerk at Bethpage Grocery.

According to police, a man walked into the store, in the 4900 block of Mooresville Road, about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night. The man, wearing a bandana and a dark hooded sweatshirt, pulled a gun and demanded the personal belongings of the two employees, along with cash from the register.

Police say one of the employees pulled her gun and fired several times at the man, who then ran out of the business.

A short time later, a 911 operator received a call from a man who, police say, told the operator "he just tried to rob the store and got shot." The man said he was in some bushes behind the business, and that's where police officers found him soon afterward.

WCNC NewsChannel 36 provided this transcript of the call:

Dispatcher: "Cabarrus County 911."

Suspect: (Indecipherable) "I need an ambulance."

Dispatch: "Where are you at sir?"

Suspect: "I'm at (indecipherable) and (indecipherable) Behind the (indecipherable) store"

Dispatcher: "Are you behind Bethpage Grocery?"

Suspect: "I'm behind the store on Mooresville Highway."

Dispatcher: "And what happened to you sir?"

Suspect: "I just tried to rob the store and I got shot!"

Dispatcher: "Where are you at behind the store?"

Suspect: "I'm in the bushes. Please send the cops?send the police"

Dispatcher: "You're in the bushes?"

Suspect: "Please, I've been shot!"

Dispatcher: "Okay. What are you wearing sir?"

Suspect: "I'm behind the store!"

Dispatcher: "Alright, what are you wearing?"

Suspect: "I'm laying in the ****--bushes.

Dispatcher: "You're laying the bushes? And where have you been shot at?"

(heavy breathing)

Dispatcher: "Where are you? Sir? Hello?"

(hangup)

Police say Davidson also was wanted on drug-related charges in Kannapolis, and investigators are looking to see if he might have been involved in crimes in other nearby communities.