Then We Have Pennsylvania...

Beechview cashier might be charged in death

A gas station clerk who fatally shot a man trying to rob him has worked at the store for years and was just trying to make a living, his father said Monday.

Surveillance tapes of the Saturday night incident at a BP service station on Saw Mill Run Boulevard in Beechview appear to show that clerk Walter C. Wetzel Jr., 58, of Mt. Washington, acted in self-defense when he shot Raymond Crawford, 30, of Northview Heights, Pittsburgh police said.

Crawford entered the gas station just before midnight, pointed a .38-caliber handgun at Wetzel and demanded money and cigarettes, police said. Wetzel gave him money, but when Crawford demanded more cigarettes, Wetzel told him he had to reach underneath the counter to get them, police said.

Wetzel grabbed a gun he stored under the counter and shot Crawford in the chest as the clerk was putting more cartons of cigarettes on the counter, police said.

Crawford was pronounced dead at the gas station at 12:01 a.m., the county Medical Examiner's Office said...

Police are conferring with prosecutors to determine if Walter Wetzel Jr. will face charges, said Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office. Wetzel couldn't be reached for comment."

WTF? From the sublime to the ridiculous. Police are conferring simply means they await the DA's decision as to what makes him look tougher on crime. Any Castle Doctrine worth it's salt extends to wherever you happen to be at any given point in time. We're talking about one's life, and it is AS dear while home OR at work.