There have been a lot of shootings in the news recently. Here's a righteous one, from one of the rougher sections of my hometown this afternoon.

Reading Eagle:

Robbers of Reading store shot dead, police say

Two masked men who allegedly robbed a Reading convenience store at gunpoint were shot dead on the sidewalk by an armed man who stumbled upon the scene Monday, police said.

Police said the two suspects, who have not yet been identified, entered Krick's Korner at Ninth and Exeter streets about 2 p.m., pointed guns at the store owner and demanded cash.

It was unclear if the men got any cash but police said they fled the store with lottery tickets and cigarettes and ran into a man who was leaving an apartment located in the same building as the store.

"He came outside and heard the clerk and knew something was wrong," said Reading police Sgt. John M. Solecki.

District Attorney John T. Adams said that he didn't expect criminal charges to be filed against the man who shot the suspects. Adams said the man had a weapons permit and was within his legal right to shoot the suspects. Adams said he used deadly force before deadly force could be used on him.

The man noticed that the suspects were armed and wearing masks, so he decided to wait outside the store, police said. When the suspects exited the store the man pulled out his own weapon and shot the two men.

One suspect, wearing black sweat pants, a red sweat suit-type jacket and a tan mask, fell dead in a crosswalk just outside the front door of the store. The second suspect, dressed in all black and still wearing a mask, ran about 20 feet south on Moss Street before collapsing in the street.

Carmella Chipperfield, who lives nearby, said robberies are common at the store and she sympathizes with the store's owner.

"That poor man," she said, referring to the owner. "He's very nice and he gets robbed a lot. He's just trying to make a living and this happens."

Chipperfield said her son was visiting her and ran outside when he heard what he thought were shots, then heard sirens.

"He told me someone was walking into the store and he shot those two men who were robbing the place," Chipperfield said.

Carl Gottshall of Mount Penn said he was making a delivery on Kutztown Road about a half-block from the corner when he and his co-workers heard several shots ring out.

"We ran down and saw the guys laying in the street," Gottshall said. "Then all the cops and ambulances started arriving."

The first officers on the scene called the coroner's office after paramedics determined the two men were dead.

DA: Charges unlikely in fatal shootings at Reading store

  Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said he doesn't expect criminal charges to be filed against a man who fatally shot two robbery suspects at a Reading convenience store.

The man, whose identity has yet to be released, was leaving a nearby apartment building around 2 p.m. today when he saw the clerk at Krick's Korner at Ninth and Exeter streets being robbed at gunpoint by two masked men, Adams said. The man decided to wait outside the store until the suspects exited through the front door, and then shot both men once each in the chest area after being threatened by them, Adams said.

"I think that this is an incident where the concerned citizen acted justifiably under the law," Adams said.

One suspect, wearing black sweat pants, a red sweat suit-type jacket and a tan mask, fell dead in a crosswalk just outside the front door of the store. The second suspect, dressed in all black and still wearing a mask, ran about 20 feet south on Moss Street before collapsing in the street.

Adams said the man, who he described as a "concerned citizen," had a weapons permit and was within his legal rights to shoot the alleged robbers.

"He told these individuals to stop, and 'I'm calling the police,' and that's when these individuals drew their guns, and there was a scuffle." Adams said during a press conference Monday night. "He used deadly force before deadly force may have been used on him."

Adams said the man is a Berks County resident who works in the neighborhood, as well a friend of the store owner.

Krick's Korner has been robbed at least twice over the past several years, police said.

Monday's robbery was captured on surveillance video.

The alleged robbers walked into the stores with their handguns drawn, Adams said, and then proceeded to terrorize the store owner before stealing money, cigarettes and lottery tickets.

The men also drew their guns on the concerned citizen before being shot, Adams said.

"These two men chose this store as their prize for the day, and it didn't work out very well," he said.

Adams added that the police department is investigating the suspects' involvement in prior robberies.

Reading police said they're also hoping to identity a third suspect who drove the alleged robbers to the store.

When asked if he has concerns over citizens taking such matte

Adams said the man who shot the alleged robbers is concerned for his safety and has been offered protection and relocation services by the Reading Police Department.

"He was put in a situation that none of us want to be put in," Adams said, and later added, "He was very brave, very brave. He could have ran away. He chose not to."

Adams said Pennsylvania's expanded Castle Doctrine, the state's "stand your ground" legislation, didn't weigh into the decision to not charge the shooter.

"It has nothing, nothing to do with stand your ground," he said. "The bottom line is, under the law, this was justified."

The Castle Doctrine, revised in 2011, says a person can use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight. Pennsylvania is one of 22 states with stand your ground legislation.

rs into their own hands, Adams said, "Of course none of us condone violence. However, under the facts and the circumstances of this incident, we believe that the concerned citizen acted well within the law and as a result he was released."