ST CHARLES, Mo. — Three St. Charles armed robberies tied to the same suspect ended in a shooting Saturday morning. A customer at the Quiktrip on First Capitol Drive shot and killed the suspect, 26-year-old Lance Bush.
RELATED: 'I know I did the right thing:' Customer shoots, kills armed robber at St. Charles QuikTrip
It was a courageous act that could've had a much different ending.
If you're a concealed carrier who witnesses a crime, there are a lot of factors that go into making the right decision.
"I've been in law enforcement for almost 40 years, and I've never shot nobody in my career," Eastern Missouri Coalition of Police President Donald Van said.
Van knows all about making tough calls.
"I've had a great career, I don't want to shoot nobody," Van said.
There are always risks when responding to active crimes as an armed police officer or, in this case, an armed witness.
"You come into a situation where there's something going on in a business or whatever, and you haven't entered yet, your first objective is to call 911," Van said.
That's the only advice Van gives the QuikTrip customer, who acted during the last of three armed robberies in St. Charles Saturday.
The customer was legally carrying a gun and asked us to protect his identity.
"I think everyone should carry because you never know when you're going to be put in a situation like that. Criminals carry, sometimes police won't be there in time or before time, you might need to be that person to help out," the customer said.
"Then you've got to make a decision, am I capable of doing this? Am I capable of shooting somebody, probably going to kill them? That's a pretty big thing to take on. Not everybody can do that. Even police officers who do that, or it's happened to can't live with it," Van said.
The customer said he had extensive training with guns and handling emergency situations.
"You can't just go buy a gun on Monday, take the class on Thursday, Friday and think you're ready to go. You better get to the range on a frequent basis to get used to that weapon," Van said.
"Training, training was going through my mind. Make sure I'm looking at the target. Making sure there's nothing behind the target that I don't want to get hurt," the customer said.
After Bush had a knife pointed at the clerk, he charged at the customer who shot four times and killed Bush.
"He already had a knife at her throat. He could've pulled out something bigger than what I had, then you'd have two people dead instead of one," the customer said.
Ultimately, Van says the customer did the right thing.
"He made a great decision, I have no problems with that at all. He did a great job, like I said, if you're going to do it, better call 911 first so they know where you're at," Van said.
The customer was detained and released.
He said he was told he wouldn't face charges, Van doesn't believe he will either.
The customer pulled the trigger once the suspect ran towards him with a knife and whatever was in his bag.
It's important to note, that Missouri's Stand Your Ground Law allows a person to use deadly force in self-defense rather than retreat if their life is threatened.