Retired cop sees robbery in progress at convenience store, shoots gunman, authorities say

A retired police officer who saw a gunpoint robbery in progress at a Coatesville convenience store grabbed his own gun, shot the assailant, and thwarted the crime, authorities said Thursday.

Police said the officer was waiting for a friend outside the Turkey Hill Mini Market in Coatesville just before midnight Tuesday when he saw a would-be robber point a gun at the heads of two store employees. He then grabbed his weapon, went into the store and shot the gunman, police said.

The officer shot Lawrence Nathaniel Galloway, 33, of Middletown, multiple times in the lower torso, authorities said. Police did not identify the retired officer, who they said was licensed to carry a gun and whom they hailed as a hero.

“We got lucky,” Chester County District Attorney Thomas Hogan said in a statement Thursday. “If not for this retired officer being in the right place at the right time, we certainly would have had a robbery, and might have seen a double murder.”

Galloway, who was hospitalized for his injuries, was charged with armed robbery and related crimes.