Man charged in Target shooting: ‘my life was in jeopardy’ — VIDEO
Stephen Howard says he was trying to protect himself and his family when he fired two shots at a fleeing thief in a crowded Las Vegas parking lot.
Prosecutors have charged the 45-year-old with attempted murder, along with four other felony counts and one gross misdemeanor, in connection with the June incident outside a southwest valley Target.
As he awaits trial on the charges, Howard spoke with the Las Vegas Review-Journal about what happened in the moments after his wife dug her nails into his arm and shouted, “There’s a robber.”
A recent fatal shooting during a Lee’s Liquor robbery played in the back of his mind. That’s one reason he carried a 9mm handgun, he said.
Howard believed people’s lives were in danger, as the shoplifter wrestled with loss prevention officers, spilling out of the 4100 Blue Diamond Road store, “and I acted accordingly.”
He and his wife, Susan Howard, had just finished shopping for their soon-to-be 3-year-old daughter’s birthday.
“Seeing the level of danger,” he said, “I had no other choice in my head but to draw.”
Howard ran after the suspect, shouting the license plate number of the gold Toyota Tundra that backed up before pulling forward over a median and driving away as Howard fired, according to a police report.
“Because I felt that my life was in jeopardy,” said Howard, who is free on his own recognizance and appeared in court briefly Monday. “I was just trying to get him to stop, with my voice, with the way I carried myself. I think I did everything anyone else would have done in this circumstance. That’s what I really think.”
His lawyer, Dustin Marcello, said Howard intends to show in court that he was trying to stop “what he believed to be a dangerous criminal who presented a danger to both Mr. Howard and the public.”
Howard spoke of his life before the shooting — work as a car salesman, stints as a model, an appearance in a music video, and a life full of outdoor activities — and broke into tears when he talked about the charges against him.
“I’d like to make it clear to the public that I’m not an enemy of the state,” he said.
When Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived at the Target that day, “Howard began immediately excitedly uttering, without being asked any questions, that he had thought the man had just robbed the Target and (Howard) was trying to protect people,” the police report stated.
Police found two shell casings in the parking lot and recovered a 9mm handgun from Howard.
Security officers told police they did not believe Howard was “in an immediate danger.”
No one in the parking lot was reported injured.
Howard, who faces a possible sentence of two to 20 years behind bars, moved to Las Vegas in 2001 and was a stay-at-home father at the time of the shooting, which caused a separation from his wife.
“I’m a good guy,” he said. “I desire to have a different character shown to the public.”
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
