The following mind-boggling attempt at a crime spree in Washington appeared to be the robber's first (and last), due to his lack of a previous record of violence, and his terminally stupid choices:

1. His target was H&J Leather & Firearms, a gun shop specializing in handguns.

2. The shop was full of customers - firearms customers.

3. To enter the shop, the robber had to step around a marked police car parked at the front door.

4. A uniformed officer was standing at the counter, having coffee before work.

Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up, and fired a few wild shots from a .22 target pistol. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, the police officer with a 9mm Glock 17, the clerk with a .50 Desert Eagle, assisted by several customers who also drew their guns, several of whom also fired.

The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons.

No one else was hurt in the exchange of fire.

Snopes
Although the Darwinized account presents the encounter in the humorous light of a hapless robber waving a pop gun being felled in a hail of bullets by a mass of heavily-armed gun shop patrons, that wasn't precisely the way of it. Zaback's weapon was a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol, not the .22 target pistol of the e-mailed account. The clerk, Morris, fired a 10mm semiautomatic pistol, not a .50 Desert Eagle, and the policeman, Lally, fired a 9mm semiautomatic pistol. As for the participation of others, according to Renton police Capt. Don Persson, although several other customers had guns and pulled them, they did not shoot — the only ones involved in the exchange of lead were Zaback, Lally, and Morris.
...
It's unclear how many shots were fired, in part because some of the suspect's shots struck ammunition on a counter, causing the ammunition to explode. "There were slugs all over that place," Persson said. As for Zaback, he died with four wounds in him, one in the arm and three in the chest, not the 23 wounds claimed in the colorized account.

Yet one item of the Darwinized version one would otherwise suspect to have been the product of overwriting does indeed hold up: Renton police Capt. Don Persson said, "The surprising thing is that the man had to walk right past a marked police car to get in the front door."

The clerk, Morris, fired a 10mm semiautomatic pistol, not a .50 Desert Eagle, and the policeman, Lally, fired a 9mm semiautomatic pistol.

Outdoors: Thursday, May 10, 1990

Inquest: Officer Didn't Fire Fatal Shot -- Jury Rules In Slaying Of Gunman In Renton

Christy Scattarella

RENTON - An inquest jury deliberated only 35 minutes yesterday before finding that a King County police officer had reason to believe he was in danger when he shot a Renton man during a holdup in February.

The Renton District Court jury also ruled 5-1 that Officer Timothy Lally did not fire the shot that killed David Zaback, 33. Both Lally and a store clerk fired at Zaback.

``It's unfortunate that it (the shooting) happened, but I can't complain about the outcome,'' said Lally, 49, a patrol officer in the Maple Valley precinct and an 18-year veteran of the force.

Zaback's family did not attend the inquest. The dead man's brother, Dan Zaback of Bellevue, said in a telephone interview, ``We accept the decision.''

He added that his brother had been under a psychiatrist's care.

On the afternoon of Feb. 3, Zaback, brandishing a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol, entered H & J Leather & Firearms Ltd. in Renton, according to police.

``He took a shooting stance and said, `The gun is loaded. I have a round in the chamber, and I will shoot,' '' testified store owner Wendall Woodall, who was standing just inside the front door. ``He said it twice.''

Zaback then ordered those inside - including Lally, who was in uniform and had stopped by to have coffee with Woodall before going on duty, - to place their hands on the gun counter, Woodall said.

Danny Morris, a clerk at the store, said he stepped behind a file cabinet, pulled out his 10mm semiautomatic pistol and remained out of sight while Zaback held his gun on the customers.

Lally said he moved behind another file cabinet, raised his 9mm semiautomatic pistol and ordered Zaback to drop the gun.

Exactly what happened next is uncertain.

Morris said he fired first after Zaback turned his gun toward Lally. ``I was sure he was going to shoot Officer Lally, and I fired three times,'' Morris testified.

Lally said it was Zaback who fired first. ``He turned toward me and fired a shot. I fired back at him,'' Lally said. The officer's gun then misfired and he crouched while trying to fix it.

Zaback, who had fired three times, was shot three times in the chest and once in the arm. He died a few hours later at Harborview Medical Center. A bullet in Zaback's spine most likely was the one that killed him, said King County Medical Examiner Donald Reay. That bullet came from Morris' gun, said Frank Lee, a Washington State Crime Laboratory ballistics expert.

Inquest juries do not determine guilt or innocence, but the King County prosecutor will consider the jury's decision in deciding whether to file charges against Lally or Morris, said Deputy Prosecutor