A Goodyear Heights convenience store clerk pulled a gun on a knife-wielding robber Tuesday and ended up pistol-whipped and shot in the face with his own weapon, Akron police said.
William W. Goodwin, 34, is expected to survive, police said. No arrests have been made.
The shooting, which happened about midnight Tuesday, capped off a violent and hot day in Akron, where temperatures climbed into the high 80s.
Trouble began about 3 p.m. when police were called to both a homicide in Goodyear Heights about the same time officers elsewhere responded to an armed robbery in East Akron.
The Beacon Journal reported Tuesday that a 76-year-old woman was stabbed at a Goodyear Heights home on Crystal Street and later died that day. Police charged her son, Michael Gleisinger, 48, with murder.
About 5 miles away in East Akron, a woman approached the counter at the Family Video at 1117 S. Arlington St., just before 3 p.m. to rent a DVD. She gave her phone number to the clerk so he could look up her account and then put a note on the counter saying she had a gun and wanted money, police said.
The clerk didn’t see a weapon, but told police the woman pointed something at him under her hoodie. The clerk opened the cash register drawer and the woman took $276.26, police said.
Police, using the woman’s phone number, later showed the clerk an array of suspect photos and issued an arrest warrant for Denise Myles, 41, of Sylvan Avenue.
As evening approached, gunfire erupted in Ellet, sending parents and children scrambling for cover at Davenport Park.
No one was apparently injured.
More gunfire erupted at 9:30 p.m., this time in East Akron near Ericsson Avenue and Keys Place.
A 25-year-old man ran to a police cruiser for help there.
He told officers he confronted a man about a stolen game system and the man opened fire, police said.
No one was injured, but stray bullets hit several nearby apartments, police said.
The night ended with the shooting at the Goodyear Heights convenience store. Police said it unfolded like this:
A man carrying two knives walked into Pioneer Store about midnight.
When the man — wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt and carrying a black backpack with a white Adidas logo — tried to rob the store, store owner Goodwin grabbed a handgun he keeps behind the counter.
The robber somehow took the gun away from Goodwin and used it to pistol-whip Goodwin and fire a shot, which hit Goodwin in the face.
Police didn’t say where the bullet struck Goodwin’s face, but said Goodwin was taken to Summa Health Akron City Hospital with injuries that didn’t threaten his life.
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.
