Pharmacist Frederick "Jerry" Pireaux shot a robber on Friday at his shop on Bee Ridge Road, the second time he has pulled his pistol and fired at someone trying to steal drugs.
"I never saw Jerry grab the gun," said Mike Hull, a friend who was behind the counter, chatting with Pireaux at about 4:30 p.m. "It happened just so fast. I just heard bang, bang."
The drug store, Bee Ridge Pharmacy, has two counters, one in front with the cash register. Pireaux, the owner, dispenses medicine from a second counter that sits on a raised platform at the back end of the store.
The robber was at the register, Hull said, and showed a clerk the gun, demanding oxycodone and yelling at her that she had 30 seconds.
The clerk turned and headed to the back of the store, her face "as white as a sheet," Hull said.
Then Hull and the clerk both ducked as Pireaux fired.....
