http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070519/NEWS01/705190372

Man with unloaded gun killed by victim May 19, 2007
BY BEN SCHMITT and JACK KRESNAK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

A robbery and crime spree aided by an unloaded gun came to a halt late
Thursday when the gunman met more than his match: a gun with bullets.

Charles Parker Jr., 18, of Detroit was killed when a 53-year-old man
pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot the teen, who was armed with an unloaded
.22-caliber handgun.

Detroit police are calling it self-defense.

The botched carjacking on Grand River and Prevost came after a string of
robberies in Detroit on Thursday, which police said were committed by
Parker and four others, ranging in age from 16 to 20.

The robberies began about 8:40 p.m. Thursday at Kentucky and Curtis when a
16-year-old was robbed of his cell phone, a silver chain and his wallet,
by at least two of the suspects, police said.

At 9:30 p.m., the robbers attempted to carjack a couple in the driveway of
their home in the 19600 block of Appoline, police said. One pointed the
unloaded gun at the couple and pulled the trigger.

The teens fled without the car.

Later, police said, the robbers saw a man at a Detroit car wash and tried
to carjack him. The one approached with the unloaded gun and the other
wielded a baseball bat, police said.

That's when the man washing his car fired, striking Parker.

Parker's alleged accomplices took him to Sinai-Grace Hospital where he was
pronounced dead on arrival. Hospital security officers detained the other
youths until police arrived. Police spokesman James Tate said a
17-year-old Detroit female, 16-year-old Southfield boy, a 19-year-old
Southfield man, and a 20-year-old Detroit man are in custody.

They face arraignment on armed robbery charges today in Detroit's 36th
District Court.

After the shooting, police questioned the 53-year-old man and released
him, noting that he had a valid concealed weapons permit.

Then they gave him back his gun.