Security guard shoots armed robber

June 29, 2004
Akron Beacon Journal

Security guard Donald Swartout felt like he didn't have a choice. He had to shoot the man who was trying to rob a charity ``Las Vegas Nite.''

"It was him or me,'' said the 68-year-old former policeman. ``I'm not sorry I shot, but I didn't shoot to kill. I was protecting myself. I just fired. He already had his gun pointed at me.

"I would have rather caught him alive.''

The shooting occurred about 4:30 a.m. Monday in a rear building on the National Guard Armory grounds on North Hawkins Avenue. Akron police identified the dead man as 19-year-old Kevin E. Moss II of Cleveland Heights.

About 20 people were gathered for the card-playing andcasino-style event, which organizers say was being held to raise money for a youth football program in Coventry Township. A masked gunman rushed into the building and leaped behind a counter where the money was being kept.

Swartout said he sneaked out of the "money room'' as the robber struck. He was trying to slip back into the room to confront the gunman when the shooting happened.

"I figured (the robber) would have his back turned, scooping the money,'' Swartout said. "But I turned the corner and he was standing right there with a gun pointed at me.''

Swartout refused to drop his gun, and the robber didn't lower his. A single shot in the face ended the quick standoff.

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Police said a second robber was standing guard at the entrance, ordering the casino game players to stay put. When he heard the shot, he fled.

The robber who got away remains at large.

"It was an unfortunate thing and a person lost his life over it, but it won't deter us from doing these,'' said Phil Bibey of Wadsworth, who helped run the Las Vegas night.

The four-day event started Thursday and ran daily from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. It was in its final hours when the robbers came. The funds raised will go to the Coventry Youth Football program for uniforms and equipment, Bibey said.

"I do these for a lot of youth groups, and there are many kids who get something out of it,'' he said.

The National Guard rented the space to Bibey's business, RAM Enterprises. Guard spokeswoman Capt. Nicole Gabriel said there were no National Guard personnel on the site during the robbery and shooting.

She said it is too early to tell whether the armory on North Hawkins will change its rental policy because of the incident.

Akron city prosecutors are reviewing the shooting, but Swartout isn't expected to be charged, police said. Swartout is a former Silver Lake policeman and Munroe Falls auxiliary police officer.

In January, he was working as a security guard at another Vegas-style fund-raiser that was robbed on East Waterloo Road. He said he didn't carry a weapon back then.

He plans to still work the charity events and hopes people will keep attending them.

"It's ridiculous, all of these robberies,'' Swartout said. "Maybe (the shooting) will put an end to it.''