Gun store owner: I thought they were going to kill me

NEW HAVEN, Ind. (WANE) The owner of the gun store Shooters, which was the target of an armed robbery on Tuesday , said he thought the gunmen were going to kill him and his customer until he revealed to them that he has brain cancer.

Watch the video to see the extended interview.

Jerry Lyons owns Shooters in New Haven.  Lyons, 62, has been a gun dealer for almost 38 years, and said he has never been through anything like Tuesday's armed robbery.

"They made it perfectly clear that they were going to kill both of us," Lyons said.  "They kept repeating it...screaming it at us.  I was like, 'What do you want me to do?  Whatever you want man it's yours.'"

Lyons said the two suspects came in wearing hoodies when he was talking to a friend.  One of the suspects asked to see a gun.

"[I] opened the case, got the gun out to show it to him, he sticks one in my chest, knocks the air out of me, and knocks me down on the floor," Lyons said.  "He comes around and started kicking on me."

There was also a customer in the store at the time of the robbery who was hit it the head with one of the guns.

When the suspects spotted the gun Lyons was carrying, the owner thought it was all over.    

"They noticed I had a gun on me, so the guy on this side of the counter comes over and puts the gun on the back of my head.  The other one put [the gun] on the front of my head," Lyons said.

At that point, Lyons revealed that he has brain cancer.

"I just said it.  'Go ahead I have brain cancer.'  They wanted me to beg for my life and I just wasn't going to do it.  I just knew they were going to do it anyway.  You could just feel it," Lyons said.

But the suspects instead ran off with several guns.  While the two were running out of the store, one of them shot back into the store. Lyons believes that shot was meant for him.

The two suspects hopped in a getaway car where two other men were waiting outside of Shooters. Allen County police tried to pull over a car matching the suspect vehicle description, but it didn't stop.  An ensuing police chase ended in a crash near the intersection of Anthony Blvd. and McKinnie Ave. in Fort Wayne.

Two of the suspects were caught immediately following the crash. The two other suspects tried to run away. One was caught by police. The remaining suspect, the driver of the vehicle, got away. He turned himself in Wednesday evening.

Police have arrested Brenton Ennis,18, Craig Whigum, 19, and Orlando Paschall, 21.  Officers have also arrested a juvenile.

Ever since the incident, customers, friends, and family have been coming to check on Lyons.  The owner said he and his wife are both battling forms of cancer, and after the violent armed robbery, it's almost all too much.
    
"It's just overwhelming," Lyons said.  "I'm not going to let it put me out of business.  I'm not going to do it.  I will go out of business when I'm damn good and ready."