Carjackers Regret Their Decision to Target an Armed Citizen’s Vehicle

The encounter took place on October 28 in the parking lot of HotShots Bar & Grill in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

What started as one thing quickly turned into much more once police arrived, according to [Lt. Jillian] McCoy.

“We did receive a call for service. The call actually came out as an attempted stolen auto. Upon arrival, officers immediately located a victim lying on the ground,” she said.

A man told police he was sitting in his car when he heard glass breaking. McCoy said when the man got out of his car he saw two men wearing black ski masks running towards him.

“When you have two individuals who have black ski masks and they’re coming at you at a high rate of speed after committing several felonies, any normal person in their right mind would fear for their life,” she said.

That’s why, McCoy said, the man fired his gun, killing 19-year-old Javion Bibby.

His accused accomplice, 18-year-old Ronnie Jewett, then picked up Bibby’s gun and raised it up at the victim, McCoy said. The victim then shot several rounds towards the area where Jewett was.

After that, McCoy said Jewett then ran towards the Affton area, where police found him quickly after.

Jewett is facing a plethora of charges. The prosecution is charging him with second-degree felony murder, armed criminal action, attempted stealing of a vehicle, and tampering with physical evidence. His bond has been set at $1 million, cash only. What is noteworthy about this case is that under Missouri law, a person can be charged with murder if death occurs during the commission of a crime to which they are an accomplice.

The armed citizen is not being charged with a crime as law enforcement concluded he acted in self-defense after investigating the matter.

Amelia Means left her car at the HotShots parking lot overnight.

“The whole entire parking lot was all taped up,” Means said. “A bunch of us were standing outside kind of waiting to see what happened. Pretty much everyone ended up Ubering home. We were probably out here for an hour and 15 minutes or so.”

Means said she was shocked that something like this happened in Webster Groves.

“I’m in this area all the time,” Means said. “This is the last place I would think it would happen.”

Hangasu Abdullahi was going into HotShots on Saturday when he first heard about the incident.

“Kind of crazy,” Abdullahi said. “This is supposed to be the nicer part of St. Louis, so to hear that happening makes me realize everywhere is crazy no matter where you go.”

Abdullahi said he was not surprised the shooter will not face charges.

“It’s completely to be expected because if it was me in that situation, I mean, I don’t have a gun, but if I did, I would probably react the same way,” Abdullahi said.

Abdullahi said this is another reason to stay vigilant, especially at night.

“I don’t leave my house after like 9 or 10 p.m., and if I do, I make sure it’s a highly populated area,” Abdullahi said.

Jewett is being held on a $1,000,000 cash only bond.

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