A Tennessee woman is criticizing the actions of the bystander who shot her son while he robbed a convenience store.
"If the store clerk would have killed him I would have felt different," Joy Stapleton told WBIR. "But because that man came into the store and killed him as he watched this robbery go on...he was not in danger. He could have dialed 911 and then went in to the store. But he didn't, he just automatically went into the store and shot my son in the head."
Stapelton's son Tamon was robbing a Breadbox store in Knoxville, Tennessee when a friend of the clerk noticed what was happening and took action. The friend shot Tamon, killing him. While she admitted her son was in the wrong, Stapelton still believes the man shouldn't have intervened the way he did.
"I feel like the man should be charged," she told the news station.
Police disagree with Ms. Stapelton's assessment and are reportedly not considering charges against the bystander.
Gun rights advocates have criticized Ms. Stapelton's comments.
"Do you want to find the culprit in your son’s death, Joy Stapleton?" Bob Owens of Bearing Arms said. "Find a mirror, and stare at it very hard."