SANTA CLARA  A shootout at a California shooting range ended a bizarre hostage drama during which three gun store employees found themselves staring down the barrel of one of their own rented rifles, police said Tuesday.

Sgt. Anton Morec of the Santa Clara Police Department said the aspiring gunman, 21-year-old Richard Gable Stevens, was subdued after tense moments Monday evening at a shooting range and gun store in this town 30 miles south of San Francisco.

"He intended to go out in a blaze of glory," Morec said, noting Stevens had accumulated more than 100 rounds of ammunition for his rented 9mm semi-automatic weapon.

"It certainly looks like he intended to take a lot more people out."

Morec said Stevens arrived at the National Shooting Club Monday evening and rented the rifle for target practice. The club allows people to rent a range of weapons for use on its own shooting range.

After several minutes on the range, however, Stevens returned to the club's gun store and sprayed the ceiling with gunfire. He then herded three store employees out the door into an alley, saying he intended to kill them, Morec said.

Unknown to Stevens, one store employee was carrying a .45 caliber handgun concealed beneath his shirt. When Stevens looked away, the employee fired, hitting Stevens several times in the chest and bringing him to the ground.

The employee kept his gun trained on Stevens until police arrived, Morec said. When Stevens refused to comply with police demands that he show his hands, he was shot again with several rounds of rubber bullets.

Morec said Stevens was taken to a hospital where he was listed in critical condition from the initial gun wounds. Criminal charges against him were pending.

Police investigating the case believed the quick action by the gun club employee may have headed off a massacre.

"He was full of rage, and felt he was getting no respect," Morec said. A suicide note found in Stevens' vehicle and addressed to his parents indicated he may have planned to go on a much broader shooting spree, Morec said.

"Now you'll spend the rest of your lives fighting lawsuits from my victims' relatives and die with only dimes perhaps," Morec quoted the note as saying.

comments@newsdigital.com ) 1999, News America Digital Publishing, Inc. d/b/a Fox News Online. All rights reserved. Fox News is a registered trademark of 20th Century Fox Film Corp.

) Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved

-- Arron (jamell99@hotmail.com), July 06, 1999

Answers

I hope everything is ok. I shoot at this range. They are nice people. Yes they do rent guns. Yes they do sell ammo. Yes the range masters are observent and screen all applicants. You do have to have a California drivers license or Mill Orders to get a weapon.

This is a family place. It should not happen here.

Keep the faith

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), July 07, 1999.

Guns certainly do save lives.

From an article by Thomas Sowell at:

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell030299.asp

"A recently published, massive empirical study by John Lott of the University of Chicago Law School shows the direct opposite of virtually everything in the liberal vision of gun control. Rising rates of gun ownership in particular counties across the country have almost invariably been followed immediately by falling rates of violent crimes in those counties.

This should not be a surprise to anyone. Violent criminals prefer helpless victims, not people who can shoot them full of holes. But where have you seen this empirical study mentioned in the media? Its title is "More Guns, Less Crime.""

It seems that the only gun control that's not simply fraudulent double-speak is: taking careful aim.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), July 07, 1999.

This story will never make it to the mainstream media.

It goes against their gun-ban agenda.

So what if it's the truth.

Americans aren't interested in the truth. They want to hear the smooth and easy things of being a ninny in the nanny state.

-- INVAR (gundark@sw.net), July 07, 1999.

Cow Patties (BS).

"...hitting Stevens several times in the chest"

With a .45?

You people need to think at least a little before responding to this crap.

-- Lead Mouse in the Wall (greytek@hotmail.com), July 07, 1999.

Lead Mouse

i wondered about that myself. i'd be pretty concerned about my skills if i hit someone in the chest several times with a .45 slug and the police still had something to subdue when they got there.

makes you wonder where the inaccuracies are in this story.

-- Cowardly Lion (cl0001@hotmail.com), July 07, 1999.

It is possible to survive .45 wounds, if no major organs were hit. I saw a show on the Learning Channel where a guy came into the ER with 23 9mm wounds. He not only lived, but went home from the hospital about a week later. The worst wound he had severed an artery in his leg! 23 hits! I was amazed.

-- Bill (y2khippo@yahoo.com), July 07, 1999.

I tried to call the range several times last night but the phone was off the hook. I will try to stop by today and see if everyone is ok.

I will post an up date later.

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), July 07, 1999.

Its not the size of the bullet or even the size of the charge (within reason of course), its the amount of energy that is transmitted into the tissue that creates the damage. A small hollow point bullet can waste you worse than a large, non-spreading bullet going through fat.

If a bullet hits bone, starts to spin or in some way deforms into a mushroom or fragments, THEN you've got damage and injury.

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), July 07, 1999.

Helium,

Thanks for the follow-up. I look forward to hearing more about this.

The guy that survived 23 rounds from a 9mm is one lucky SOB. The shooter needs some practice.

I might also point out that the "chest" is full of vital organs, thats why it is surrounded by a "rib cage." It may also be why police/military are trained to target center mass.

-- Lead Mouse in the Wall (greytek@hotmail.com), July 07, 1999.

another good argument for careful shot placement.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), July 07, 1999.

I have not been able to get to the range yet, but I spoke on the phone to staff at the range. All of the staff are OK! They can not talk about the incident but they are open for business. And Thank God, All OK. I will stop by and find out if the brave soul who saved the day will need a defense fund. California gun laws are very unusual these days.

If a fund is set up, I will post it for those interested.

Keep the faith, even though it is hard at times.

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), July 07, 1999.