Former Walgreens security guard Sam Gwin Jr. shot a shoplifter last year in self-defense, his attorney told a jury Tuesday at the start of Gwin's first-degree intentional homicide trial. In his opening statement, defense attorney Scott F. Anderson said his client fatally shot Alexander Mitchell during a scuffle outside the store because Mitchell had punched him once and was charging him again when Gwin pulled a gun and fired twice from the hip. Still in fear, Gwin shot Mitchell two more times when he tried to get up, Anderson said. He quoted Gwin as telling police, "I fired enough times to be sure he wasn't going to come at me again." Security guard Gwin, 54, of Milwaukee, has a felony record stretching back to 1974 and was prohibited from carrying a gun. But he brought a 9mm pistol and a bulletproof vest to work at Walgreens on April 17, 2005, and confronted Mitchell, 39, who was unarmed, for walking out of the store with a pair of sunglasses he hadn't paid for. Mitchell threw the sunglasses back into the store, but the confrontation continued. Attorneys for the prosecution and defense differed as to why. Assistant District Attorney John T. Chisholm countered that Gwin instigated an argument then made a deliberate decision to shoot the unarmed Mitchell. "There was no reason at that point in time for Mr. Gwin to walk outside of the Walgreens," Chisholm said. Chisholm also showed the jury a security videotape that captured some of the last moments of Mitchell's life, including a demonstrative confrontation with Gwin and the moments when Mitchell hit the ground after being shot. [MORE]

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