MOBILE, Alabama — A Mobile man was shot in the leg during a nighttime robbery attempt after he refused to hand over the pair of sandals he was wearing, according to police.
A confrontation over footwear turns violent
Officers were called to the 1700 block of Saint Stephens Road around 9 p.m. following a report of a person shot. According to police, two men approached the victim, and one of them displayed a handgun while demanding his shoes. The victim told investigators he was wearing a well-known brand of foam sandals at the time.
When the victim declined to give up the footwear, one of the men fired a single shot, striking him in the leg. The suspects then fled the area without taking anything, police said.
Victim treated and released
Paramedics transported the injured man to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for the gunshot wound. Police said he had already been released from the hospital by the following morning, suggesting the injury, while serious enough to require treatment, was not life-threatening.
Search for suspects continues
Mobile police said the two men involved are wanted on charges including first-degree robbery and second-degree assault. Investigators have not released detailed physical descriptions beyond noting that two men were involved in the confrontation, and they are asking anyone with information to contact the department’s investigative line.
The incident adds to a string of street-level robbery attempts reported in Mobile neighborhoods along Saint Stephens Road, a corridor that has seen periodic upticks in nighttime crime over the years. Neighbors along the corridor have occasionally pressed the city for more consistent lighting and patrols, arguing that better visibility could help deter opportunistic crimes like this one.
Cases in which robbery targets refuse to comply, even over items of relatively low value, can escalate quickly, and Mobile police have repeatedly urged residents not to resist an armed suspect regardless of what is being demanded. The department said its investigation into the shooting remains open as detectives work to identify and locate the two suspects.