AIT Dealer Survives Attempted Murder and Robbery of Chicago Location Dealer says security products could have thwarted attempt
Released on = April 24, 2007, 7:50 am
Press Release Author = byron keaton
Industry = Internet & Online
Press Release Summary = On Tuesday, April 10, 2007, two armed gunmen entered the office which houses the Chicago AIT dealership and demanded money. The two principle officers of the Dealership, Ken Howard and Vernell King, were present, along with another employee, Ron Banks. All three were ordered to lie down on the floor. King, fearing that he would be killed even if he complied, refused to lie down and after an argument he instead attempted to flee. Mr. King was shot once in the leg and another bullet grazed his head.
Press Release Body = (Fayetteville, NC) On Tuesday, April 10, 2007, two armed gunmen entered the office which houses the Chicago AIT dealership and demanded money. The two principle officers of the Dealership, Ken Howard and Vernell King, were present, along with another employee, Ron Banks. All three were ordered to lie down on the floor. King, fearing that he would be killed even if he complied, refused to lie down and after an argument he instead attempted to flee. Mr. King was shot once in the leg and another bullet grazed his head. After the shooting, the gunmen fled. King, who is now out of the hospital, is expected to make a full recovery.
The perpetrators were not wearing masks and still remain at large. Chicago police investigators say "they left everything behind except their driver's licenses". The bullet casings were recovered as well as fingerprints and a flashlight which rounded out a large volume of forensic evidence. The pair of thieves entered the building with scanners and walkie-talkies as if they themselves were police officers. King, who owns and operates several other businesses in Chicago, one being a neighboring antiques shop which had a going-out-of-business sale the prior day, suspects that the gunman were customers. "There was a good deal of money on hand during that event and I think that the guys were present and had returned to steal the cash," states Vernell King.
Ironically, the Chicago dealership offers its customers a full range of security related products such as Biometric access control, and IP cameras, which had not yet been installed at the Dealership location. Vernell says that "from this point forward, all of my properties and future dealership locations will be fully protected with security products". One of the neighboring businesses has an IP camera installed on the exterior of the property and recorded images of the getaway van the gunmen used to escape the scene. Chicago Police have been provided with those digital recordings to assist with their investigation.
"This is pretty close to home for us; our dealers were lucky and we are glad the situation wasn't worse." said AIT's Chief Executive Officer Clarence Briggs. Adds AIT's Security & Monitoring Product Manager William Harrison. "These unfortunate situations are going to happen no matter what but this is proof positive reasoning for having physical security such as IP cameras and/or biometric devices. Unfortunately, many homes and businesses lack the type of systems that deter this type of event but the larger issue is the lack of hard data to help authorities after the fact with compiling evidence to put the bad guys in jail or to figure out what happened."
The melee came just one week before the recent massacre of 33 students and faculty members at Virginia Tech, where university security and police response tactics have come under scrutiny. "A similar situation happened years ago while I was working at AT&T," states AIT's Chief Marketing Officer Sean McCoy. "A gunman came into a GMAC finance office adjacent to our offices and began shooting. AT&T addressed the company over a loud speaker and said, 'Please stay inside, there is a gunman on the grounds, for your safety please stay inside'. At that time, monitoring and security options were limited to older technology, and I recall from piecing the story back together from the testimony of witness and the folks involved that that was problematic for police. Physical security is important and can't be overlooked. We as a nation, as communities have unfortunately had to learn this lesson over and over the hard way. Our prayers go out to our dealers in Chicago, their families as well as the friends and families of those in the recent Virginia incident."
2025
