Police Praise Tennessee Shopkeeper for Defending Himself Against Armed Intruder

Authorities in Hendersonville, Tennessee are heaping praise on a store owner who was able to defend himself against an armed intruder earlier this week, saying that if he hadn’t “been prepared”, police would likely have responded to the scene of a “complete slaughter.”

Henderson PD Assistant Chief Scott Ryan didn’t make any snide comments about “taking the law into your own hands” or accusing the armed citizen of engaging in vigilatism, like we’ve heard from law enforcement in some places that are more hostile to our right to keep and bear arms. Instead, during an interview with Nashville TV station WKRN, he hailed the man’s actions while describing what happened early Wednesday morning. 

According to Ryan, a 33-year-old man named Dylan Bryan used a hammer to smash through the front window of The Cache Coin and Jewelry Store before he started sneaking around “like he’s the Hamburglar.” 

The assistant chief says Bryan was apparently startled by the sound of the store owner in a back room, and surveillance video shows him running out of the store. 

Then, just moments later, Bryan can be seen coming back to the door, pulling what law enforcement described as a 9mm from his backpack, ducking back through the broken glass into the store, and rushing toward the back of the shop. 

“He’s looking to do harm at that point,” Ryan stated.

By this point, the co-owner of The Cache, Roger McCandless, was ready and armed with a shotgun loaded with birdshot.

From multiple cameras inside the store, you hear the gun battle as McCandless fired one round from his shotgun. Police said the birdshot, fired from about 30 feet away, struck Bryan in the stomach.

Video shows Bryan quickly retreating, but while doing so, officials said he opened fire. News 2 counted as many as many as five rounds fired by the suspect.

Thankfully, none of the rounds hit the store owner or his wife, who was also inside the business. 

Bryan might have been able to get away with his attempted robbery, but he made another mistake while fleeing in the darkness and ended up plunging about 8 to 12 feet before hitting the ground. That fall left him with a broken pelvis and in no condition to continue his getaway, so he was quickly apprehended by police. 

Roger McCandless, who owns The Cache with his wife Shera, told WKRN that things happened so quickly he didn’t have time for emotions in the moment. 

“Right now, it’s good guys one, bad guys zero,” he said, adding that he and his wife are “happy about that because it could have went the opposite very, very quickly.” 

He’s right. Bryan could have simply fled the store after hearing McCandless in a back room, but instead he pulled a gun and headed back inside. That shows clear intent to injure or kill the business owner and anyone else inside the building, and if McCandless hadn’t been armed police could very well have rolled up to the scene of a double homicide instead of an attempted burglary and defensive gun use. 

Once Bryan is out of the hospital, he’ll be facing a variety of charges, including two counts of attempted homicide, along with attempted robbery, aggravated burglary, and possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony. Roger McCandless and his wife, meanwhile, are open for business… and standing guard in case anyone else tries to rob them of their livelihood or their lives.