CPL holder charged with shooting and killing two men in Detroit liquor store fight
John Montgomery is charged with killing two men, including an innocent bystander, after a liquor store fight in Detroit on Tuesday.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - The Wayne County Prosecutor announced charges against a Detroit man for shooting and killing two men during a fight at a liquor store earlier this week.
The prosecutor announced charges against John Montgomery, 44, in the deaths of two men - one of whom was an innocent bystander.
According to police, Montgomery was arguing with another man, identified as 57-year-old James Deberry, inside Party Plus Liquor at Wyoming and Orangelawn around 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
An employee told both men to leave and police said Montgomery assaulted Deberry with a metal bar, described by police on Tuesday as a pipe. Deberry then went grabbed a crowbar and hit Montgomery in the head multiple imes.
That's when police said Montgomery pulled out a gun and fired two shots. Fatally wounding Deberry and hitting another man, 60-year-old Raymondo Bankhead.
Detroit Police said Bankhead was an innocent bystander with no involvement in the argument.
"A stray bullet hit him, and he didn't make it," Bankhead's sister, Sharetta Wellons, said. "This was not my thought when waking up that I would have to come to the store and be told that my brother has been accidentally shot."
The argument of self-defense is not going to hold up, according to firearm instructor and attorney Terry Johnson.
"First of all, the gentleman left the scene, and what people don’t understand is when you leave the scene the fight is over. He grabbed something and decided to go back," he said.
Johnson noted that the case is not typical of most CPL holders.
"Again, 700,000 people or more have a concealed pistol license in the state of Michigan. And you will expect no matter what it is, whether it’s a politician or a police officer, you’re always going to have one bad apple that slips through the cracks. Over and over and by far CPL holders are more law-abiding than even law enforcement," he said.
Montgomery was charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of felony firearm.
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