POLICE REPORT Woman thwarts robbery attempt
AUSTINTOWN -- A Youngstown woman fended off an armed robber early Sunday morning in the parking lot of Giant Eagle, 5220 Mahoning Ave.
The 51-year-old woman told township police she was putting her groceries in her trunk about 1:10 a.m. when another woman wearing a black, hooded parka ran up to her and yelled, "Give me your purse, or I will shoot you."
The would-be robber then grabbed the woman's purse strap, police said.
The woman told police she grabbed the purse back, and the woman in the parka said, "I will shoot you."
She then pointed a handgun at her feet and pulled the trigger, police said. When the victim heard a clicking a noise from the gun, she struck the woman in the head with her purse, police said.
The suspect hit the woman on the forearm with the gun barrel, and the victim ran to the opposite side of her vehicle, police said.
As the suspect ran back to her own vehicle, she said, "shoot her" to someone inside it, the victim told police.
The victim then drove her vehicle to the store's entrance and contacted the police officer working there, police said.
The suspect is described as a white woman in her 30s.