Samuel Irick, American Hero, RIP
November 13, 2010
By Nicholas Stix
At 12:30 a.m. last Sunday, Samuel Irick, 24, defended a mother of three from an armed robber at a Chevron station in the 4600 block of Beechnut Street, in the West Loop/Meyerland area of Southwestern Houston, and paid with his life.
Irick’s murderer is still at large and nameless, though the latter’s face has been captured on a surveillance tape, and broadcast throughout the Houston area, and via the Internet, around the world.
Due to the dangerous area, the station locks its door at midnight, requiring that customers use a service window. The killer had been waiting by the service window, when mother of three Amberley Wait came up. He spoke to her, then suddenly stuck a gun in her gut. Irick, who had just gotten in line behind Wait, apparently hadn’t seen the gun. The killer immediately shot Irick in the abdomen, and made off with Wait’s purse.
The Wait family has added $5,000 to the Crime Stoppers reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest, bringing the total to $10,000. Jeb and Amberley Wait are the parents of a nine-month old girl, a three-year-old boy, and a six-year-old girl.
Sam Irick attended college full-time, worked full-time, and maintained a straight-A average. His mother, Randi Wood, said that her son had stood up to bullies and thugs on behalf of their victims all his life. She told KHOU reporter Rucks Russell,
Everyone that met Sam, from the time he was little, he made an impression on them. He really did. From his coaches to his teachers … People loved him. He was a giving, loving person. And it doesn’t surprise me that he tried to help this lady. I just can’t believe it ended like this….
I’d just like to say I loved my son and I really don’t want another mother to go through what I’m going through so anyone out there that knows anything about this murder it would … please come forward.
The entire crime was caught by the gas station’s video camera; the killer’s black face is clearly identifiable.
Samuel Irick was white, as is Jeb Wait.
“Family: Good Samaritan shot to death at gas station saved a mother of 3,” by KHOU.com staff, November 12, 2010.
Thanks to my reader-researcher RC, for sending this saddening, enraging story.
jerry pdx
ReplyDeleteAnthony Ferrell was arrested for the murder:
https://www.houstontx.gov/police/nr/2010/nov/nr111510-6.htm
Couldn't find anything about a trial and conviction.
And that's how this sh*t goes."Random White death by negro",could be a new category.It isn't the same as having your house broken into by blacks and you get murdered,THOSE blacks were probably casing the house.Conversely,this category relies on a series of bad circumstances--for one particular White--who,while doing normal activities("normal",if blacks weren't around)like getting gasoline or riding a bus--either wind up being killed or arrested for reacting to black criminal behavior.
ReplyDeleteIt makes for a "no sure thing" type of mentality for Whites who are forced to mix with blackies at those places."No sure thing" meaning,you are not guaranteed to make it home alive.
--GRA
>this saddening, enraging story
ReplyDeleteIt is. But it happens all over America, every day. A fairly reliable, up-to-date list can be found here:
https://thedailykenn.blogspot.com/
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Good-Samaritan-fatally-shot-as-he-tried-to-stop-1708799.php
[Irick was at the Chevron station in the 4600 block of Beechnut at the West Loop just after midnight when a woman at the service window was approached by a man with a pistol. As he grabbed the woman's purse, Irick tried to help. That's when the robber shot Irick and fled with the handbag.]
Did Irick see the guy had a pistol? No matter how angry you get when seeing a crime like that unfold, it does not make sense to intervene when the criminal has a gun and you don't. It just does not make sense. Just to save someone's purse.
At least this was before "gone wrong" become a journofag cliche. Whenever I see that today and the reporter's byline includes an email, I always write and tell them to knock that shit off. And if male I make sure to call them a journofag.