A retailer who owns a liquor store across the street from Oakton Park/Skokie Water Park should not be shooting at anyone, let alone a group of children. Dollar Plus' liquor licensed should be revoked.

Why was a business across from a park given a liquor license in the first place? I agree, revoke Dollar Plus' liquor license. Even better, shut the trashy place down. We don't need or want a business like this in our community.

I cant't believe that the police once again prosecute the innocent while the guilty get away scot free. Should he have discharged his weapon outside. No, he should have shot the little thug in the store.................

So the victim of the crime is now the offender and charged with a felony.

Skokie businesses and residents just have to learn to tolerate minor crimes and look the the other way.

Lets face it this is not the same Skokie it was 10 years ago.

I wonder what would have happend if these children drank the liquor someone got hurt? Who then is responsible?

How about teaching your punk kids not to steal.....

Stop reporting crimes as the victim goes to jail and the offenders get to go free. All businesses should now have their goods behind the counter with bullet-proof glass and the store clerk will choose the item and fill your bag like the on the west side of Chicago. Theft in this area is rampant: major stores that had goods on display are now only available behind the "camera counter" because anything and everything is being stolen and resold. Reality: Skokie is not the thriving village it used to be as some people have chosen thievery and thuggery as a career.

I agree with everyone's comments above.
JC - the parents of these punks are asleep, literally - America in 2012.
This is Skokie in 2012.
Hopefully that multi-unit licensing idea helps clean things up a little bit.
Another failed liberal social experiment. Oh well..........
Maybe, maybe voters will take the blinders off, look around and vote for change at all levels of government - starting here in Skokie.

That dollar house plus store is totally trashy and does not belong in Skokie. It's sad that Skokie is slowly going down hill with these terrible businesses be added to our community. We should work to preserve Skokie to be what it was, not bring in low class trashy businesses such as dollar stores which in turn attract undesirables to the community. What is a liquor store doing across the street from a Park that is constantly filled with young children? Revoke the liquor license defintiely, and shut down would be even better! This was a disaster waiting to happen, not at all shocked by these events.

I too am surprised that a liquor license would be granted to a store in such close proximity to a public youth center like the Exploratorium. Perhaps this should be reviewed by the village. That part of the community is not served by providing alcohol and cigarettes.
As a gun owner I'm also distressed that he would fire his gun when not threatened. He could have done a good deal more for himself if he'd pulled out a video camera instead of a gun. That being said if he were threatened or bullied on his property he should have the right to defend himself.
Hey Patch, counting the number of shots fired does not help the community. On the contrary it serves to provide a doom and gloom scenario that does not measure up with reality, or at least this Skokie residents reality.

Before this establishment opened Happy Foods was there for several decades. They had a liquor section. Don't believe there were any serious problems with crime there.

Just finished going through reports and there was another shots fired complaint on Aug. 10 in the 7300 block of Central Park. Check tomorrow's blotter for details.

Nice bit of police work. What in the world a shopkeeper is thinking shooting at shoplifters is beyond hysteria. What in the world a bunch of internet commenters are thinking calling for the liquor license of a shop because "it's near children" is just as hysterical. (Hint: Fairview school is within walking distance of 4 bars and 3 retail liquor outlets, as well as Laramie Park ... not really a problem).

Are any of you aware that children shoplift and try to obtain booze, it's part of growing up and has been going on for eternity? It's not a failed liberal plot or a result of multi-unit housing. Good grief.

What is unusual is having a shopkeeper so riled up that they almost kill someone over a $10 bottle of vodka. The store is insured. Call the police, file a report, move on.

Yes we have a liquor store next to a park and we also have several bars near schools and a church. We have the Village Inn and Carragh right by St. Petes Church and School.
We also have the Skokie House near Lincoln Jr. High. What is good for one should be good for all. Revoke those licenses too.

Maybe we need more vacant buildings in Skokie?
Why does everyone feel sorry for the criminals instead of the guy who was defending his property.
Those kids might have learned something from this, but our police dept. may have undone the lesson by punishing the victim.

Why isn't anyone else reporting this? How come Patch reports all the bad stuff in Skokie?

Have you ever done anything stupid like shoplifting as a child, maybe had a drink of alchool.....should you be killed for it?? What if an innocent bystander had been hit by the stray bullet? What then? Let the punishment fit the crime! If we love Skokie so much instead of just talking about crime, let's do something about it. Remember "an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind."

Adam,
Read closely, nowhere did I say black. You need to think before you type and label others. Sounds kind of racist, no?
Want to talk about Skokie, I have been here 40 years buddy, you?

George, when was the last time you actually wrote something that compliments the the community? You paint such a dark picture. Other Patches do not do the service to crime that you do. I assume you get reviewed on the number of comments you get on a story and your style is to rile the Patch community to get that with this sort of story.

Dollar House Plus added liquor when they moved from their smaller store on Oakton.
They carry groceries and household items and yes liquor.
They have retooled multiple times to survive.
Trying fresh vegetables opening as Oakton Fresh Market, a deli, all things that even Happy no longer had the clientele for.
Ironically were it not for the liquor sales, we'd likely have another vacant store.
And a huge one at that.
Or a Dollar General there, and them as Skokie homeowners, out of business as a result.

I'm a homeowner up the alley. I shop there occasionally, and never see the trouble even I anticipated with their addition of liquor. (Which yes, Happy sold too without incident)
I'd rather they be there trying anything, than another vacancy.

Yes employees need to be trained on public safety, priorities and their legal remedies to theft.
All while the criminal element cares about none of that.
It really between a rock & a hard place.

I agree with whoever said that Skokie is turning into trash. I live on McCormick near Main street and I have heard shots fired at least 3 times this year, usually several in a row and they do this for hours, looping around and coming back. I don't know why the police aren't called. They could sit at McCormick and Christiana and find a bonanza of drug dealing and kids running through the alley at 3 am, screaming and honking horns. A large apartment building on our corner that has an underground garage is now section 8 housing, and is the source of most of this as is an apt. right next to Dengeos. They duck over the canal into a park that is on the other side. We all know this, why don't the police? There has been a roving gang kids for years, riding little bicycles or walking up and down the blocks here with back packs on. all day, all night. They are all black and once when I was walking they were saying horrible, rascist things as i passed.meet on a corner before they spread out again. At times there are 15 of them. Others are selling drugs out of cars in plain view and it is well known what building they come out and they duck to a park that is just over the canal on the Evanston side. Every night I could write a book on the same cars coming and going. I have told police yet see no car coming around just to check. We just learned another apt. bldg across the street from us has become Section 8. We moved here 15 years ago and are leaving soon due to all this activity

Rene,
Thanks for painting the picture of Skokie in 2012. Those with blinders on, living in la la land that casually call others racists need to observe what you have. Village "officials" say crime has not gone up - that is not what the Skokie Voice review found.
It is not too late for things to change. Will take decades for this sorry state to improve, but it can happen. People need to vote the idiots out of city hall to start. They also need to speak up, as you did, and not fear being labeled by those that turn a blind eye to this. They have no spine.

Several comments have been made about associating "blacks and crime" as being racist. I am not sure that making that association makes one racist. In 1999 The New Century Foundation published "The Color of Crime" and analyzed the crime statistics for America. The police do that, the FBI does that,a lot of people and organizations do that. NCF came back again in 2005 and once again analyzed the crimes based on race. Which race committed which crimes? Which race is most/least likely to be a victim? Which race is most/least likely to commit hate crimes? It is thorough. It is well done. It is statistically valid. The findings; Police and the justice system are not biased against minorities. Blacks are 7X more likely than other races to commit murder and 8X more likely to commit robbery. That statistics go on, but in the end, the conclusions are the same. In Chicago blacks account for 36% of the population, yet they commit 90% of the crimes. Adam, forgive people if they appear racist and are reading between the lines because they have a hidden agenda. While not all blacks commit crimes, they are statistically more likely to do so. Of course now we can no longer report perpetrators race in the papers because that would be racist. We could take that a step farther and not report gender or age as well. Then when the police go looking for a suspect they can easily find the person, because everyone is a suspect.

Everyone here is commenting without knowing the whole story!!!
The shopkeeper didn't try to shoot the black thug because of the $10.00 vodka bottle, it was because the shoplifter raised a knife threatening the shopkeeper!!!

This is not an intelligent debate anymore.Some of the comments, though I get it, are just hateful from some of the longtime residents.Too much hate and not enough reasonable action. Do you think that will solve the problem? I'd like to think that we are all intelligent, GOD fearing, hard working residents. Back and forth comments about who commits these crimes is not as important as solving them and getting to the root of why it is happening. Landlords should stop renting to "unsavory folks." Seems like that is the root! Keep pointing fingers, yet the problem still grows. Having a spine means not just complaining about it on a blog but actually putting things in motion to eliminate crime,starting with running background criminal checks to renters. Instead of telling folks to take the blinders off, lead by example. Go to the police station and talk to the captain and voice your concerns. If you simply complain amongst eachother it falls on deaf ears or opens up a venue to meaningless venting. Trust me if enough of Skokie residents rally together to put the pressure on the "police" we can stop the crime and get Skokie back. I'm free today to go to the police station in solidarity with you. Let's organize a time to meet with Skokie's Police Chief and discuss our obvious concerns. As a group, we are powerful....on a blog, we are just venting. Please feel free to comment so that I can arrange a meeting ASAP. The choice is yours. Stand up!
Respectfully and honestly submitted.

I am sitting down and reading this article and reading people comment. WOW is not even the word. I just don't understand who wrote this article and why would they write lies. I guess people will write stuff to make them look good.all I have to say is that, I have know this family for the 20 years.This family has owned that dollar store for 20 years and I been going there for that long. Karam is really nice kid, with clean record. He has never been into any fights or has he harmed anyone. Since I am friends with the owners. I was able to hear their side of the story. The owners don't judge people by their color of their skin or discriminate because of age. These kids who came in the store and stole a bottle of liquor, was not the first time that they have done that. These teens have had stolen from there couple times and had them caught on a camera for doing it... If you were a owner of a store who is trying to make money to provide for your family, how would you feel when someone comes in at your store and steal something and leave. Would you just stand there and don't do anything or will you say something. This store owner was standing up for himself and for his family. There were 8 teens surrounding him with knifes in their hands, ready to stab him. He was just defending him self from them. The gun is legally registered under his name.People don't sit there and make rude comment and saying that only a drink they stole. think from other side. Have a blessed day