From Deseret News archives:
Robber is shot, slain at Idaho smoke shop
Killed was Joseph Kalani Hatchie, 47, of Otis Orchards, Wash. Sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said Hatchie entered Lew's Smoke Shop shortly before 8 p.m. Monday, wearing a gray ski mask.
The masked man aimed his weapon at the clerk's chest and demanded money, Wolfinger said.
The clerk told sheriff's deputies that he reached under the counter for a bag, came up instead with his semiautomatic and started firing.
When deputies and medics arrived, Hatchie was lying dead on the floor.
The weapon found with Hatchie turned out to be an air-powered pellet gun that looks identical to a Walther P-9 semiautomatic, Wolfinger said.
A check turned up no criminal convictions for Hatchie, Wolfinger added.
The clerk won't be identified until the Kootenai County prosecutor's office has reviewed the investigation.
"This is no different than any other criminal investigation where charges have not been filed," Sheriff Rocky Watson said in a statement.
It is legal for business owners to arm themselves to protect against robberies, Wolfinger said.
Lew's Smoke Shop has been robbed twice in the past five years, the sheriff's department said.
An employee at Lew's declined to comment Tuesday, except to say the store near Post Falls had resumed normal operations.
