Gun Battle in Store Spurs Fear; Bandits’ Victim Still Critical

A daring daylight robbery of an El Toro jewelry store, in which the owner was critically wounded, has left other proprietors in the shopping center shaken and worried about a repeat of Wednesday’s violence.

Robert Gossett, 69, owner of Gossett Jewelers in Saddleback Plaza on El Toro Road, was reported in critical condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo from a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Gossett was wounded as he exchanged gunfire with an unidentified bandit, one of four robbers who staged an 11 a.m. “smash-and-grab� holdup at the small jewelry store.

The attack, by three men and a woman dressed in brightly colored sweat suits, is the latest in a series of “smash-and-grab� thefts during which robbers enter jewelry stores carrying tire irons, hammers and crowbars, smash the glass cabinets and grab merchandise.

Dozen Such Robberies

There have been a dozen such robberies in Orange County in the past two years, authorities say.

The four who raided Gossett’s store, two blocks from Interstate 5, escaped with an undetermined amount of jewelry, police said.

On Thursday, several people worked throughout the day to clean up broken glass and what inventory was left of the jewelry in Gossett’s family-owned shop. They declined to comment on the incident, which occurred in the presence of Gossett’s son, Rick, and daughter, Linda.

But several store owners nearby said that they were shocked at the daylight robbery, and hoped that it was an isolated incident. Some feared, however, that the shopping center might be the target of other attacks.

“Look where we are located,� said George Dans, owner of D & H Appliances. “We’re pretty much in the center of the beaten path,� he said, referring to the ease with which a robber could escape by using the nearby freeway.

Dans said he was in Lake Arrowhead during the robbery on Wednesday but saw a news account of the incident on television when he returned home that night.

“I saw Bob’s sign, and said, ‘Hey, that’s my shopping center,’ � Dans recalled. “This really hits close to home.�

Dans described Gossett as a “fine businessman and one of the nicest guys you could meet. Just think of your grandpa,� he said. “That’s Bob. He is such a nice guy.�

Paul Johnson, who has a Western wear shop three doors from Gossett Jewelers, said Gossett’s wife, Mary, told him Thursday morning that she feared her husband might be paralyzed by the bullet that reportedly pierced his lung and lodged in his spine.

“We’re all really worried, the poor guy,� said Johnson, Gossett’s longtime bridge partner. “I just hope that (the robbers) didn’t paralyze him.�

Hospital spokeswoman Nancy Gasho confirmed that Gossett remained in critical condition on Thursday afternoon but declined to describe his injuries, citing hospital policy.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Richard J. Olson said the shooting started when the four bandits entered Gossett’s store, confronting his son, daughter and three customers. The bandits, one of whom held a pistol to Rick Gossett’s head, ordered them to the rear of the shop.

Johnson said Gossett, who was in the back of the store with a jewelry salesman, realized what was going on and emerged from behind a partition holding a pistol.

It is not clear who fired first, or if the bandit was wounded in the gunfire that erupted. But Gossett was stuck once, and another bullet pierced a wall and landed on the floor of an adjacent paint store, witnesses said.

Gossett Jewelers, which had been burglarized in April, lacks metal detectors and the type of sophisticated buzzer systems often used in other jewelry stores, several plaza store owners noted.

“Take a look at his shop,� Dans said. “It was obvious which shop these guys were going to hit. These guys knew what they were doing.�