A North Miami liquor store clerk is sharing his story of survival months after a violent run-in with an attempted robber who shot him.
Manny Taylor, 71, spoke at a news conference Friday about how work at Jensen’s Liquor Store was something he looked forward to every day.
"I always feel safe at work," Taylor said. "There’s a lot of great people that come through there."
On Dec. 7, surveillance cameras captured a man trying to return an empty bottle of tequila. Thirty-four-year-old Norman Wright became angry when Taylor refused a refund and then grabbed another bottle.
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Taylor didn’t back down.
"I wasn’t raised like that," Taylor said. "Back in the day, you walking out with a bottle, I’m walking out behind you to get my bottle."
The dispute spilled outside and that’s when police said Wright fell backward and shot Taylor in the stomach. Video shows Taylor stop seconds later and lift up his shirt.
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"I showed it to him what he did to me," Taylor said. "I showed it to him."
The shooter took off on a bicycle, leaving Taylor in critical condition.
Taylor spent his birthday, Christmas and New Year’s Eve in the hospital and was just released in early February. Then this week, detectives identified and arrested Wright for the shooting.
"But over a bottle of liquor to me is just inexcusable and getting this person off the street for me was just very personal and very important," Miami-Dade Police Det. Ernest Bandiera said.
Wright is being held in jail on charges of attempted felony murder and armed robbery with a firearm or a deadly weapon.
"I can’t tell you how many doctors worked on me and brought me back and all the detectives behind the scenes that were working on this case," Taylor said. "And I’m overwhelmed and surprised. I’m just surprised. That people cared. That people cared."
