9. Patty Hearst later shot a store clerk with an automatic rifle
After robbing a bank, there was no going back for Patty. A month after the bank robbery, on May 16, 1974, William and Emily Harris – fellow SLA members – robbed a sporting goods store in Inglewood, California. The store clerk and manager followed the couple outside the store, and one of them restrained one of William’s wrists, causing his pistol to fall to the ground. Hearst watched the scuffle from the other side of the street. Her father had taught her how to use a gun at an early age, so she fired at least 30 rounds from an automatic rifle.
The store clerk and manager dove behind a light post, and neither one of them were seriously harmed in the attack. What the offense did do was remove any doubt that Patty had indeed resorted to a life of crime. The Symbionese Liberation Army, now responsible for multiple attacks involving firearms, was a top priority for the police and FBI. When Patty would later be tried, the crimes would be for robbing a bank and using a firearm with the intent to commit a felony. The question wouldn’t be whether or not she had actually done the deeds, but whether she had acted of her own volition.
