A man who was shot by an off-duty sheriff's deputy while attempting to rob an adult bookstore in East Memphis Saturday may be linked to other recent robberies, authorities say.
The suspect, whom police have not identified, was critically wounded in the episode that began when he entered the Fantasy Warehouse of Memphis at the intersection of Summer and White Station at about 10 a.m. armed with a handgun.
The man approached the clerk and indicated that he was going to rob the store, said Memphis Police Inspector D.W. Boyd.
That's when Gary Gadd, 44, an off-duty Shelby County sheriff's deputy who was shopping in the store, identified himself to the suspect.
The suspect shot in Gadd's direction but missed. Gadd fired back, hitting the suspect.
None of the other patrons or the clerk was injured.
Police arrived at about 10:20 a.m., and the suspect was taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis in critical condition.
Officers noticed an empty White Pontiac Grand Am parked outside the store's front door with its engine still running.
Police said they believe the suspect arrived in the Pontiac -- a vehicle Boyd said has been spotted at other crime scenes and "may be involved in other crimes."
The suspect's connection to other robberies is "being investigated," Boyd said.
No charges have been filed, and the investigation by the Memphis Police Department's Safe Streets Task Force, in collaboration with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, is ongoing.
Investigators will be reviewing a store security camera.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Shular said Gadd, who has been with the sheriff's office since 1989, has been administratively relieved of duty with pay from the fugitive division pending the investigation.
Gadd did not violate any department policies by shopping at the bookstore, Shular said.
"He's of age and chose to come here to shop," he said. "During the course of time that he was in the store, he recognized a very dangerous situation and took action."
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