MEDIA COURTHOUSE — After a lifetime of being trusting, a frail-looking but feisty senior citizen told a judge Friday that now that he’s become a victim in his own Ridley Township home, he’s “no more Mr. Nice Guy.”
“After 84 years of being a nice guy, it doesn’t work,” said Don Kaighn, the thin octogenarian, during the sentencing of Nora Taylor, stemming from a home invasion at Kaighn’s house Nov. 30, 2009.
“No more Mr. Nice Guy — I answer the door with a gun in one hand and the knob in the other,” said Kaighn.
Kaighn was in court as Judge Kevin Kelly formally sentenced Taylor, 28, of Media, to serve six-and-a-half to 15 years in prison as part of a plea agreement announced earlier in the week. The defendant pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of robbery, aggravated assault and weapons offenses. The sentencing was delayed to allow Kaighn to be present to tell how the crime had impacted him.
Taylor apparently underestimated Kaighn, a World War II veteran, who police said fought back with a vengeance when she attempted to burglarize his home that day. She had been employed for a cleaning service and had rummaged through his possessions, saw the guns and mistakenly believed he would be a pushover.
A contrite Taylor remained handcuffed as she said she never meant to hurt anybody. “My drug addiction drove me to do something so horrible and selfish. I was out of control. I almost killed someone,” said the mother of three school-age children.
Police said that after Taylor gained entrance to Kaighn’s house and he realized what was happening, a battle ensued in which 11 shots were exchanged, before she escaped by climbing out of a window.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher DiRosato said that Taylor would also have to make restitution for two guns valued at $600 that were stolen by her and never recovered.
Kaighn also told the court he was “disturbed that he allowed personal property, particularly firearms to be taken.” He labeled it “carelessness” on his part, but Kelly interjected that Kaighn “did nothing wrong.”
“You allowed nothing to be taken,” said the judge. “So please don’t think that the fact your guns were stolen during a home-invasion robbery that you’re anything other than a victim. You’re not.”
“Mr. Kaighn, I don’t think being a good neighbor is carelessness. And certainly one’s kindness should never be repaid in the fashion you’ve received,” said Kelly.
During the earlier hearing, Taylor was described by her relatives as the “the sweetest person” when she’s not on drugs.
The plea agreement, which included the jail sentence, to be followed by five years of probation was worked out by defense attorney Joseph Malley and DiRosato.
“This is a classic case of drugs ruining the lives of people,” Malley had said following the earlier proceeding.
“She came from a good family,” added the attorney. “She’s smart. When she’s clean and sober, she’s a wonderful person.”
Taylor also turned to where Kaighn was seated in the courtroom beside Ridley Township Detective William Henderson, who helped nab her for the crime.
“I’m so sorry for what I have done,” she said. “I never meant to hurt you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Following the hearing, Kaighn said he accepted her apology.
“I have a certain amount of empathy for that,” said Kaighn.
Kaighn, when asked by DiRosato if he wanted restitution for the damage done to his home, answered no.
“I can put up with the damage from the bullet holes — stuff like that,” he told Kelly
WGAL, Lancaster, Pa. 12/28/09 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 1/4/2010 A 24-year-old resident of Lancaster, Pa. was walking home around 8:30 p.m. when two criminals began to follow him. The intruders followed the young man all the way into his apartment, with one of the criminals drawing a gun once inside. The resident retrieved his own handgun and fired at the criminals, who fled the scene.
WPVI, Philadelphia, Pa. 10/11/09 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 10/13/2009 A criminal confronted a man in Philadelphia, Pa., hoping to make the man his third robbery victim of the night. The man, a Right-to-Carry permit holder, refused to go along with the robber’s plan; instead he drew his gun and fired at the criminal, striking and killing him. After a preliminary investigation, police do not have plans to charge the permit holder.
Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia, Pa. 08/10/09 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 8/11/2009 An armed gunman entered the Tony’s Place pizzeria in Philadelphia, Pa. and demanded money. The owner of the pizzeria and his friend began to struggle with the armed robber over his gun. During the struggle the robber fired the gun twice, striking no one. After the shots were fired the pizzeria owner, who is also a Right-to-Carry permit holder, drew his gun and fired at the criminal, striking him twice and ending the robbery. The armed robber was taken to a local hospital; police note that he will be charged when he is released. Police do not expect to press charges against the pizzeria owner.
The Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, PA, 03/20/09 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 6/1/2009 Coincidentally, another act by armed citizenry took place in a Wal-Mart parking lot in March. In that incident, police say 28-year-old Joshua Eastman was loading groceries into his vehicle when a teenage thug pointed a gun at him and demanded cash. The quick-thinking Eastman opened the door to his vehicle to form a barrier between himself and the suspect. The clever act may have saved his life. The suspect fired a shot through the door's window, which narrowly missed Eastman but propelled glass shards into his face. Eastman, a concealed-carry permit holder, drew his .32-caliber handgun, dropped below the door and shot his assailant three times. The suspect fled, but police located him nearby.
PennLive.com Cumberland County, Pa. 04/22/09 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 4/24/2009 In the middle of the night, criminals Akeem Mallory and Todd Davenport kicked in the door of 76-year-old Eugene Johnson in Carlisle, Pa. Once inside the criminals announced to the inhabitants that they had a firearm. Johnson, a retired Army sergeant and Korean War veteran, retrieved his pistol and announced to the criminals that he too was armed and aiming right at them. The burglars fled. The police eventually tracked down both Mallory and Davenport and they were taken into custody. At the burglars’ sentencing, Cumberland County Judge Kevin A. Hess congratulated Johnson on his actions stating. “My hat is off to you.” Even the attorney for one of the defendants noted that the criminals are “lucky they weren’t killed.”
Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, Pa., 11/14/08 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 2/1/2009 DEAN WOODLING WAS stopping by his father's property when, according to police, he saw a robber loading a truck with stolen items. Woodling, who is a hunter, had a shotgun in the vehicle. "I jumped out with the shotgun as he was coming out of the barn. ”Woodling explained. "To say he was scared was an understatement." Woodling, who has a concealed-carry permit and likes to keep a firearm handy, held the suspect at gunpoint until police arrived. "The way the world is, it's like American Express; said Woodling. "I never leave home without it. Police cannot be everywhere all the time."
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pa. 11/22/08 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 11/26/2008 A resident of South Philadelphia, Pa., returned home to find an intruder in his bedroom. The resident, a right to carry permit holder, drew his gun and told the intruder to leave. The intruder then grabbed for the resident’s gun, resulting in a struggle in which the resident shot the intruder in the chest, ceasing the attack. The intruder later died at a local hospital.
WPVI, Philadelphia, Pa. 11/13/08 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 11/17/2008 Lloyd Cross, who owns Cross Cuts barber shop, in Philadelphia, Pa., was forced to defend himself against an armed robber. While Cross’s 9-year-old son played in a back room of the shop, an armed robber entered the front and demanded money. Cross in an attempt to appease the man, handed him some money. The robber, unsatisfied with the amount, demanded more money from Cross. A struggle ensued, in which Cross pulled out his gun and fired, striking the robber and ceasing the attack. After the attack, Cross called 911. The robber was taken to the hospital, were he was listed in critical condition.
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA, 05/31/08 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 8/1/2008 Eugene Johnson was away when burglars first struck his home, trashing it and stealing money. But he was home less than two weeks later, when his wife heard someone kick in the back door. Johnson, who spent nearly three years in a North Korean P.O.W. camp, quickly got his pistol and intervened. The burglar said, "Don't move, I have a gun," Johnson recalls. "I said, Buddy, I've got a gun, too, and it's [aimed] right on you. Things got quiet then." Police say the suspect had fled. "The home owner acted appropriately," said District Attorney David Freed." Criminals who break into occupied homes assume the risk of being shot by the home owners."
The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA, 6/02/08 State: PA American Rifleman Issue: 6/2/2008 Eugene Johnson, a 20-year Army veteran who spent nearly three years as a prisoner of war in North Korea, reacted quickly when
State Sen. R.C. Soles shoots one of two home intruders
Columbus County Sheriff Chris Batten said Kyle Blackburn was taken to Loris Community Hospital in South Carolina. Late Sunday night, a spokeswoman at the hospital said that Blackburn was in good condition.
The shooting occurred on Soles’ property when two men went to the senator’s house and tried to kick in his front door, Batten said. The incident happened about a quarter mile from Canal Street and Stake Road.
The other man involved in the incident is B.J. Wright, Batten said. Multiple media outlets have reported that Wright was a legal client of Soles – an attorney – and that Soles gave him money while Wright was in prison.
The State Bureau of Investigation is probing the shooting, Batten said, because the agency is already looking into accusations against the senator.
A man recently accused Soles of attempting to molest him, leading authorities to ask the SBI to investigate. The man later said his allegation was false.
First elected in 1968 to the House before moving to the Senate in the mid-1970s, Soles is thought to be the longest-serving representative in North Carolina history.
In an institution that rewards seniority, Soles’ longevity has allowed him to climb the rungs of power.
But with the SBI now investigating the allegation and rumors of a separate federal investigation, the man from Tabor City faces a test of his political mettle.
In 2007, he was ranked the eighth most effective senator by the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, and at times he has held the chairmanships of several important committees.
He is currently the chairman of the Senate commerce committee.
And he’s faced tough times before. The 17-term senator from Columbus County, who also represents Brunswick and Pender counties, survived a federal indictment in the early 1980s tied to an investigation into corruption in his home county called Colcor.
In August 1983, charges of conspiracy, vote-buying and perjury were dropped for lack of evidence, then he was acquitted in federal court of aiding and abetting bribery.
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A Sneads Ferry man who shot a teenager charged with trying to break into the man's home Monday will not be charged, authorities said.
Landon Crews, of Crows Nest Lane, shot 18-year-old Cyle Norris early Monday morning. Detectives with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department said Norris was trying to crawl through a broken window when Crews shot him in the right forearm with No. 7 shot from a 12-gauge shotgun.
Norris and three other local men were charged with first-degree burglary, possession of burglary tools and conspiracy.
North Carolina state law says that Crews was within his rights to shoot an intruder breaking into his home. General Statute 14-51.1 states, "A lawful occupant within a home or other place of residence is justified in using any degree of force that the occupant reasonably believes is necessary, including deadly force, against an intruder to prevent a forcible entry into the home or residence or to terminate the intruder's unlawful entry if the occupant reasonably apprehends that the intruder may kill or inflict serious bodily harm to the occupant or others in the home or residence, or if the occupant reasonably believes that the intruder intends to commit a felony in the home or residence."
The law also states that a lawful occupant has no duty to retreat from an intruder.
"The long and the short of it is he didn't break the law," Sheriff Ed Brown said.
Attempts by The Daily News to reach Crews were unsuccessful.
Authorities said Norris, Trevor Sturgis, 21, and David Sonye, 21, tried to break into Crews' house after Joseph Michael Greene III, 16, who is also accused of attempting to break in, was forcefully put out of the home 20 minutes prior.
The four men tried to break down the front door, break out windows and climb through, authorities said.
Crews - who was at home with his mother - told investigators that he warned them several times before shooting. The four accused intruders were given a bond of $50,000 each.
The Sheriff's Department is seeking to talk with James Austin Boone, who authorities believe was at the residence around the time of the shooting.
Anyone with information concerning Boone's whereabouts can contact the Jacksonville/Onslow Crime Stoppers at 910-938-3273 or Sheriff's Sgt. David South at 910-455-3113. Callers do not have to reveal their identities.
Contact Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read his blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.
Shots fired during home invasion Frederick police search for suspect Originally published July 07, 2009, 4:45 AM
Frederick police are investigating an apparent home invasion at 207 South Jefferson St. in Frederick early today. Two shots were reportedly fired by an elderly resident at a white male who broke into the home at about 2:45 a.m.
The Frederick Police Department is looking for a man who invaded a home at 207 S. Jefferson St. early this morning, according to police.
Officers went to the scene about 2:49 a.m. after shots were reportedly fired, police stated.
A white man with dark hair, believed to be named Kevin, had forced his way into the home, police said.
The man allegedly took money from a resident, who fired two shots at the man, Lt. Clark Pennington, police spokesman, said. Police do not believe the man was injured.
Witnesses said the man was wearing shorts and a dark shirt, Pennington said.
Officers searched the area but did not find the man.
Officers are investigating whether the same man may have committed similar crimes in the past at the same location, Pennington said.
According to Robbie Snyder who lives in another building on the property, a white man of medium build, between 25 and 30 years old, broke into his mother and his uncle’s home between 2:30 a.m. and 2:45 a.m. by breaking a lock and window in the back door. Snyder said both residents are in their 80s and his uncle is wheelchair bound.
His uncle fired two shots from a 38-caliber revolver at the intruder who then fled the scene, Snyder said.
This is the third time the man has broken into the home and the fifth time he has been there, Snyder said. The first two times Snyder said his uncle gave the man named Kevin money after hearing a "sob story."
The man broke into the home in February and threatened Snyder’s uncle before getting additional money, Snyder said. The man also broke in in late May or early June, Snyder said, and Frederick police were called after each break-in.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 301-600-TIPS or online at fpdcrimetip@fredco-md.net.
Intruder Shot North Of Whitney
An apparent ongoing dispute led to an intruder being shot after he forced his way into a Whitney area home late Saturday, July 4. Hill County Sheriff’s Office deputies had been to a residence in the 300 block of Timberline Street off Farm Road 1713 earlier in the evening. The shooting was called into authorities at 11:53 p.m. after the victim forced open a door at the home to gain entry. The 46-year-old Whitney man struggled with the 43-year-old homeowner before he armed himself with a .22 caliber pistol. One shot was apparently fired, striking the older man in the abdomen. The victim fled and was taken to Lake Whitney Medical Center in Whitney by private vehicle. He was later flown by Air Evac to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco. According to sheriff’s office reports, he was listed in stable condition the following day. Sheriff Jeffrey T. Lyon said that a charge of burglary of a habitation is expected to be filed on the man after he is released from the hospital. Responding to the initial call were deputies Jeff Aguirre and Joshua Vercher and Game Warden Mark Hammonds.
Homeowner Exchanges Gunfire With Would-Be Robber
Posted: 5:34 am EDT July 9, 2009Updated: 8:01 am EDT July 9, 2009
ATLANTA -- A quiet night in front of the television ended with a shoot-out in southwest Atlanta. A homeowner was in the hospital Thursday morning as police searched for the would-be robber.
Officials said a homeowner will recover after suffering a gunshot wound to the ear during a gun battle when someone tried to break into his home.
A shoot-out on Westmont Road between a homeowner and a would-be robber woke up several people in the neighborhood.
SLIDESHOW: Gun Battle Shooting Scene Homeowner Shot During Gunfight With Would-Be Robber
"I guess I would say about 15 to 20 rounds was exchanged," said neighbor Otis Holliman.
The homeowner told Channel 2 Action News her husband was in the living room watching television when he heard a noise outside the house. He grabbed his gun to check it out and that's when the gun battle erupted.
The husband was shot once in the right ear and was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital.
Crime scene investigators found several bullet casings and a gun.
"The guy dropped the gun that was shooting at her husband," said Holliman.
The suspect got away.
Holliman said criminals have been targeting his neighbors since they moved in.
"I think the house has been broken into three or four different times here recently," said Holliman.
Doctors said the victim is in stable condition. The victim's wife said once her husband gets out of the hospital, they plan to move.
Business owner foils robbery try
A business owner who fought back foiled a robbery try early today and may have wounded one of the men who tried to rob him, Shreveport police say. Advertisement
At around 12:15 a.m., Shreveport police patrol officers were sent to Mitchell’s Transmission in the 3100 block of Morningside Drive after getting reports of an attempted robbery there. Officers learned that three men wearing ski masks, one armed with a sawed-off shotgun, had tried to rob the owner as he closed the business. The business owner said he pulled out his handgun and fired two shots at the robbers, who ran off. The business owner was not injured.
About 10 minutes later, officers got a call from Willis-Knighton Medical center on Greenwood Road where a man had shown up at the emergency room with a gunshot wound. At the hospital, officers contacted one Derrick Glover, 20, who had a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Glover told officers he had been shot by an unknown man somewhere on Kent Street. Kent intersects with Morningside in the Caddo Heights neighborhood in central Shreveport.
Detectives are trying to determine whether the robbery try and the shooting are related. People with information on either incident should call Shreveport police detectives at (318) 673-6955 or CrimeStoppers at (318) 673-7373.
A worker at a Little Rock motorcycle dealership shot a burglary suspect early Tuesday morning
Around 5:00 a.m., police responded to a burglar alarm at BMW Motorcycles of Little Rock on Jones Street.
An employee, Julius Ceasaer, told officers that he was sleeping in the business when he heard a loud noise. He then saw a dark colored Dodge pick up backing into the business. Ceasaer said that he grabbed his shotgun, approached the front door and saw a man looking around at some of the motorcycles that were on display.
When the suspect, 43-year-old Haywood Patterson, saw Ceasaer, he ran out of the business.
Two other suspects inside the pick up then drove away. Ceasaer saw Patterson crouching down outside. Ceasaer told police he feared Patterson may have had a weapon, so he fired shots at him.
Patterson was wounded in the upper body and face. He attempted to flee the area, but was caught shortly after. He was transported to UAMS where his injuries are life threatening.
No charges have been filed at this time and detectives are working to identify the other two suspects in the truck
2 Criminals Shot During Jewelry Robbery in East Memphis
MEMPHIS, TN – Two people have been shot during an attempted robbery of a jewelry vender in East Memphis.
It happened around 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 8, 2009, in the 5300 block of Poplar Avenue, outside of the Hopson Building. myEyewitnessNews.com was first on the scene, just seconds after the call went out to Memphis Police.
Police say a jewelry vender was doing business inside the building just before the shooting happened. The man told police that he had been followed by four men, but didn’t know how long they were watching him. Investigators say when the man left the building, the four suspects tried to rob him. The vendor then pulled his gun and shot two of the would be robbers, police said.
Police say the two who were shot are in critical condition. Investigators also tell myEyewitnessNews.com the jeweler, 62 year-old Stephen Fleischman was targeted by the four men. It's believed the would be robbers were following Fleischman for quite some time.
Authorities say they are searching for two Latino men in a white Ford Fusion. Surveillance cameras captured the car leaving the parking garage seconds after the shooting. The Building Manager tells myEyewitnessNews Memphis Police Investigators are working to blow up the video to get a better look at the suspects and a possible license plate number.
denver and the west
Aurora store owner shoots, kills robbery suspect
An unidentified man tried to rob the Aurora check-cashing store on Monday afternoon.
AURORA — The owner of a check-cashing and cigarette store shot and killed an armed robber in his store early Monday afternoon, according to eyewitnesses and a vague police account.
Aurora police said they received a 911 call shortly after 1 p.m. about a gunman who attempted to rob the check-cashing store on the northwest corner of Clinton Street and East Colfax Avenue.
After investigating, police said a "possible suspect" had been shot by a person in the store.
The wounded person was driven by an unknown person to a Denver-area hospital where he died of a single gunshot wound, police said, refusing to identify the victim or the hospital where he was treated.
Police Lt. Bob Friel said detectives were hesitant to release any details until they were sure of their investigation.
However, Ryan Moench, 17, a mechanic at Muffler Pros, which his family has owned for 15 years directly across Colfax from the check-cashing store, said he heard a single gunshot, then saw two men dressed in blue running from the store, out of his view.
"I heard a shot and saw two guys running out of the store and around to the back," Moench said. He couldn't recall if one was bleeding and could give no other description.
"I could see the owner of the store in the door on the telephone. Five minutes later, the police arrived," he said.
The owner of the check-cashing business is a 56-year-old man named Tom, who has owned the business for 22 years, according to his landlord, Jim Rellos. Rellos said he couldn't remember his tenant's last name and couldn't find the lease.
"He's a good man," Rellos said. "I never have trouble with him. He runs a good business. His kid went to Machebeuf High School with one of my kids."
Friel said Tom was taken to police headquarters for questioning after the shooting.
Police also interviewed passers-by, residents and people working in the downtown Aurora neighborhood, just a few blocks west of the historic Aurora Fox Theatre.
Gary Gabaldon was shot and killed Saturday, deputies say
A bizarre shooting in Belen leaves a former corrections officer dead, and a former Marine in jail charged with his murder.
The shooting is once again raising debate over what's considered self defense.
The brother of the person who was shot and the suspect's friend each have very different opinions about what happened.
The incident happened around 10:15 Saturday night at Enchantment Propane. Evidence of a break-in was still visible on Sunday. The murder that happened in the midst of the burglary is likely going to extend a long-standing debate for years to come.
Louie Gabaldon still has a lot of unanswered questions about the death of his little brother, 29-year-old Gary Gabaldon, killed on the night of July 4.
"Gary would never steal from anybody. He's not a thief, and nobody deserves to kill anybody or shoot anybody and try to justify self-defense. You don't kill anybody, you just don't," Louie Gabaldon said Sunday.
Gabaldon says his brother was a former corrections officer.
Deputies say 38-year-old Luke Sanchez, a former Marine who served as a military policeman, was driving back to his farm in Belen when he spotted Gabaldon and another suspect stealing supplies from Enchantment Propane.
They say Sanchez called police, but also drove closer to the suspects to try to get their license plate number.
Deputies say he got too close-- Gabaldon spotted him, ran over to his car and broke the driver's side window.
David Dawson is close friends with Sanchez, and says he was just defending himself.
"They were bashing his windows in and he was screaming for them to leave him alone," Dawson said.
After a short fight, deputies say Sanchez pulled out his gun and shot Gabaldon in the head, killing him.
Sanchez remained on the scene until he was arrested.
The other suspect took off and is still on the loose. The suspect's vehicle was recovered, along with the stolen property.
Dawson told Eyewitness News 4 on Sunday, "So they've actually got him locked up right now for trying to defend himself from people bashing in his car to try and get at him."
Deputies say investigators had enough evidence to determine it was not self-defense, but murder.
Valencia County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Trujillo said, "We rely heavily upon our citizens, our residents of the county to report crimes to us. We never want them to approach these individuals, or get within close contact where something like this could occur."
Gabaldon says his brother and Sanchez, at one time, were family.
"Well I know that Luke Sanchez was the cousin of the father of my brother's ex-girlfriend, and there's more to it of this story than what's being said, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it," he said.
Friends of Sanchez say he is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. They hope the judge will drop the murder charge. Gabaldon's family hopes that charge remains.
Oklahoma pharmacist kills armed robber, saves the lives of his staff
Taurus Judge
A little before 6:00 p.m., last Tuesday, two armed men rushed into the Reliable Discount Pharmacy in Oklahoma City, and demanded money and drugs. The store had been robbed two years earlier, a robbery in which the store’s employees had been forced into a back room and severely beaten.
However, this time the store had a security system with doors armed with magnetic locks, which could only be opened from the inside. The masked-men apparently knew this and waited for someone to exit, at which time they pushed a board in front of the closing door and rushed into the pharmacy.
Once inside, they demanded all of the cash and narcotics, two female technicians ran into the back room. But the pharmacist, Jerome Ersland who wears a large back brace, and is still recovering from recent surgery, could not run. But he could defend himself.
The robbers began shooting at him, with one bullet grazing him on the arm, he said he heard another round whiz past his ear.
Ersland recalled: "All of a sudden, they started shooting. They were attempting to kill me, but they didn’t know I had a gun. They said, ‘You’re gonna die.’ That’s when one of them shot at me, and that’s when he got my hand.”
Ersland grabbed the semi-automatic Kel-Tec .380 in his pocket.
"And that’s when I started defending myself,” he said. "The first shot got him in the head, and that slowed him down so I could get my other gun.”
Ersland also kept a much larger pistol in a nearby drawer, which he was able to retrieve, a Taurus Judge revolver. At that point, the second robber took off. However, the other robber was now getting up off of the floor, despite the head wound.
Ersland emptied his clip into the chest of the wounded robber, who turned out to be 16-year-old Antwun Parker.
"I went after the other guy, but he was real fast and I’m crippled,” said Ersland. Once outside, he saw a third black male sitting in a car with what appeared to be a shotgun.
Ersland said: "I pulled out my ‘Judge’ and pointed it right between his eyes and he floored it.”
Police arrested the man in the car which turned out to be stolen, after he crashed it a few blocks away. The other robber is still at large, he is described as a black male in his 20s, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and weighing 175 pounds. The suspect was last seen wearing a red shirt and dark pants.
Ersland went back into the store and found his two technicians safe but shaken.
Ersland said: "I asked if the girls were all right, and they were in the back crying. I was glad to know they were alive. We were lucky and I’m glad I defended us, because I feel that a person has a right to defend themselves at their home or at their work. People deserve to be safe and not be afraid of people that want to take money when they don’t work for it.”
As if the attempted robbery was not enough, an angry black mob gathered outside the pharmacy later that night, shouting and accusing Ersland of being a racist because he had killed the teenaged thug, who was black.
"I just regret anybody would get killed. But if I wouldn’t have been here, there would have been three people killed — the other pharmacist and the two techs.”
"I was able to return fire and protect the girls’ lives. God was helping me.”
Here are a few facts about armed Americans:
-Armed citizens shoot and kill at least twice as many criminals as the police do every year in this country (1,527 to 606).
-A 1996 University of Chicago study concluded that states which passed concealed carry laws reduced their murder rates by 8.5 percent, rapes by 5 percent, aggravated assaults by 7 percent, and robbery by 3 percent.
-According to the National Safety Council, with guns being used 2.5 million times a year in self defense against criminals, firearms are actually used more than 80 times more often to protect lives, rather than to take lives.
-A 1979 Justice Department study concluded that of more than 32,000 attempted rapes, 32 percent were actually committed. But when a woman was armed with a gun or knife, only 3 percent of the attempted rapes were actually committed.
-Another Justice Department study found that 57 percent of felons agreed that “criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running the police.”
Robber fatally shot in Miami Burger King holdup A robbery at a Burger King in Miami's Upper East Side neighborhood left one person dead and another seriously injured. An afternoon shootout at a busy Burger King restaurant in Miami left a potential robber dead and the customer who shot him seriously wounded.
The bloody event unfolded about 4 p.m. Tuesday at the restaurant at Northeast 54th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. It was a time, employees said, when it is usually crowded with schoolchildren and people getting out of work early.
The robber entered wearing a ski mask. He approached a clerk, showed his gun and demanded money, said Miami police spokesman Jeff Giordano.
A customer eyed him and the two started arguing. The customer had a concealed-weapons permit and his gun -- and the two exchanged gunfire.
The robber crumpled to the floor and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The customer, with several gunshot wounds, was in serious but stable condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.
Officers divided witnesses into several groups outside the restaurant to gather information about the incident. Employees waiting to start their shift called friends and family members on their cellphones to pass the time because they were not allowed through the police tape.
''I just hope all my people are OK inside,'' said Cynthia Thomas, who has worked at the Burger King for five years. ``It is scary.''
Around them, drivers on busy Biscayne Boulevard gawked at the scene.
The area is a prime destination for residents in the Upper East Side neighborhood -- featuring Soyka's restaurant, Sushi Siam and Andiamo Pizza.
Burglar Shot by Business Owner
Recent Articles: 2/12/09 Burglar Shot by Business Owner A burglar was shot by a business owner at 1012 Avenue Oaks about 2:50 am this morning (February 11).
The bruglar, described only as a Hispanic male, was transported to Ben Taub General Hospital in critical condition from injuries sustained during the incident.
The business owner, Irvin Horton, 64, of Houston, was not injured.
Mr. Horton received notification from his burglar alarm company of an active alarm at his place of business at 1012 Avenue Oaks. When Mr. Horton arrived, he observed a suspicious vehicle occupied by the suspect, parked in the driveway adjacent to his business.
In addition, Mr. Horton saw the gate to his business had been forced open and articles had been removed from a locked storage trailer inside the property.
Horton confronted the suspect while he was inside the vehicle and told him to exit the vehicle. The man refused and made a sudden movement inside the vehicle and reached for an unknown object. He then started the vehicle and attempted to run over Horton as he attempted to drive away.
Horton fired at the vehicle's front tire. The burglar continued to drive away while Horton continued to fire at the fleeing vehicle. The burglar lost control of the vehicle and hit a concrete drainage culvert.
Gotta admire the manfor being honest. Florida 's got it right. Bravo for Sheriff Judd !!!
POLK COUNTY FLORIDA SHERIFF GRADY JUDD
Some 'dirtbag' in Polk County Florida who got pulled over in a routine traffic stop ended up 'executing' the deputy whostopped him. The deputy was shot eight times, including once behind his right ear at close range. Another deputy was wounded and a police dog killed. A statewide manhunt ensued. The low-life was found hiding in a wooded area with his gun. SWAT team officers fired and hit the guy 68 times. Now here's the kicker: Naturally, the media asked why they shot him 68 times. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, told the Orlando Sentinel: 'That's all the bullets we had !!'(Talk about an all-time classic answer !!!)
Justice Served. Bullets are much cheaper than 40 years of meals, cable and civil rights
COLLINGDALE, Pa. - January 6, 2009 - (WPVI) -- A Delaware County family was attacked and robbed while they were inside of their own home. But police were able to nab the suspects after one of the victims fought back. It happpened in Collingdale at around 10:00 a.m. Tuesday. Ben George was pistol-whipped by one of the two men who rushed into his home in the 800 block of North Street. His wife, one-year-old baby and Uncle Chris were inside. Story continues belowAdvertisement "They forced me on the ground, forced her on the ground. They were bouncing around saying 'We're going to kill you.' That's all they kept saying, 'We're going to kill you," Chris George said. "At that moment my uncle grabbed the one guy and threw him on the ground," said Ben George. "When he was doing that I ran outside for help, then the guy came from upstairs and fired a shot at me through the doorway." During the chaos, Chris George retrieved his gun from the basement and also fired a shot. The suspects fled in a vehicle which then crashed a short distance away. "Police cars responded to the area and flooded the area," said Chief Robert Adams of the Collingdale Police Department. "They were eventually both taken into custody and a gun was recovered and a large quantity of narcotics as well." Adams said the narcotics were prescription drugs. The two men arrested are Moises Torres of Thayer Street in Philadephia and Ariel Caraballo of Front Street in Philadelphia. They face a long list of charges including attempted homicide, aggravated assault, terroristic threats and burglary. During the time police were looking for the men two schools, St. Joseph's and Harris Elementary were locked down for about an hour and a half.
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - November 21, 2008 (WPVI) --
A burglary suspect is dead, after getting into a struggle with an armed home owner in South Philadelphia.
Police say the home owner walked into his house on the 1900 block of West Montrose about 10:30 last night, and was surprised to find a man inside the home robbing the place. The two started scuffling. Story continues belowAdvertisementDuring the fight, investigators say the home owner pulled a gun and opened fire, shooting the suspect in the chest. The suspect -- in his 50's -- was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead. The home owner was not injured. Police are continuing their investigation. So far, they have not filed any charges in the case. You can get the latest crime statistics from the Philadelphia Police by CLICKING HERE for the force's crime data mapping site.
In a Letter-to-the-Editor in the September 17-19 issue of the Colorado Daily, Mr. Peter Aretin doubted the claim that U.S. citizens use their guns to drive off criminals 2.5 million times a year. He wanted to know where that number came from and what that startling statistic [is] supposed to meanIs there a great conspiracy to suppress all record of all this gunplay by innocent persons, or is it all just going unreported to the police? he asked.
As Mr. Aretin recognized, such a large number of defensive gun uses poses a problem for gun control activists. When guns are widely used for self-defense, legislation that makes using them more difficult, like safe storage, trigger locks, and outright bans, just condemns more people to being beaten, robbed, raped, and murdered. This happened in Britain, where rates of violent crime, gun robbery and murder skyrocketed after handguns were banned and registered owners were required to surrender their weapons.By 1995, English crime victimization rates had surpassed those in the United States.
Anecdotes from daily newspapers leave no doubt that defensive gun use occurs. In 1996, for example, the Baltimore Sun reported that police, without legal authority, confiscated 83-year-old James Edward Scotts .22-caliber rifle after he shot and wounded an intruder in the backyard of his West Baltimore home. Less than a year later, he was strangled by a burglar. A neighbor said that if he had had the gun he would not have been killed. The neighbor, also apparently familiar with the realities of life in West Baltimore, refused to give his name fearing retribution from the attacker.[i]
In most cases of defensive use, criminals run away when their victims have a gun. No shots are fired, no crime is committed, and police may not be notified. Police are even less likely to be involved in the many high crime areas where guns are illegal. On May 22, 1997, the Chicago Tribune reported that Josie Cash used her gun to scare off muggers trying to steal her pizza delivery money. She reported the incident to the police. They charged her with a felony for carrying a concealed weapon.
The muggers ran off because criminals, like everyone else, prefer to make their living without getting shot. When James D. Wright and Peter Rossi surveyed convicted felons,[ii] they found that in the United States, burglars feared armed victims more than they feared the police. Unsurprisingly, the hot burglary rate in the U.S., the fraction of burglaries committed while a resident is home, is just 13%. In Canada and Britain, countries that disarm the law abiding, the hot burglary rate is almost 50%.
In 1995, Gary Kleck and Mark Gertz published the results of the first anonymous population survey specifically designed to measure the incidence of defensive gun use against humans in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.[iii]The survey queried a large, randomly selected, sample of people about defensive gun use.People who reported using a gun to defend themselves against another person were asked a follow-up series of questions designed to make it difficult to make up incidents. The results produced estimates of 2.3 to 2.5 million defensive uses a year. Despite the fact that the survey was anonymous, its interviewers felt that a number of respondents falsely answered no.If true, the real frequency of defensive gun use is even higher than the estimate. The surveys methodology has withstood determined scrutiny.
In 1997, the National Institute of Justice published results of a 1994 survey of private ownership of firearms. Using the Kleck-Gertz criteria to define a defensive gun use, Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig estimated 4.7 million defensive gun uses each year. They concluded that according to these results, guns are used far more often to defend against crime than to perpetrate crime.[iv] Some people still claim that these figures are wild overestimates. They usually quote the National Crime Victimization surveys estimate of 80,000 defensive gun uses a year. But NCVS respondents are told that the survey is for the U.S. Department of Justice and must provide their name, address, and telephone number. Having a gun is a crime with a mandatory prison sentence in a number of places.Carrying a gun is illegal in many more.One would expect people who don't want trouble with the authorities to keep mum about their gun use. Gun control advocates who ignore the defensive use of guns or sneer at current statistics without offering substantial methodological criticisms waste everyones time.[v]Whatever it is they care about, it isnt saving lives.
Notes: [i] Peter Hermann, 19 September 1996. Unarmed Resident Slain by Intruder; Victims Rifle Taken by Authorities, Baltimore Sun, p. B1. Cited in John R. Lott, Jr. 1998. More Guns, Less Crime. University of Chicago Press. p. 12. [ii] James D. Wright and Peter Rossi. 1986. Armed and Considered Dangerous:A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms. Hawthorne, New York:Aldine de Gruyter Publishers. Quoted in John R. Lott, Jr. 1998. More Guns, Less Crime, p. 5 [iii] Gary Kleck and Mark Gertz. Fall 1995. Armed Resistance to Crime:The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense With a Gun, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 86(1): 150-187. Body of paper available at http://www.guncite.com/gcdgklec.html. [iv] Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig. May 1997. Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms.National Institute of Justice, Research in Brief. Washington, DC:U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, p. 9. Available on web at http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles/165476.pdf in Adobe Acrobat, or http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/165476.txt in text. [v]For an example look at the items listed on the Violence Policy Center web page on concealed carry and self-defense. The 8 references cited include neither Kleck and Gertzs original paper nor their rebuttal to David Hemenway. Only Hemenway is cited. He and Susan Glick, who works for the Center, wrote 5 of the 8 references given. http://www.vpc.org/studies/wherown.htm.For Kleck's detailed reply to Hemenway's criticisms see The Journal on Firearms and Public Policy, vol. 11, soon to be available athttp://www.saf.org. Linda Gorman is a Senior Fellow with the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in Golden, Colorado, http://i2i.org. This article originally appeared in the Colorado Daily (Boulder), for which Linda Gorman is a regular columnist. This article, from the Independence Institute staff, fellows and research network, is offered for your use at no charge. Independence Feature Syndicate articles are published for educational purposes only, and the authors speak for themselves. Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily representing the views of the Independence Institute or as an attempt to influence any election or legislative action. Please send comments to Editorial Coordinator, Independence Institute, 14142 Denver West Pkwy., suite 185, Golden, CO 80401 Phone 303-279-6536 (fax) 303-279-4176 (email)webmngr@i2i.org
Dallas police said two armed men came to the door of a condo in the 5600 block of Harvest Hill, and when a resident answered the door, the men rushed in to rob him.
The resident, armed with a handgun, chased the two men back out of the condo, fired a single shot that hit one of the robbers in the chest. The man was taken to the hospital where he died, the other robber got away.
Residents report crime has gone up over the past two week, and that some of the apartment complexes have posted alerts warning of the spike in crime.
Dallas police said the man opened his door believing a friend was at the door.
Police said this incident serves as a reminder that you should always be on your guard. "It is better to check to try to determine who it is knocking on your door late at night." Said Dallas police Sgt. Bruce McDonald.
The resident is not facing charges. The case will be forwarded to the Grand Jury for review.
BROKEN ARROW -- A 19-year-old man was shot several times by a homeowner Saturday night after he reportedly broke into the home, police said.
The victim, Stephen Richardson, was taken to an area hospital, where his condition was not immediately available.
Authorities said officers were dispatched at 9:40 p.m. to the home in the 3100 block of West Norman Circle.
Officers said Richardson reportedly was drunk when he entered the house, where the homeowner shot him.
Maj. Mark Irwin said Richardson “thought he was breaking into his (own) house.”
He said he wasn’t sure whether Richardson lived in the vicinity. Officers attempted to interview Richardson, but he was too drunk to be coherent, Irwin said.
An investigation is underway in Pennsylvania after police say a 75-year-old granny shot a man who allegedly broke into her home.
The woman was sleeping upstairs, when an intoxicated man entered her home. She first asked him politely to leave, but when he proceeded up the stairs she grabbed her 38 caliber revolver and shot the man in the groin. Turns out the man lives nearby and accidentally walked into the wrong house.
Police are investigating the case, but so far no charges have been filed.
GUNS SAVE LIVES
DEFENDING THE POLICE
OPINION: Another hero with a gun
September 15, 2008 - 7:15PM
Once again, a gun in the hands of a brave, daring and selfless hero has resolved a violent crime in Colorado Springs. As so often is the case when a gun foils a crime, no shot was ever fired. The gun brought civility where mayhem previously reigned.
Colorado Springs Police report that Russell Bowman, a self-proclaimed "atheist," showed up with a large knife at the at a woman's apartment in the 700 block of Tia Juana Street at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday. Police said Bowman wanted to behead two women because they were Christians. (Will this be classified a "hate crime" motivated by religion?) Police suspect alcohol may have played a role.
As Bowman threatened the women, another resident of the apartment building grabbed a shotgun and ordered Bowman to drop the knife. The power of a gun put a hero in charge of the situation, because of its enormous potential stopping power. Bowman refused the order and approached the gun-wielding hero.
So what did the hero do, armed with a weapon that could have removed a good portion of Bowman's head? He whacked the criminal with the butt of the gun - a polite response, considering the circumstances. As that got the job done, the hero never resorted to using the business end of the weapon.
The hero would have been perfectly justified in shooting Bowman, in defense of himself and others, but he risked using lesser force and the risk paid off. This makes him even more of a hero. Bowman was stopped, and he's alive. Doctors at Memorial Hospital told police Bowman's eye was so badly damaged by the butt of the gun that it will have to be removed. That's a shame, but it beats a trip to the morgue.
The Department of Justice has estimated that citizens use guns to defend themselves in United States more than 1.5 million time each year. Other studies have put the number higher and lower. Whatever the true number is, these incidents are routine and almost never make the news. When they do, it's important to remember how the Second Amendment keeps this country civilized and free.
Wife, kids in home as resident kills intruder By M.S. Enkoji and Stan Oklobdzija - menkoji@sacbee.com Last Updated 3:05 pm PDT Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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A North Sacramento man shot and killed an armed intruder early Tuesday as his pregnant wife and children awoke in terror from the attack.
The man, whom police did not identify, told police that two men had tried to break into his home just after midnight in the 800 block of Carmelita Avenue off Rio Linda Boulevard.
The resident, who had no telephone, pleaded with neighbors to alert police after the shooting, neighbors said.
A neighbor who provided refuge for the resident and his family after the attack recounted what the man told him.
The resident heard scuffling and banging on his door, said Robert Jerome, the neighbor. Looking through a peephole, the resident saw a man holding a .22 caliber pump-action rifle, Jerome said.
By the time the man got his shotgun, the intruders had partially opened the door, the resident told Jerome and police.
The resident fired once through the gap in the doorway, striking a 19-year-old Sacramento man, police said. The other suspect or suspects fled, but the 19-year-old, dropped the gun from his hand, staggered into the cul de sac before collapsing dead, the resident told the neighbor and police.
Identity of the 19-year-old was being withheld, pending notification of kin.
The resident's wife, who is seven months pregnant, and his two pre-school children, were also in the home.
After the shooting, the resident frantically ran up and down his street, yelling for someone to call 911, neighbors said.
"He said, 'I shot someone.' He was crying and hysterical. I've never seen a grown man jumping up and down in tears like that," Jerome said.
Jerome said he saw the body of the attacker in the street and he was wearing a beanie and gloves.
The resident was unable to give a complete description of any other suspects.
The resident appears to have been acting in self-defense and feared for his safety, said Sacramento Police Officer Konrad Von Schoech.
As of Tuesday afternoon, police said they didn't anticipate charging the resident.
"The final disposition will lie with District Attorney, but at this time and stage of investigation, we don't intend to arrest him," said Sacramento Police spokesman Sgt. Matt Young.
Later on Tuesday, as the resident was interviewed by police, neighbors talked about the attempted break-in as workers cleaned blood off the street and from the home with toys scattered on the front lawn.
Felicia Guajardo said she had seen the resident running up and down the street after the attack.
She said her mother was staying at her home and she had heard someone knocking on her door just before the attack at the home.
During August and July, at least three other similar home invasion robberies have been reported to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department in the nearby Antelope area, law enforcement records show. The invaders struck at about midnight in two of those incidents.
However, there was no indication from investigators that these cases are linked to the one that sparked the fatal shooting.
Anyone with information about the attempted break-in at Carmelita Avenue should contact Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or (800) AA-Crime. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000.
Lee County shooting victim indicted for violating protective order Published 09/08/2008 By Walter Littrell
JONESVILLE — A Lee County man who was found guilty Friday of violating a protective order for the third time and sentenced to a year in jail was indicted on his fourth alleged violation by a grand jury on Monday. Donald Robert Tomlinson, 29, Route 1, Box 171-D, was charged in June with the most recent violation after he allegedly waited at his estranged wife’s residence for her to return from an outing with other members of her family. Authorities have said once she arrived Tomlinson confronted his wife, and after seeing Tomlinson attack the woman, knock her to the ground and begin choking her, her brother shot him in the leg.
The brother was not charged, but Tomlinson was charged with violating the protective order as well as assault and battery of a family member. The grand jury returned true bills on both charges Monday.
Others indicted Monday, and their charges, include:
•James Ashlee Anderson, 24, Middlesboro, Ky., break and enter, grand larceny and two counts conspiracy.
•Billy Joe Jessee Bowen, 22, Lot 2, Byington Trailer Court, Jonesville, two counts grand larceny, three counts conspiracy and one count sell stolen property.
•Terry Ancil Brooks, 39, Cedar Hill Road, Jonesville, make false statement on a firearms form.
•Samuel Delph, 54, Route 2, Box 1021, Dryden, fail to maintain control and drive after having been declared a habitual offender.
•William Jessee Fleenor, 30, Route 1, Box 133-A, Pennington Gap, two counts grand larceny, three counts conspiracy and one count sell stolen property.
•Michael Hawk, 20, 130 Lancer, Kingsport, possess OxyContin, and possess a controlled substance while knowingly possessing a firearm.
•Jimmy Jones, 21, Route 1, Box 266, Ewing, grand larceny.
•Derrick Ledford, 36, Route 4, Box 4368, Jonesville, three counts grand larceny, one count break and enter, eight counts utter forged checks, two counts conspiracy, and one count of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony.
•Levi Seth Nimety, 18, 521 W. Morgan Ave., Pennington Gap, grand larceny.
•Shauna Marie Sizemore, 30, 4200 East Stone Gap, Big Stone Gap, grand larceny of narcotics and possession of a Schedule III controlled substance with the intent to distribute.
•Patrick Lanningham, 41, St. Charles, unlawful wounding.
An indictment is not an indication of guilt, and trials for the accused will be scheduled at a later date.
Man shot while lurking in house was owner's cousin
September 8, 2008Recommend (5)
By Lori Caldwell Post-Tribune staff writer
GARY -- The shadowy figure in the kitchen window didn't answer Saturday night when confronted by the homeowner who shouted repeated warnings. So it wasn't until after the burglar was shot trying to run out the back door that the homeowner discovered he'd wounded his second cousin.
"He told me he yelled, 'I'm armed, I called the police,' but the man inside never said anything," Detective Jeff Hornyak said Sunday.
Todd K. Godfrey, 46, was shot in the wrist about 10:20 p.m. by his relative, 51-year-old Tarold Blakey, as he tried to leave through a basement door.
Blakey said he and his fiance had returned to his home in the 2500 block of Tyler Street and saw a silhouette in the kitchen. He called police, then shouted to the intruder, police said.
When Blakey realized the man was trying to flee, he fired a single warning shot.
"That's when the guy finally says something," Hornyak said.
Police found the house had been ransacked, but nothing appeared to be missing.
Hornyak said he plans to present the case to Lake County prosecutors for review.
Contact Lori Caldwell at 881-3000 Ext. 3119 or lcaldwell@
A would be burglar gets more than he bargains for while breaking into a West Jackson home. The homeowner sent the burglar to the hospital. It happened in the 600 block of Hillsdale Drive off Clinton Boulevard.
A homeowner on Hillsdale Drive was still in bed around 9:00 a.m. when a burglar woke him from his sleep.
"Once he heard Mr. Moore attempt to break into the home he retrieved a weapon and fired a shot striking Mr. Moore," said Jackson Police Lt. Jeffery Scott.
Eighteen year old Lorenzo Moore was shot once in the arm. He fled the home and was taken by private vehicle to University Medical Center. One neighbor we spoke to believes the homeowner should have taken further action. "He shouldn't have just wounded him. He should have killed him dead," said Thelma Moore, no relation to the accused burglar. "If he got enough nerve to come in and shoot, he's going to kill you if you don't kill him. Take him out."
It's not clear if the burglar had a weapon on him at the time of the break in. Jackson Police say that is something Moore will be asked in questioning.
"These young men do not understand the risk they take over a TV or VCR. Again that's something we try to stress to these young men, but sometimes it hits home, sometimes it does not," said Lt. Scott.
Moore lives only a few streets away from where the break-in occurred. He will soon be behind bars. According to Lt. Scott when Moore is released from the hospital he will be charged with house burglary.
The fatal shooting of a robbery suspect by a clerk at a southwest Houston cellular phone store will be referred to a Harris County grand jury without charges, police said Tuesday.
The shooting happened shortly before 7 p.m. Monday after the man entered the T-Mobile store in the 7500 block of the Southwest Freeway and pointed a pistol at two employees, police said.
A third employee, who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun, confronted the man and the two exchanged shots, investigators said.
The robbery suspect died at the scene. The employee was not injured.
The dead man's name was withheld, pending positive identification by the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office.
A Vacaville man shot and killed a suspect who was allegedly trying to burglarize his home early Saturday morning, police said.
At about 2 a.m., the resident woke up to the sound of voices in his home in the 1200 block of Balsam Way. He grabbed a handgun and left the bedroom to investigate, according to police.
The resident, who lives alone, confronted a suspect and shot him in the torso at least once, police said.
He then immediately called police.
Arriving officers found a man between 35 and 45 years old dead at the home and located physical evidence indicating at least one additional person was in the home when the shooting occurred.
That person is believed to have fled through a bedroom window, police said.
Vacaville police and Solano County sheriff's canine units and a California Highway Patrol helicopter searched the area, but did not locate the person.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call the Vacaville Police Department at (707) 449-5200 or Detective Todd Dye at (707) 449-5212.
Copyright 2008 by Bay City News, Inc. republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
A Vacaville resident shot and killed a man who the resident said was burglarizing his home.
The resident, who police did not identify and who lives alone on the 1200 block of Balsam Way, awoke to the sound of voices inside his home around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to a news release from the Vacaville Police Department.
The resident armed himself with a handgun, confronted the alleged burglar and shot him "at least once" in the torso, according to police. The resident then called police. The Solano County Coroner has not yet released the name of the dead man, and police described him only as an unidentified white male.
Police found physical evidence at the home that they believe shows a second person was in the home when the shooting occurred. Police believe that person left the home through a bedroom window.
Authorities conducted a search with K-9 units and a CHP helicopter but were unable to locate the other alleged burglar. Authorities are asking that person or anyone else with information on the shooting to call the Vacaville Police Department at (707) 549-5200.
This article appeared on page B - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Fayetteville, N.C. — A Fayetteville man says he fired shots at two would-be robbers, fatally shooting one, Friday night.
Richard J. Opdenhoff said he and his wife were sitting with their dogs in their living room watching TV shortly before 11 p.m. when two masked men invaded his home and attempted to rob them at gunpoint.
Opdendhoff, who had access to his gun, said he fired three to five shots at the men, hitting one of them. The other assailant got away.
Fayetteville police identified the alleged assailant as Alton Jeffery McCrimmon, 23. He died in a neighbor's yard, investigators said.
Authorities would not confirm that Opdenhoff fired the gun that killed McCrimmon but said no charges have been filed against the resident who shot him.
Opdenhoff said he has been on edge since the April shooting death of his stepdaughter, Jessica Cahoon, who was shot in the head by assailants who ambushed her and her boyfriend who were returning from a birthday party.
He said he bought the gun out of fear the assailants would harm her boyfriend or other family members.
Authorities later arrested the men responsible for Cahoon's death, but Opdenhoff said he and his wife are still fearful.
He said he is confident that police will find and arrest the other assailant involved in Friday's home invasion.
Copyright 2008 by WRAL.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Couple Turns Tables on Armed Men Who Broke into Home
Last Edited: Wednesday, 03 Sep 2008, 1:39 PM CDT
Created: Wednesday, 03 Sep 2008, 7:28 AM CDT
BLUE MOUND, Texas -- Two men, one armed with a shotgun, broke down the front door of a home in Blue Mound around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday and confronted the homeowners who fought back, according to police.
The men were also reportedly involved in a home invasion about an hour earlier in Fort Worth where they confronted a 38-year-old man and his wife in their bedroom.
Police said the suspects, Dakota Benoit, 21, and John Pierson, 25, stole valuables including a laptop computer, a wallet and the family's car.
The couple was not injured.
The suspects drove the stolen car to the 600 block of Globe Avenue in Blue Mound where they randomly chose another home and kicked in the front door, according to investigators.
But this time, the outcome for the alleged armed robbers was different.
Benoit and Pierson confronted a woman inside her living room and put a shotgun to her head.
At the same time, the woman's husband walked into the room.
"It's kind of hard to explain, a guy with a shotgun, it's like waking up to a horror movie, " said Keith Hoehn.
With the thought of their two children, ages 5 and 12, who were sleeping, the Hoehns made the split -second decision to fight the men who had invaded their home.
"You're scared to death and your kids are in there and he's got a gun pointed at my wife. All we did was fight for our lives," said Mr. Hoehn.
His wife, Kelly, picked up the first thing she could find, a candle encased in glass, and smacked one of the men in the head.
"I was fighting along with him, getting them off my husband," she said, "and I picked up what I thought could possibly knock him out."
Police said the struggle spilled out into the front yard where Mr. Hoehn wrestled the shotgun away and shot both men.
Benoit collapsed in the street and died at the scene, according to police. Pierson, who had been wounded, ran away on foot.
Police said Pierson stopped to clean himself up at a fountain not far from the Hoehns' home. Officers located him and he was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital where he is in critical condition.
The husband and wife suffered minor cuts and bruises during the struggle. Their children were not injured in the attempted robbery.
"We're not going to let anybody come into our house and put our family at risk without fighting, he would have had to kill me," said Mrs. Hoehn.
The Hoehns will likely not face charges but the case will be turned over to the District Attorney's Office.
Joshua Eastman was unloading a cart full of groceries into the passenger side of his pickup truck after a midnight run to the Wal-Mart in East Stroudsburg. It was about 12:45 a.m. Thursday. The parking lot was nearly deserted.
A man with a bandanna over his face walked up, pointed a gun at him and said, "Give me the money," according to Stroud Area Regional police.
Eastman looked around for help, but the few people who were around didn't take notice. The gunman pressed him to turn over the money. Eastman insisted he didn't have any, saying he had used his debit card for the groceries.
The gunman became more threatening, more demanding, police said.
Eastman, a 28-year-old, self-employed business major at East Stroudsburg University who lives in the borough, took out his wallet and opened the door of his pickup wider, so it was between him and the robber.
The robber pointed his .25-caliber handgun at Eastman's face, police said. Eastman deliberately dropped his wallet and ducked down behind the door, hoping to draw someone's attention. But the robber fired, shattering the window and sending shards into Eastman's face.
As he fell to the ground, Eastman pulled a .32-caliber handgun from his holster -- he was licensed to carry it, police said -- and started shooting under the door, hitting the robber in the lower leg and foot.
At least six shots were fired in the exchange, with the shooters less than six feet apart, said police Capt. William Parrish.
The robber limped away to some bushes about 75 yards away, where police found him. A handgun, which he told police he had found, lay nearby.
Police later identified him as 17-year-old Reneau Jean Jacques of 77 Symphony Circle, Smithfield Township. They charged him as an adult with attempted homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and firearms offenses.
Police are investigating whether people in a car that pulled out of the lot after the shooting were linked to the robbery. After getting a report of shots fired, officers racing to the Wal-Mart saw the car and stopped it. Inside were two men, ages 24 and 26, who told police they knew Jacques. Police impounded the car and got a warrant to search it. Parrish said Eastman acted in self-defense and won't be charged with any crime.
It was the second shooting in the Wal-Mart parking lot since Dec. 6, 2004, when a Stroudsburg man was killed in a drug deal gone bad. Otherwise, police said they encounter routine crimes like shoplifting and counterfeit money being passed at the Wal-Mart, which is one of the few places in the area open 24 hours a day.
Thursday afternoon, Jacques, 5 feet 6 inches tall and wearing a hospital gown, hobbled into court on crutches and stared blankly during his arraignment, which ended with East Stroudsburg District Judge Michael Muth sending him to Monroe County Prison under $100,000 bail.
The boy said he was a student at Shawnee Academy, a school for troubled youths in Smithfield. Detective Harry D. Miller of the Stroud Area Regional police said Jacques has a juvenile criminal record that included indecent assault and drugs.
At Jacques' home, his father, Garry Jacques, who works as a driver in New York City, said the family moved from Queens to the Poconos five years ago.
"In general, he's a good kid," his father said. "But kids today are wild."
Around noon Thursday at his East Stroudsburg apartment, just blocks from the Wal-Mart, Eastman rubbed his eyes, squinted and said he could barely see. He had just gotten back from the eye doctor.
"I haven't slept yet," he said.
A friend at the apartment said Eastman's eyes hurt. Through the pain, Eastman said he felt lucky to be alive.
Parrish said what Eastman had done "made tactical sense" -- dropping his wallet, getting the car door between him and the robber and then ducking behind it -- but the police captain said he doesn't recommend that anyone get into a shootout with a robber.
"I don't think your life is worth the contents of your wallet," Parrish said.
Police: Woman Shoots At Men Trying To Break Into Car Suspect Airlifted To Hospital
More local news from NBC6 Gustav Kills 23; New Orleans Makes Evacuation Plan WTVJ-TV updated 2:15 a.m. ET, Thurs., Aug. 28, 2008
MIAMI LAKES, Fla. -
Miami-Dade police said a woman opened fire on three men who were trying to break into a car in Miami Lakes early Thursday.
The three men were trying to break into a car outside a home near Northwest 57th Avenue north of the Palmetto Expressway at about 2:30 a.m., police said. Miami-Dade police said they think the men were trying to steal the car's stereo. Story continues below ↓advertisement
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A man and a woman who were inside the home came outside. When the man got into a confrontation with the three men, the woman started firing a gun, police said. Neighbors said they heard between four and seven shots.
"These subjects came here to do a crime," said Bobby Williams of the Miami-Dade Police Department. "Once that crime was committed, the boyfriend came out to stop them or at least to talk to them. They attacked him, so she was in fear for her boyfriend's safety and herself."
The three men took off in an SUV, which police said was stolen. Police stopped the suspects outside a nearby CVS store and arrested them.
One of the three men had been shot in the chest and was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital. He was in critical condition, NBC 6's Steve Litz reported.
The investigation continues. The suspects were expected to face charges. Police said the shooting appeared to be justified, so the woman who fired the shots might not face charges.
Elderly Woman Grabs Gun, Holds Would-Be Burglar At Bay
POSTED: 3:33 pm EDT August 18, 2008
UPDATED: 5:58 pm EDT August 18, 2008
LAKE LYNN, Pa. -- An 85-year-old great-grandmother from Lake Lynn, Fayette County kept an alleged burglar at bay using a .22-caliber pistol.
According to police, a 17-year-old suspect was attempting to burglarize Leda Smith overnight.
That's when Smith grabbed her gun and told the teen that she would shoot him if he moved, police said.
"I had the gun on him before he turned around and said, 'you've had it,' " Smith told Channel 11-News.
According to police, Smith ordered the boy to dial 911 and then gave him some advice.
"Dial 911 and don't attempt to throw the phone at me, or do anything bad or i'll just shoot you," Smith said.
When police arrived, they took the teen into custody.
Charges have been filed against the boy and an alleged accomplice.
Copyright 2008 by Wpxi.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast
Why citizens must own and carry firearms by Ben Shapiro
35 Ben Shapiro's At 2 a.m. on Sunday, 27-year-old Alan Senitt was murdered. Senitt, an aspiring British politician, Jewish activist and Democratic volunteer, was walking home a female companion in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. when he was accosted by Christopher Piper, 25, Jeffrey Rice, 22, and a 15-year-old. Piper, who had a gun, immediately grabbed Senitt's female companion and pulled her away to rape her. Rice, who had stated earlier in the night that he was desperate to "cut" someone, slit Senitt's throat. The three thugs then hopped into a getaway car driven by Olivia Miles, 26, and sped off into the night.
Only hours later, the police arrested the four suspects. Apparently, two of the suspects matched the descriptions of perpetrators of two recent robberies, and the police had already obtained an address for those two suspects. So why did Alan Senitt have to die in order for these animals to be arrested? "I can give you my 100 percent word everything was done within the confines of the law," Lt. Robert Glover of the police department's violent crimes branch told the Washington Post. "We cannot make an arrest without probable cause."
Now the police have their probable cause. Rice was found with Senitt's ID and the woman's cell phone on his person, and his shirt covered in Senitt's blood. The suspects are in custody. And Alan Senitt is dead.
Our Constitution mandates that citizens may not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. One of the requirements of due process of law is that arrests not be arbitrary. It is likely true that the D.C. police did everything within the confines of the law to pursue the suspects. What the murder of Alan Senitt demonstrates is that the confines of law cost lives when citizens are unable to protect themselves.
Law enforcement is by its very nature reactive. The police cannot arrest people before they have committed any crimes, a la "Minority Report." Citizens should not expect that the police will be able to prevent all crime -- there must always be an initial crime in order for police to prevent subsequent crimes. Until Ted Bundy murdered his first victim, the police had nothing for which to arrest him; at the very most, law enforcement could only have saved Bundy's later victims. Someone always has to suffer before law enforcement can get involved.
Citizens are left with two choices. They can either rely on the kindness of criminals, or they can protect themselves. The choice is obvious. Yet liberal cities continue to rely on the kindness of criminals.
Washington, D.C. is famous for its insanely restrictive anti-gun laws. It has been illegal since 1976 to have an assembled and loaded firearm, even in your home, in D.C. Carrying a handgun for self-protection is against the law. For some reason, Democrats seem to be unable to explain the dramatic 72 percent rise in the D.C. homicide rate between 1976 and 2001, even as the national homicide rate plummeted 36 percent over the same period. Certainly Christopher Piper had no problem carrying a gun and using it to rape Senitt's female companion. Criminals, it seems, engage in crime. And law-abiding citizens pay the price.
The basis for every right in our Constitution is the right to self-preservation. John Locke, the founders' favorite non-Biblical philosopher, explained that if a government " endeavour[s] to grasp themselves an absolute power over the lives, liberties, and estates of the people; by this breach of trust they forfeit the power the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the people, who have a right to resume their original liberty."
When a government seizes citizens' ability to protect themselves, that government becomes a usurper. It is for this reason that the Second Amendment guarantees both the individual right to self-defense and the communal right to fight any deprivation of the right to self-defense.
Would Alan Senitt have bought a gun for self-defense? The question is irrelevant in D.C.; Senitt had no choice in the matter. As it stands in D.C., only criminals have the right to choose. And the police can only respond to 911 calls
Where does the right for someone to bear arms and to defend themselves cross the line with my right to not live in fear?
In Oklahoma, lawmakers are considering what is being labeled as the “Stand Your Ground” bill, which gives greater legal protections to people who shoot or use other deadly force when threatened or attacked.
With similar bills pending in Georgia, and one measure already passed in Florida, in its essence this bill expands where firearms can be taken and when they can be used with deadly force, clarifying existing laws on self defense.
Other legislation pending includes efforts to allow judges, principals and even school superintendents to carry guns.
The measure amends the “Make My Day” law (do all Oklahoma laws have these neat, catchy names?) already in existence in Oklahoma that allows citizens to protect themselves inside their homes — but does not expand beyond the confines of one’s property.
The logic used behind this is that a woman under attack by a would-be carjacker should not have to first find out if the assailant is armed before using deadly force.
The last thing this world needs is my wife with a gun. But back to the subject at hand.
According to the local branch of the NRA, the Oklahoma Rifle Association, the bill is to protect the rights of citizens to live and work without fear of defending themselves in public.
So I ask, where does the right for someone to bear arms and protect themselves end and my right to feel safe as an ordinary citizen begin?
I have no problem with anyone’s right to bear arms. While I will never understand why someone needs automatic and semi-automatic weapons when a shotgun will accomplish the same goal, I can respect the right for someone to have a gun.
At their home or while hunting.
One of my friends actually has a concealed weapons permit for Georgia. We got into a similar discussion about that one day, but now it seems that the laws are going to make it a little bit easier for someone to pull out that gun and pull the trigger.
“I was defending myself,” is soon to become the new catch phrase out in Oklahoma.
I have never owned a gun, never will, and have only shot one on the sporadic hunting endeavor during my lifetime. But that does not mean that I don’t think someone else should have the right to bear arms and use them if they must.
But the more guns that people are walking around with, legal and illegal, the higher the chances are of me accidentally getting caught in a crossfire of someone protecting themselves with their gun from those that are committing whatever crime with their gun.
Now I try not to worry about the things that I have no control over. There is no accounting in our daily lives the number of times that an accident could have happened but didn’t.
But vigilante justice just doesn’t sit well with me. And after all of the posturing and name-calling is done, that is all this bill and any other like it do — offer approval for someone to take the law into their own hands.
Oakland: Police say citizens fed up with crime
Charles Burress,Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Printable VersionEmail This Article del.icio.us Digg Technorati Reddit Facebook Slashdot Fark Newsvine Google Bookmarks (299) Georgia (default) Verdana Times New Roman Arial (04-22) 17:32 PDT Oakland - -- After citizens shot and wounded three suspected criminals in the past week, Oakland police acknowledged Tuesday that residents are fed up with crime and expressed understanding for two shopkeepers and a resident who they say fought back in self-defense.
"I think they're tired of being infringed upon," said Officer Roland Holmgren, a police spokesman. "And they're defending themselves. I don't think it's anything different than you or I might do if we felt threatened, if we felt that our home was being violated or our work was being violated."
Holmgren spoke just hours after a North Oakland resident shot and critically injured a suspected burglar at the resident's home in the 600 block of 59th Street. Police identified the suspect in the alleged break-in at 8:15 a.m. as Nathan Cooper, 31, a parolee from Oakland.
On Saturday, an armed man who tried to rob Ed's Liquors on 23rd Avenue in East Oakland was shot three times by the store owner, who also was wounded in the leg in an exchange of gunfire, police said. Two days before that, a clerk at Wah Fay 8th Avenue Corner Market shot an 18-year-old Pittsburg man who allegedly tried to rob the store.
Tuesday's shooting took place a block from where 59th Street resident and anti-crime activist Patrick McCullough shot and wounded a 15-year-old boy outside his home in February 2005 after a group of young men surrounded McCullough in his front yard, shouting, "Kill the snitch."
"We're going to defend ourselves by any means necessary," McCullough, who is running for Oakland City Council, said after Tuesday's shooting.
He said residents and businesses need to arm and defend themselves because Oakland lacks enough police officers and effective anti-crime programs, including productive opportunities for young people.
"It shows crime is out of control and that the people in charge of bringing crime under control are not doing their job," he said.
Cooper was in stable condition at a hospital Tuesday with a gunshot wound in his chest. He will be arrested on suspicion of burglary and parole violation, Holmgren said.
The resident, whom Holmgren described as a 51-year-old man, told police he was home alone when he heard a window break and a commotion or noise. He then saw a man "holding something over his head, which he believed to be some sort of firearm," Holmgren said. "In fear for his safety, the victim fired two shots, striking the suspect one time in the chest."
Cooper was outside reaching inside the house when shot, Holmgren said. He ran around the corner onto Shattuck Avenue, where he was found by police who had been alerted by a 911 call. Burglary tools were found at the scene, Holmgren said. No gun was found on Cooper.
Police do not plan to press charges against the resident, who had called police to report the shooting about the same time as they received the 911 call about Cooper being found wounded, Holmgren said.
Holmgren said Cooper lived in the same area as Tuesday's shooting. He said that he did not have details on Cooper's criminal history but that the suspect was on parole and probation and "is no stranger to the legal system."
Asked at a news conference whether police have a position on citizens taking the law into their own hands, Holmgren said: "I don't think they are taking the law into their own hands. I think they're doing their God-given right, which is to defend themselves and their property."
But Holmgren cautioned that using deadly force is not always justified and that citizens, like police, can be held accountable for their actions.
A man at a residence near the house where Cooper was shot said drug-dealing occurs continuously on the street.
"They do drugs all day long," said the man, who asked not to be identified to avoid potential retribution. "It's really, really bad."
He said many problems seem concentrated around Klippers barbershop around the corner on Shattuck Avenue, where one night two weeks ago he heard between 17 and 20 gunshots, followed by three men fleeing on foot and attempting to run between houses on the street.
Oakland: Police say citizens fed up with crime
Charles Burress,Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Printable VersionEmail This Article del.icio.us Digg Technorati Reddit Facebook Slashdot Fark Newsvine Google Bookmarks (299) Georgia (default) Verdana Times New Roman Arial (04-22) 17:32 PDT Oakland - -- After citizens shot and wounded three suspected criminals in the past week, Oakland police acknowledged Tuesday that residents are fed up with crime and expressed understanding for two shopkeepers and a resident who they say fought back in self-defense.
"I think they're tired of being infringed upon," said Officer Roland Holmgren, a police spokesman. "And they're defending themselves. I don't think it's anything different than you or I might do if we felt threatened, if we felt that our home was being violated or our work was being violated."
Holmgren spoke just hours after a North Oakland resident shot and critically injured a suspected burglar at the resident's home in the 600 block of 59th Street. Police identified the suspect in the alleged break-in at 8:15 a.m. as Nathan Cooper, 31, a parolee from Oakland.
On Saturday, an armed man who tried to rob Ed's Liquors on 23rd Avenue in East Oakland was shot three times by the store owner, who also was wounded in the leg in an exchange of gunfire, police said. Two days before that, a clerk at Wah Fay 8th Avenue Corner Market shot an 18-year-old Pittsburg man who allegedly tried to rob the store.
Tuesday's shooting took place a block from where 59th Street resident and anti-crime activist Patrick McCullough shot and wounded a 15-year-old boy outside his home in February 2005 after a group of young men surrounded McCullough in his front yard, shouting, "Kill the snitch."
"We're going to defend ourselves by any means necessary," McCullough, who is running for Oakland City Council, said after Tuesday's shooting.
He said residents and businesses need to arm and defend themselves because Oakland lacks enough police officers and effective anti-crime programs, including productive opportunities for young people.
"It shows crime is out of control and that the people in charge of bringing crime under control are not doing their job," he said.
Cooper was in stable condition at a hospital Tuesday with a gunshot wound in his chest. He will be arrested on suspicion of burglary and parole violation, Holmgren said.
The resident, whom Holmgren described as a 51-year-old man, told police he was home alone when he heard a window break and a commotion or noise. He then saw a man "holding something over his head, which he believed to be some sort of firearm," Holmgren said. "In fear for his safety, the victim fired two shots, striking the suspect one time in the chest."
Cooper was outside reaching inside the house when shot, Holmgren said. He ran around the corner onto Shattuck Avenue, where he was found by police who had been alerted by a 911 call. Burglary tools were found at the scene, Holmgren said. No gun was found on Cooper.
Police do not plan to press charges against the resident, who had called police to report the shooting about the same time as they received the 911 call about Cooper being found wounded, Holmgren said.
Holmgren said Cooper lived in the same area as Tuesday's shooting. He said that he did not have details on Cooper's criminal history but that the suspect was on parole and probation and "is no stranger to the legal system."
Asked at a news conference whether police have a position on citizens taking the law into their own hands, Holmgren said: "I don't think they are taking the law into their own hands. I think they're doing their God-given right, which is to defend themselves and their property."
But Holmgren cautioned that using deadly force is not always justified and that citizens, like police, can be held accountable for their actions.
A man at a residence near the house where Cooper was shot said drug-dealing occurs continuously on the street.
"They do drugs all day long," said the man, who asked not to be identified to avoid potential retribution. "It's really, really bad."
He said many problems seem concentrated around Klippers barbershop around the corner on Shattuck Avenue, where one night two weeks ago he heard between 17 and 20 gunshots, followed by three men fleeing on foot and attempting to run between houses on the street.
EQUAL TIME: Bill gives responsible citizens a chance to defend themselves
By Timothy J. Bearden For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/15/08
I would like to clear up some misleading information about House Bill 89.
Under current law, a law-abiding citizen with a Georgia firearm license permit may go into any restaurant in the state that does not sell alcohol. That is about 75 percent to 80 percent of all restaurants in Georgia. So the Georgia Restaurant Association is saying they trust those of us who hold firearm license permits to go into restaurants that don't sell alcohol, but they will not trust law-abiding Georgians in restaurants that sell alcohol?
HB 89 would not allow carrying firearms into bars. Also, we are not reinventing the wheel here in Georgia. If the bill is signed into law, Georgia will become the 38th state in the nation to decriminalize carrying firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol. None of the other states have had anything occur like they are trying to say will happen here in Georgia.
Briefly, let me touch on the public transportation portion of the bill. If this bill is signed into law, Georgia will become the 44th state in the nation to allow carrying weapons on public transportation. Again, law-abiding citizens will have the chance to defend themselves, and not have to worry about a potential 20-year prison sentence for just walking past a bus stop, as could happen under current law.
And when it comes to state parks, wildlife management areas and historic sites, we have all seen with horror what one "animal" can do when he is intent on doing bodily harm to a hiker or camper who is alone on our trails.
To receive a Georgia firearm license permit, one must go to the probate judge and fill out an application, sign off on the mental background check, go to the local sheriff's office for fingerprints to be checked by the GBI, FBI and National Instant Criminal Background Check System and have the judge issue the license. I don't recall any criminals going through that process so they could carry a concealed firearm to commit a crime. Criminals don't care what the laws are, which is why they are criminals. Only law-abiding citizens disarm themselves in "Gun-Free Zones," which are a criminal's best friend.
HB 89 is just a chance for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and their families while in public. I spent 15 years in law enforcement before being elected to the Georgia Legislature. There is no way that law enforcement can guarantee the safety of every citizen of this state. We see this realization far too often every evening on the news. It is time for Georgia to step up and do the right thing for the law-abiding citizens in this great state of ours and defend the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
> State Rep. Timothy J. Bearden (R-Villa Rica) sponsored House Bill 89.
Texas signs new self-defense by gun law
Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:14pm EDT
1 of 1Full Size Related News Texas, Virginia execute convicted killers 10 Jul 2008 Minimum drinking age of 21 cuts road deaths 01 Jul 2008
powered by Sphere Featured Broker sponsored link Learn to Trade with a FREE Guide.By Ed Stoddard
DALLAS (Reuters) - Criminals in Texas beware: if you threaten someone in their car or office, the citizens of this state where guns are ubiquitous have the right to shoot you dead.
Governor Rick Perry's office said on Tuesday that he had signed a new law that expands Texans' existing right to use deadly force to defend themselves "without retreat" in their homes, cars and workplaces.
"The right to defend oneself from an imminent act of harm should not only be clearly defined in Texas law, but is intuitive to human nature," Perry said on his Web site.
The new law, which takes affect on September 1, extends an exception to a statute that required a person to retreat in the face of a criminal attack. The exception was in the case of an intruder unlawfully entering a person's home.
The law extends a person's right to stand their ground beyond the home to vehicles and workplaces, allowing the reasonable use of deadly force, the governor's office said.
The reasonable use of lethal force will be allowed if an intruder is:
- Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes
- Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place.
The law also provides civil immunity for a person who lawfully slays an intruder or attacker in such situations.
Texas joins several other states including Florida that have or are considering similar laws.
Sympathy for violent offenders and criminals in general runs low in Texas, underscored by its busy death row. The state leads the United States in executions with 388 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A conservative political outlook and widespread fondness for hunting also means Texans are a well-armed people capable of defending themselves with deadly force.
It is easy to acquire guns over the counter in Texas and lawful to carry a concealed handgun with a permit.
HOUSTON -- The Pasadena homeowner who shot and killed two men burglarizing a neighbor's house said Tuesday he would take back his decision to shoot if he could.
"I would never advocate anyone doing what I did," Joe Horn told the Houston Chronicle in an interview at his attorney's home. "We are not geared for that." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Survey: Agree With Grand Jury's Decision? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A grand jury declined to indict Horn, 62, on Monday in the deaths of Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, who were shot after Horn saw them crawling out the windows of a neighbor's house in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, carrying bags of the neighbor's possessions.
Horn has been called a hero by some and a vigilante by others. He told the newspaper he was neither.
"I know what a hero is and that's not me," he said. "I'm a human being that was in a situation that I'd never been in before and I didn't want to die."
Horn called 911 when he saw the men but ignored the dispatcher's repeated requests to stay inside, saying he was "gonna kill 'em." Horn confronted the men with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot both in the back.
Horn: "I can't take a chance on getting killed over this, OK?"
911: "No."
Horn: "I'm going to shoot."
911: "Stay inside the house and don't go out there, OK?"
A few minutes later, Torres and Ortiz, both illegal immigrants, were dead.
Horn told the newspaper Tuesday that he heard the sound of breaking glass that November day, looked out an upstairs window and saw two men breaking into his neighbor's home through a block glass window.
He said he called 911 and began to get scared, wondering whether his neighbors were home or if the two would try to break into his home. He got his shotgun.
"All I was thinking was, 'Oh my God,'" he said. "You lose track of time. You don't ever think about that. You start thinking about all kinds of things. What if little Eddie was home alone next door? What if it was my home and I'm sleeping and I didn't even hear them come in? I was feeling helpless."
Horn told the Chronicle he went downstairs to get a description of the men for police. But on the 911 transcript in response to the dispatcher's warning that he could get shot if he went outside, Horn said, "You wanna make a bet? I'm gonna kill 'em."
Horn said he experienced "instant fear" when he saw the men enter his yard.
He shouted, "Move, you're dead," words he regrets saying, and fired when one of the men started to charge him, the newspaper reported.
"There was no time to aim," Horn said. "To this day, I still don't know where I shot."
Horn told the newspaper that he turned slightly toward the right and fired toward the second man, Ortiz, who ran toward the neighbor's house. Torres was walking toward him and Horn fired a third time.
He said he didn't think he hit either one of the men and didn't know that he had killed them until overhearing an officer telling another what had happened.
"It was like nothing I've ever felt. It was like it wasn't really happening. Just numb," he said.
Horn told the Chronicle that he expected to be indicted for the shooting as a result of the 911 record.
"How was I ever going to explain that? That manner in which I talked was just not me," Horn said.
Quanell X, of the New Black Panther Party, said the grand jury was racist because only one minority was on the panel.
"Where were the African Americans on that jury? Where were the Hispanics on that jury?" he said. "Grand juries are not reflective of the racial makeup of Harris County. There is no way under the sun in Harris County that a black man could have done the same thing that Joe Horn did under the exact same set of circumstances and not be placed in the jail."
Grand jury proceedings are secret, including the makeup of the panel.
75-Year-Old Korean War Hero Fends Off Burglars Fri., May. 30, 2008 CARLISLE, Pa. - A decorated Korean War veteran in Carlisle fended off burglars at his home early Friday morning. IMAGES: 75-Year-Old Veteran Confronts Burglars
Gene Johnson, 75, and his wife heard burglars break in about 2:30 a.m. Johnson, who is a two-time Purple Heart recipient and was a POW for three years in Korea, said he got out of bed and got his gun.
The burglars told Johnson they were armed.
"So I told him that I have a gun on him right now," said Johnson. "I didn't want to shoot because if I missed him, then he's seen my gun barrel, the flash of it, where he could have shot me too."
VIDEO: Johnson Shows News 8 What He Did
A few minutes later, Johnson heard the burglars leave.
Johnson said about two weeks ago, burglars broke into his house and stole cash while he was away. He said the crimes make him feel like a prisoner in his own home.
Police have not made any arrests.
With more people carrying guns, self-defense killings on increase
By Christopher Conley (Contact) Saturday, January 5, 2008
The number of justifiable homicides in Memphis jumped from 11 in 2006 to 32 in 2007.
No one is sure why, but one man has a theory.
"The thugs have started running into people who can protect themselves," said Tom Givens, owner and instructor at the firearms training school RangeMaster, 2611 S. Mendenhall in Memphis.
Matthew Craig/The Commercial Appeal
Cookie Dungan, 65, (left) rolls up her target after taking her turn in a handgun class at RangeMaster, a Memphis firearms training school.
Comments There are 68 responses to this article. Click here to join the conversation »
Police detectives and prosecutors don't think it's that simple, and they acknowledge the spike could be a one-time occurrence.
"It's hard to put your finger on it," said police Lt. Joseph Scott. "There are more handgun carry permits, there is more education, but you can't say that's the reason."
More people are getting carry permits and more people know their rights. As many as 35,000 people in Shelby County have carry permits, which means they have had some training on the laws governing self-defense.
The education, Givens says, is "trickling down" to friends and family members.
There were 19 fewer criminal homicides in 2007 compared to 2006. There were fewer gang killings as well, which are less likely to be viewed as justified, and there were fewer beating deaths, which, again, are rarely justifiable.
But there were more deadly shootings by law enforcement officers last year -- four by Memphis police, including one by an officer assigned to a federal fugitive task force. There was also one by a Shelby County sheriff's deputy and one by a University of Tennessee officer. All were found to be what internal affairs investigators term "good shoots."
Tennessee law gives citizens the right to defend themselves if they have a reasonable and imminent fear of harm from a carjacker, rapist, burglar or other violent assailant. They can also employ deadly force to protect another person.
And while a diminishing number of states require citizens to try to avoid a confrontation before using deadly force, Tennessee does not have such a "retreat law."
When someone claims self-defense, it is the burden of the prosecutors to refute that claim. Tie goes to the shooter.
"The state has to prove it was not justified. ... We have the burden of proof," said Asst. Dist. Atty. Tom Henderson, a member of the review team that determines whether killings are justified.
Even if the shooting is found to be justified, the shooter often suffers trauma. Even if the shooter is a police officer.
Henderson has seen one trend: "The more the public is afraid of crime, the less concerned they are with criminals being shot." But he can't say that has affected the totals for justifiable homicides.
When someone claims self-defense, detectives often have to dig to determine what happened.
They look at the forensic evidence to see if it matches up with the shooter's story. What does the gunshot look like? Is it at the right angle, the right distance? Did anyone see a gun?
Recently, a killing that looked like a case of a citizen defending himself and his girlfriend from a burglar had an odd twist.
Investigators said Antionita Clay, 31, called boyfriend Christopher Jones and told him someone had broken into her home and might still be there.
Jones went to Clay's Camelot Lane apartment and confronted Asa Marmon, 22, who had a stun gun. When Marmon lunged at Jones, Jones shot him.
Clay filed a burglary report and denied knowing Marmon, but investigators quickly learned that Clay and Marmon were involved sexually.
Clay told police she knew Jones had a handgun and she wanted Jones to scare Marmon.
Jones told police he thought he was confronting a burglar or rapist based on what Clay told him. Prosecutors decided Jones was justified in killing Marmon, but they still charged Clay on Dec. 28 with reckless homicide.
Homicide, but justified
Justifiable homicides in Memphis nearly tripled from 2006 to 2007.
The Allegheny County District Attorney's office today dropped all charges against a Homewood auto shop worker after an investigation concluded the Carrick man shot two assailants, killing one of them, in self-defense Feb. 12.
"This is a classic example of self-defense; it has all the elements. They came into his place of work and attacked him," said Bruce A. Carsia, defense attorney for Byron Samuels, 37. "He wrestled the gun from them and defended himself."
Upon arrival at Derek's Auto Sales, 7900 Bennett St., police found the body of Russell Thomas, 36. His brother Maurice "Reese" Thomas, 33, had suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
Mr. Samuels told police two armed men beat and pistol-whipped him, and falsely accused him of burglarizing their Wilkinsburg home. He was cornered when he disarmed one of them and used the pistol to defend himself. He said one man was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle. Investigators found a shell casing that matched the rifle he described.
"Once we got the ballistics analysis, it [supported] Byron Samuels' self-defense claim," said Mark V. Tranquilli, chief homicide attorney for the district attorney's office.
Mr. Carsia said he expected his client would be released today.
N.Y. Self-Defense Shooting Underscores Need for Private Firearm Ownership
by John M. Snyder
“Somebody tried to mug me, and I shot him,” said New Yorker Margaret Johnson after a perpetrator ripped off her necklace, choked her and tried to grab her purse, reported the New York media over the weekend.
This incident offers a graphic illustration of the need for gun ownership on the part of law-abiding American citizens.
It shows up the stupidity of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others like him who oppose a loosening of firearm laws and seek a strengthening of such regulations Regardless of their intentions, the gun grabbers’ campaign against gun ownership on the part of law-abiding citizens and against the firearm industry in effect is an attack on both personal and public safety.
Guns save lives. Guns protect the innocent.
Ms. Johnson, a Harlem resident, was in a motorized scooter when she was attacked. If she did not have her .357 handgun with her and knew how to use it, she would have been an easy victim for 45-year-old Deron Johnson, who police say attacked her from behind. As it is, he wound up in Harlem Hospital Center with a single bullet wound in the elbow, and will face robbery charges.
Ms. Johnson was treated for minor injuries. Since she was on her way to a nearby gun range and has a firearm permit allowing her to keep the gun at home and carry it to and from a range, she will not be charged with any violation. Lucky for her, since it’s so difficult for even the most law-abiding citizens to obtain handgun carry permits in Bloomberg’s hoplophobic New York.
The fact of the matter is that law-abiding citizens use firearms millions of times each year in the United States to prevent crimes or to interrupt them.
According to survey material developed by criminology professor Gary Kleck of Florida State University, there are about 2.5 million defensive gun uses each year in the United States, and 1.8 million of them are defensive handgun uses.
Former resident scholar John R. Lott Jr. of the American Enterprise Institute has demonstrated that when jurisdictions enact laws enabling law-abiding citizens to acquire permits to carry concealed firearms, the rates of violent crime take a nose dive in those jurisdictions.
The scholarly research as well as tons of individual incidents such as the one which occurred with 56-year-old wheelchair-bound Margaret Johnson in New York Friday demonstrate that decent people need guns and access to them for their safety and for that of the public. People need to be able to protect their lives and safety and the lives and safety of their loved ones from violent criminal predators. Politicians, academics, journalists, church officials and others who don’t understand this or who refuse to admit it really just don’t get it.
Homeowner Shot During Gunfight With Would-Be Robber
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