Armed citizens making a difference thread.

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5 today.

https://www.wtvq.com/2018/01/04/lpd-...able-homicide/
LPD: Fatal shooting was justifiable homicide
Echo Gamel01/04/2018 - 2:08pm

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Lexington Police say the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old last year was justifiable homicide.

On July 10, 2017, Darrius Twyman, was found suffering from a gunshot wound in a parking lot near Cornerstone and Danielle Lane.

He was taken to the University of Kentucky Hospital, where he later died.

Police say forensic evidence and witness statements led detectives to believe the person who shot Twyman acted in self-defense.

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https://www.google.com/search?q=weat...&client=safari

Resident Shoots Man He Believed Was Stealing from Him

A Rossiter Court resident shot an 18-year-old he believed was stealing from his automobile, Montgomery County police said.

The teen and two juveniles fled after the shooting but officers found them, police said.

No names were included in the report because it is police policy not to identify someone who has not been charged, said Officer Rick Goodale, a police spokesman.

The incident took place in Good Hope, a neighborhood east of New Hampshire Avenue and north of the Intercounty Connector.

About 3:18 a.m. Wednesday, Wheaton District officers were investigating a theft from a vehicle in the 14000 block of Twig Road. While police searched the area for the culprits, the Rossiter Court resident flagged down the officers and reported a theft from a vehicle, police said.

The resident said he had a handgun, confronted three supposed thieves and fired at them, police said.

The resident provided a description of the three and said they fled after he had fired shots at them. The resident turned over his handgun to officers, police said.

A short time later, the Emergency Communications Center received a call for the report of a shooting victim in the 1300 block of Elm Grove Circle.

Responding officers found the victim suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to his lower torso, Goodale said. He was taken to a local hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.

Officers determined he was one of the three whom the Rossiter Court resident shot at, police said.

Police found one of the juveniles at this location, police said. Police found the other juvenile on Good Hope Road, police said. The two juvenile suspects have been charged with theft related offenses.

Detectives are still working to determine if the gun was legally registered, Goodale said. Detectives also are consulting with the State’s Attorney about any possible charges for the shooter, he said. The person shot has not been charged with anything as of yet.

This remains an ongoing investigation. Detectives are urging anyone with information about this event to contact 4th District detectives at 240-773-5530.

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This one might be iffy as self defense. Police think a guy caught someone trying to steal his car and shot him. The shooter took off which only leaves us with the car thief’s story.

http://fox2now.com/2018/01/04/man-tr...-seek-shooter/

Man trying to steal car shot; police seek shooter
Posted 1:23 pm, January 4, 2018, by Associated Press

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis police are searching for a man who shot and critically wounded a would-be car thief.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the shooting happened Wednesday night near West Florissant and Thrush avenues. The 38-year-old shooting victim was struck in the right arm and left leg and is in critical but stable condition.

Police say the man was trying to steal a vehicle when a man, believed to be the owner of the car, saw him inside the car and ordered him out at gunpoint.

The would-be thief tried to run but was shot. The shooter drove away in the car.

Police say the gunman is black and 20 to 30 years old with a medium complexion. He wore a gray hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black shoes. His vehicle was an older model four-door silver Saturn with black bumpers and rims.

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8 today.

Man shoots intruder in Orange Mound

http://www.fox13memphis.com/top-stor...ound/676392633
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis Police Department is currently working a shooting in Orange Mound.

The shooting happened around 3:53 p.m. in the 2700 block of Jolson. MPD told FOX13 the complainant advised that he shot an intruder who was trying to rob him at his home.

No condition is available at this point about the intruder who was shot.

This is an ongoing investigation.

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Tulsa woman pulls gun on intruder, tells him to leave, police say

http://www.fox23.com/news/tulsa-woma...-say/676620408
TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa police said a woman held a suspected thief at gunpoint until he left her home Thursday afternoon.

It happened near Pine and Delaware.

Officials said the homeowner grabbed a gun when she heard someone break in the front door. The woman told police she pointed the gun at the suspect and told him to leave.

Police found a man matching the suspect's description walking a few blocks away from the house. He was identified as Rubin Jackson.

Jackson told police he only knocked on the woman's door. He was booked on a count of burglary and threatening a violent act. Police said that, as he left the house, he threatened to come find her later.

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2 today

http://newsok.com/article/5578417

Pickup stolen Friday as homeowner fires shot in southwest OKC
From Staff Reports Published: January 5, 2018 8:05 AM CDT Updated: January 5, 2018 8:15 AM CDT
Police are looking for a robber Friday who stole a pickup as a homeowner fired a shot at him in southwest Oklahoma City, police report.

A man told police his pickup was stolen and he fired a shot as the man drove off about 7 a.m. in the 600 block of SW 23. Police said no one was hit by gunfire.

Check NewsOK.com for updates.

———————————————————-
http://www.koco.com/article/police-h...t-okc/14758917

OKLAHOMA CITY —
A homeowner fired a shot at a intruder who then took off in the homeowner’s vehicle, Oklahoma City police officials said Friday morning.

According to police, officers responded to a report of a home invasion in the 600 block of Southwest 23rd Street.

Police learned that a homeowner fire a shot at one person who broke into the home. No one was injured.

No arrests have been made.

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I’ve avoided posting articles of officers using firearms to defend themselves in the line of duty to focus on citizens who do not carry as part of their job description. I have included stories of officers who were off duty in the thread though.

I have read many articles over the last year where officers have used firearms to defend themselves and others. The number of articles I read of police stopping a threat easily numbered in the hundreds. They were armed citizens making a difference. They showed why having a firearm when endangered by certain threats is necessary, not just for the police, but for everyone. In the end 987 people were shot by police last year which seems to be about the average # of police shootings every year.

Btw..... About 750 stories of citizens defending themselves were posted in the 5 months from July 29th to Dec 28th. Extrapolated over a year and the number of citizens protecting themselves that were posted dwarfs the number of confirmed police shootings. Goes to show why citizens should be armed. While police do what they can when they can, there are a lot of situations that arise when police can not be there to take care of the situation. In the end we are all responsible for protecting ourselves and should never abdicate that responsibility in the hopes that someone else will always be there to protect us.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/nationa...bd2ab334e.html

Police shot and killed nearly 1,000 people in US in 2017

By John Sullivan, Zane Anthony, Julie Tate, Jennifer Jenkins of the Washington Post
2 hrs ago
For the third year in a row, police nationwide shot and killed nearly 1,000 people, a grim annual tally that has persisted despite widespread public scrutiny of officers' use of fatal force.

Police fatally shot 987 people last year, or two dozen more than they killed in 2016, according to an ongoing Washington Post database project that tracks the fatal shootings. Since 2015, The Post has logged the details of 2,945 shooting deaths, culled from local news coverage, public records and social-media reports.

While many of the year-to-year patterns remain consistent, the number of unarmed black males killed in 2017 declined from two years ago. Last year, police killed 19, a figure tracking closely with the 17 killed in 2016. In 2015, police shot and killed 36 unarmed black males.

Experts said they are uncertain why the annual total shows little fluctuation - the number for 2017 is almost identical to the 995 killed by police in 2015.

Some believe the tally may correspond to the number of times police encounter people, an outcome of statistical probability. Other experts are exploring whether the number tracks with overall violence in American society.

"The numbers indicate that this is not a trend, but a robust measure of these shootings," said Geoff Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina who studies police use of force. "We now have information on almost 3,000 shootings, and we can start looking to provide the public with a better understanding of fatal officer-involved shootings."

National scrutiny of shootings by police began after an unarmed black teenager from a suburb of St. Louis was fatally shot by a white police officer in August 2014. The death of Michael Brown, 18, sparked widespread protests, prompted a White House commission to call for reforms, galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement and led many police agencies across the nation to examine their use of deadly force.

The attention may have helped police reduce the number of unarmed people shot and killed each year, according to interviews with experts and police departments. Officers fatally shot 94 unarmed people in 2015, but that number has been lower in the past two years, with 51 killed in 2016 and 68 in 2017.

"The national spotlight on this issue has made officers more cautious in unarmed situations," said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank. Wexler also said that the training that his group developed for dozens of departments to de-escalate police encounters with civilians may be having an impact.

"We are giving officers more options like slowing the situation down and using time and distance to gain a tactical advantage," he said.

While the number of black males - armed and unarmed - who have been killed has fallen, black males continue to be shot at disproportionately high rates, the data shows.

Black males accounted for 22 percent of all people shot and killed in 2017, yet they are 6 percent of the total population. White males accounted for 44 percent of all fatal police shootings, and Hispanic males accounted for 18 percent.

Other patterns also held steady in 2017, according to The Post database.

Police again most frequently used fatal force after encountering people armed with knives or guns, killing 735, a number nearly identical to the 734 armed people and killed in 2015. The number was slightly lower in 2016, with 693 armed with either type of weapon.

White males continued to account for the largest group of people killed while armed with guns or knives, at 330 of those killed. Black males armed with guns or knives were fatally shot in 160 cases last year.

Mental health again played an outsize role in the shootings: 236 people, or nearly 1 in 4 of those shot, were described as experiencing some form of mental distress at the time of the encounter.

In the vast majority of those cases, 88 percent, the deceased people had wielded firearms or other weapons, including a machete, a sledge ax and a pitchfork.

In November, Oklahoma City resident Dustin Pigeon, 29, threatened to set himself ablaze. A police officer shot Pigeon five times after he refused to drop a lighter and lighter fluid, according to prosecutors. In an unusual outcome, prosecutors charged the officer with second-degree murder in the death of Pigeon, saying that Pigeon was unarmed and had posed no threat to the officer.

Mental-health advocates said they have been encouraged by the number of police departments that have created intervention teams to help people in mental distress but were dismayed at the persistence of the number killed.

"We call 911 for other medical emergencies and they bring specially trained medical technicians, but when it's a mental-health crisis, we send the police," said Ron Honberg, a senior policy adviser at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a grass-roots mental health-care advocacy group.

Of all the people shot and killed by police in 2017, one of the youngest was 14-year-old Jason Pero from the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa. In November, Jason called 911 to report a man with a knife and then gave a description of himself. Holding a knife, Jason lunged at a sheriff's deputy, who shot and killed him, according to news reports.

The oldest person killed by police was 91-year-old Frank Wratny of Union Township, Pa., who was fatally shot in March after he confronted police with a gun at his home. Police were responding to a 911 call from a woman who said Wratny had fired at her, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, the number of police officers feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2017 stood at 46, a decline from the 66 recorded in 2016, according to the FBI.

Since the shooting of Brown, some police departments said they have made headway in efforts to reduce the number of people they fatally shoot.

In Los Angeles in 2015, the police department began to emphasize that officers should strive to preserve life in all encounters. Last year, the department began to award a preservation-of-life medal to an officer who makes great efforts to avoid a fatal shooting. The move was derided by local police unions.

Top managers in the department said they think it has made a difference: Last year, Los Angeles Police Department officers fatally shot 15 people, down from 18 in 2016 and 21 in 2015.

First Assistant Chief Michel Moore said the LAPD has provided officers with more training to emphasize de-escalation and has taken steps to hold officers more accountable.

"Our officers are in 1.5 million volatile encounters a year, so shooting someone is an incredibly rare event," Moore said. "Yet we pull each instance apart and see what factors might have played a role and train our officers to make that rare event even more rare."

For a third consecutive year, The Post documented more than twice the number of deadly shootings by police that were recorded on average annually by the FBI.

In response to the shooting data compiled by The Post and others, the FBI in 2015 promised to start better information gathering about all police encounters that lead to deaths. This month, the agency said it will launch the new nationwide data collection system.

But the new system will have some of the same limitations that has led the government to annually undercount by half the fatal police shootings. As before, data submissions under the new program will be voluntary.

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3 today
https://www.ktnv.com/news/crime/argu...-to-mans-death

UPDATE: Shooting over parking space being investigated as self-defense
Kel Dansby
UPDATE 9:30 A.M.: Las Vegas police now say there is no arrest in this case at this time and it is being investigated as self-defense.

ORIGINAL STORY

Las Vegas police say a suspect shot a victim with a shotgun over an argument about a parking space.

The shooting happened at 9:51 p.m. Thursday in the 6200 block of Ilanos Lane near West Lake Mead Boulevard and North Jones Boulevard.

The victim passed away during surgery and the suspect was taken into custody at the scene.

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4 today

http://www.ocala.com/news/20180105/s...our-ground-law

Slain teen’s shooter cleared under Stand Your Ground law


State Attorney’s Office memo: “After thorough review of this case, it is clear that the use of deadly force by Rivers was justified and lawful and no further action is warranted by this office.”

The State Attorney’s Office has determined that a man suspected of fatally shooting an armed teenager in front of his Ocala home is immune from prosecution under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.

Jeffery Scott, the 18-year-old Vanguard High School senior he killed, was pointing a gun at another teenager at the time, according to the Ocala Police Department. The shooter, Edrige Rivers, also hit — and paralyzed — Marcus Cooper, now 19, who was with Scott.

The shooting occurred Dec. 12 in the 2200 block of Northwest First Avenue.

“Under Florida’s stand your ground law, Edrige Rivers has immunity from prosecution in this incident,” wrote Assistant State Attorney Becky Fletcher in a memorandum released Thursday.

“After thorough review of this case, it is clear that the use of deadly force by Rivers was justified and lawful and no further action is warranted by this office.”

Rivers, she said, has a permit to carry a firearm.

Fletcher said OPD Capt. Steve Cuppy contacted the slain teen’s parents and invited them to meet at the State Attorney’s Office “for us to discuss our decision not to prosecute” but they declined to meet.

Fletcher said she called Cooper’s father and the young man’s mother answered the call. The prosecutor invited her and her son’s father to meet with them at the SAO to talk about the case. The woman said they were unable to attend the meeting as they were busy taking care of their son, who was at a hospital. Fletcher said she explained the decision not to prosecute.

Scott was shot once in the pelvis and the bullet struck blood vessels, which led to his death, according to officials at the Medical Examiner’s Office. Scott was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center, where he died at 11:15 p.m.

Cooper was shot in the back in his spine and is paralyzed from the waist down, Fletcher’s report states.

Afterward, Rivers, 54, told OPD Sgt. Ron Malone that he was the shooter and allowed the supervisor to take his firearm, which is a five-shot Taurus .38-special, according to the memo. Scott had been armed with a 9mm Luger handgun, and he used it to fire several rounds at Rivers during the shooting.

Both Scott and Cooper were found lying on the ground next to two cars, according to the report. The 9mm was recovered from under Scott’s left leg.

A week after the shooting, Rivers’ home burned, and police detectives believe the fire was arson. Detectives continue to investigate that case.

In an account based on investigations, interviews and surveillance video, Fletcher said that earlier on Dec. 12 Rivers’ 17-year-old son attended a basketball game at Vanguard and, during the game, was confronted by Scott.

The two agreed to fight off-campus. Two friends of Rivers’ son were present, as well as one of Scott’s friends.

During the fight, someone from Scott’s group began kicking Rivers’ son in the face, and one of Rivers’ son’s friends intervened and tried to stop the fight. Then, one of Scott’s friends jumped in to stop that.

Cooper, who was driving a Mazda, pulled up at the fight location and got out of the car. Prosecutors said they do not know if Cooper was involved in the fight.

Thinking they saw guns, Rivers’ son’s friends ran away. Scott, Cooper and another teenage friend got into the Mazda left, the memo says. Rivers’ son stayed in the area, as he did not want to go home, where he thought Scott might come after him.

Around 8 p.m., his friends went to the home and told Rivers that his son had been jumped near the school and they didn’t know where he was. Rivers left home, looking for him. The friends also searched for him.

At 9:10 p.m., the two friends, who were in a Toyota, returned and parked in front of the residence. About a minute after they arrived, the Mazda came from Pavilion Oaks, a community located directly across the street, and stopped in front of the Toyota.

Cooper and the other teenager with Scott told investigators he was still angry about the fight.

Armed with the handgun, Scott got out of the Mazda. Cooper also got out.

Scott then confronted one of the two youths in the Toyota and pointed the gun at him. The other teenager in the car got out and ran.

Scott’s other friend in the Mazda also got out of that car but never got close to the Toyota, according to Fletcher’s report.

Rivers was driving on the street when he saw Scott pointing the gun at the other teenager’s head. Rivers yelled at Scott, trying to stop him, according to Fletcher’s account. Believing Scott was going to shoot his son’s friend, Rivers fired his gun at him. Scott returned fire.

Not long after the shooting, Rivers’ son showed up with injuries to his arm and face. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Police recovered surveillance video of shooting.

When Scott pointed the firearm at the head of the other teenager, Fletcher wrote, “he was undoubtedly committing an aggravated assault, which is a forcible felony. Therefore, applying that principle of the law, Edrige Rivers was justified in using deadly force toward Jeffery Scott.”

The memo also states that “where self-defense is a viable defense to the charge of battery on an intended victim, the defense also operates to excuse a battery on an unintended victim. Therefore, the shooting of Marcus Cooper is excusable under the law.”

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Follow up to post 726. I found the part I bolded to be interesting.

http://abc27.com/2018/01/05/da-wont-...oting-in-york/
DA won’t prosecute road rage shooting in York
By Myles Snyder, ABC27 NewsJanuary 5, 2018, 3:28 pm
YORK, Pa. (WHTM) – The York County district attorney’s office says it won’t prosecute a driver who fatally shot another man during a road rage incident.

Jamie Weimert, 27, died in an ambulance after the Nov. 12 incident at East Philadelphia and North Pine streets. He and the other driver had been involved in a crash, and witnesses said Weimert approached the other vehicle and was shot as he repeatedly punched the driver.

The 27-year-old man who shot Weimert was taken into custody for questioning but released pending the outcome of the investigation.

The district attorney’s office said it reviewed cell phone video of the shooting, as well as statements from witnesses and police, ballistic reports, and medical records.

“In light of all the evidence, facts and specific circumstances surrounding this incident, this office determined that the Commonwealth would be unable to meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “An individual is not required to prove that they acted in self-defense. Rather, the law demands that the Commonwealth prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an individual did not act in self-defense.”

“We are appreciative of the thorough and professional investigation conducted by the York City Police Department. Moreover, we express our sincerest gratitude to the eyewitnesses who came forward and provided the critical information necessary to make the appropriate decision under the law.”

2 today

York homicide may have been self-defense, witness says

http://www.ydr.com/story/news/crime/...ays/858089001/
York City Police detectives are evaluating numerous witness statements after a Sunday afternoon homicide — including that the fatal shooting may have been in self-defense — Capt. Troy Bankert said Monday.

"We have that statement (about self-defense)," he said. "Unlike a lot of homicides in which we don't get any witnesses, we have many witnesses to this incident, and we're evaluating those statements."

What police know at this point is that about 4 p.m., a minor crash occurred at the intersection of East Philadelphia and North Pine streets between vehicles driven by James R. "Jamie" Weimert, 29, of York, and Michael Yeaple, 27, of the York area.

Bankert said that just after the crash, with both vehicles stopped, Weimert got out of his vehicle and walked up to Yeaple, who was still in his vehicle.


The store surveillance video at Rod's Corner Store, on the corner of East Philadelphia Street and North Queen Street, captured a shootout between one person inside the store and one person outside the store. Submitted

A verbal, then physical altercation ensued, and Yeaple shot Weimert once in the chest with a gun, Bankert said. Weimert died in an ambulance before it reached York Hospital.

"It is a homicide, the difference is whether it is a criminal homicide," Bankert said. "A homicide is one person taking the life of another. That happened. We have to determine the criminality part of it."

On Monday morning, Bankert said detectives interviewed Yeaple after the incident and were still interviewing other witnesses. They will then confer with the York County District Attorney's Office to see how to proceed in the case, he said.

Witness speaks

Jakia Sweeney, 33, who lives near the intersection, said Monday she saw the entire incident unfold.

"As soon as I walked out the door, the crash happened," she said.

Both vehicles stopped, and a man from one vehicle, who police said was Weimert, approached Yeaple, who was still inside the other vehicle.


"The man (Weimert) said, 'I have a child in my car,'" Sweeney said.

Yeaple then replied, "I have children too," Sweeney said. At that point, Weimert began assaulting Yeaple, she said.

"He started wailing, he (Weimert) was inside that man's car wailing," on him, Sweeney said.

Then she heard one shot and saw Weimert run away from Yeaple's vehicle, saying, "He shot me." Witnesses tried to render aid to him before police and an ambulance arrived, she said.

Based on what she saw, Sweeney believes Yeaple shot Weimert in self-defense.

"It's senseless," she said. "There was not that much damage to either vehicle. It could have just been an exchange of insurance information, making sure everybody's OK ... It's sad, very sad."