Armed citizens making a difference thread.

[internet troll]

Former correctional officer acquitted in Swansea killing



http://wpri.com/2017/08/22/former-co...ansea-killing/
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — A former correctional officer was acquitted Tuesday of a manslaughter charge in the 2014 death of a Swansea woman.

A jury found Timothy Levesque not guilty in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Melissa White, according to Bristol County District Attorney’s office spokesman Gregg Miliote.

In response to the acquittal, Miliote said, “As always, we respect the jury’s verdict.”

Levesque, 58, contended he shot White in self-defense after she lunged at him with a crowbar. During the trial, his attorneys said she and two men showed up at his house to confront one of his sons.

State prosecutors had claimed Levesque planted the crowbar at the scene after the shooting.

Eyewitness News has reached out to Levesque’s defense attorney for comment and is awaiting a response.

[internet troll]

Suspected intruder shot approximately 20 miles west of town


http://www.pagosasun.com/suspected-i...-west-of-town/
By Pagosa SUN Online
The following statement was issued this morning by Archuleta County Undersheriff Tonya Hamilton: “On August 23rd, 2017, at approximately 10:47 pm, Dispatch received a call from an unnamed male subject claiming that he had just shot an intruder on his neighbor’s property approximately 20 miles West on Highway 160 and he believed the subject to be deceased.

“He further explained that the intruder had attacked him with a knife when he approached him to ascertain his identity and the reason for his visit to the property.

“Upon the arrival of Sheriff’s Office Deputies, it was confirmed that the alleged intruder was deceased and a perimeter was established. CBI was immediately notified and the scene was held until their arrival on the morning of the 24th.

“Names are being withheld at this time until the next of kin of the deceased can be notified.”

[internet troll]

Not much of an article here because you have to pay to see the whole thing, but still an example of an armed citizen making a difference.



http://www.theitem.com/stories/homeo...attempt,294281
Homeowner shoots suspect in burglary attempt
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Posted 8/24/17
CHARGES
Celestino A. Gozalez Jr., 24, of 4400 Rosewood Drive, was arrested on Sunday and charged with first-degree burglary for allegedly forcing his way into a dwelling in the 3000 block of Eydie Street, Dalzell, on Aug. 13. According to a news …
This item is available in full to subscribers

[internet troll]

Sounds like this could have turned into a Zimmerman..... but is an armed citizen making a difference.

New Orleans firefighter gets jump on Lakeview would-be car burglars, avoids gunfire

http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orlea...55e428365.html
Lakeview resident Gino Ascani checked the images on his security camera about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday after his fiancee awoke him and said something was going on.

Ascani could make out four people pulling on the handles of cars parked in the driveways in the 6900 block of Gen. Haig Street, and he told his fiancee to call 911 immediately.

Suspecting that police might take too long to arrive to apprehend the suspects, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He put on his clothes, grabbed his rifle, went outside — and was shot at by one of the alleged car burglars, all of whom police said they eventually captured.

Ascani on Tuesday stood by his actions, despite nearly being shot. Police, for their part, insisted that they were quick to respond to the 911 call, collaring all of the suspects in an incident that also turned up a gun that police said was stolen.

When Ascani sprang into action, events from a couple of years ago were on his mind.

“My neighbor and his 14-year-old son became victims of a carjacking in the exact same block,” Ascani said in a phone conversation Tuesday. “So I thought, 'These guys are checking cars and they probably have a gun, and I’m not gonna let my neighbors walk out on them.' ”

A New Orleans firefighter and leader of his neighborhood watch organization, Ascani caught up with the suspects within a block. “I said, ‘Freeze,’ ” he remembered, “and they took off in two different directions.”

Fearing for the security of his neighbors, Ascani pursued two of the suspects down Walker Street. One of them, later identified as 19-year-old Kilton Lowery, then fired two bullets at Ascani before getting into a car and fleeing the scene. Ascani was not harmed.

The commander of the NOPD district that includes Lakeview, Jeffrey Walls, said his officers were at the scene less than one minute after the initial call. They saw a black Chrysler with a Mississippi license plate speeding away and chased after it.

Two turns later, the driver lost control of the vehicle and flipped over at Marconi Drive and Harrison Avenue. The two people inside got out and started running.

Police subsequently arrested all four suspects. They also recovered a .38-caliber gun near where Lowery was apprehended; the weapon had been reported stolen in January.

It wasn't clear whether that was the gun fired at Ascani.

Walls made it a point to say that he believed the gun had been stolen from an unlocked car, one of 40 times that has occurred in his district this year alone. Walls suggested such weapons are low-hanging fruit for burglars walking down streets and checking for unlocked cars.

Ascani concurred, saying he has implored residents many times to lock their cars. “But they are not gonna do it,” he said.

Also arrested were three women: Travilique Lewis, 18, identified as the person in the Chrysler with Lowery; Kiana Neville, 23; and Arielle Temple, 22.

Ascani identified the latter two, who were found walking on Marconi, as two of the people he saw pulling on car door handles and entering a vehicle on Gen. Haig Street, police said. Neville was found to be in possession of handgun ammunition, police said.

Ascani said he hoped authorities would work to keep Lowery and his alleged accomplices off the streets for a meaningful amount of time, noting that the man accused of shooting at him has a prior felony conviction.

“Cops catch these people and arrest them and ... days (later) they are back on the street,” said Ascani, whose sentiments were echoed by several commenters on his Citizen Watch’s Facebook group.

Walls was cautious not to criticize the work of the Citizen Watch group but stopped short of encouraging residents to imitate Ascani's actions in the future.

“Neighborhood watches are great,” he said. “But we don’t want them to be vigilantes. We don’t want people to take the law into their own hands.”

Walls added that he believed Ascani was "trying to do the right thing" but "put himself in danger."

Asked to comment on Walls' thoughts, Ascani said: “He can give whatever advice he wants. That commander wasn’t in front of my house (Tuesday morning) to protect me.”

Ascani made headlines earlier this year when, despite being off-duty, he wrestled a man accused of drunkenly driving into the crowd at the Endymion parade out of his truck and held him until a police officer arrived to arrest him.

Lowery was booked on counts of aggravated assault, attempted simple burglary, simple burglary, illegal possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and flight from an officer.

Lewis, Temple and Neville were each booked on two counts of attempted simple burglary and one count of simple burglary.

[internet troll]

I think this guy has a future as an internet meme.

PD: Armed Phoenix homeowner captures trespasser



http://www.abc15.com/news/crime/pd-a...res-trespasser
PHOENIX - An armed homeowner captured a man attempting to enter his Phoenix home.

Phoenix police report that on August 18 a homeowner in the area of 67th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road came home to find a man reaching through the 'doggie door' of his home.

Police say 29-year-old Damien Adame was attempting to unlock the sliding glass door when he was spotted by the homeowner.

The homeowner called the police and held Adame at gunpoint until police arrived.

Adame is being charged with criminal trespassing.

[internet troll]

I am going to cross post this in one of the concealed carry insurance threads.


Oklahoma City legal group helps concealed-carry shooter walk free


http://kfor.com/2017/08/24/oklahoma-...ter-walk-free/
OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma City-based legal group is celebrating its first big win after freeing one of its conceal-carry members of a first-degree murder charge.

Stephen Maddox, a concealed carry permit-holder and dues-paying member of CCW SAFE, thought he might have to spend the rest of his life in prison.

"It was a lot of dark days," Maddox said.

Maddox was at a motorcycle convention in Wilson, North Carolina when he was attacked by another attendee.

"At that point he had me on the ground, he was actually choking me, and I tried to fight to get him off me and couldn't," Maddox said.

With the help of four others pulling the attacker off of him, Maddox was able to escape, only to be attacked a second and third time.

"A 300 lb. guy that was 6'4", " Maddox said. "He was in complete control that night physically."

Finally Maddox was able to get his gun, and he shot the man several times in self-defense.

"Was able to get me to the ground and I fired my weapon to get him off of me," Maddox said.

When police arrived, he was confident they would believe his actions were in self-defense.

"There was no doubt that had I not discharged my firearm that night, he would have killed me that night," Maddox said.

But he was wrong, charged with first-degree murder.

"I fought to save my life but here it is again," Maddox said. "I'm in a fight to save my life again because the state of North Carolina wants to lock me up for the rest of my life."

However, Maddox wasn't alone. He called CCW SAFE and the team leapt into action for him.

"A responsible father, husband, gun-owner," CEO and co-founder Mike Darter said, "as a victim, he is now having to defend himself in the court of law."

CCW SAFE provides lawyers, expert witnesses, and other support for self-defense cases for their members.

Darter and several of his associates are former Oklahoma City law enforcement, pooling their experience and efforts to serve a membership of ex military/law enforcement, and concealed carry permit-holders.

After two long years, Maddox's case finally went to trial, and after a one-hour deliberation, the company got its first big win.

Darter said this was the first case that a company like his saw through from the beginning to the end of the trial.

He said the win wasn't a surprise because the investigators in this case were grossly negligent.

"Because we had 20 year careers in law enforcement, we expected them to do their job," Darter said, "and in this case they clearly didn't."

Experience that earned Maddox his freedom.

"Hopefully there are a lot of lessons learned that can come out of this experience that I went through," Maddox said.

[internet troll]

EPPD: Suspected car burglar shot by car owner in Northeast El Paso


http://www.elpasoproud.com/news/eppd...paso/797555967
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) - El Paso Police say an 18-year-old was shot after a car's owner says he was alerted by family member that his car was being broken into in Northeast El Paso.

Police say that the incident happened just before midnight in the 9000 block of Mt. Delano in Northeast El Paso. Investigators say that they were dispatched to a call of a vehicle burglary in progress at a home.

When they arrived, they found an 18-year-old had been shot by the car's owner in his lower body after allegedly breaking into a car.

The teen was taken to University Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound. EPPD expects to file charges against him in connection with the car burglary case. The man who shot the teen is not currently expected to face any charges.

[internet troll]

Husband of county official won't face charges for shooting, killing son



http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...ng-killing-son
GREELEY, Colo. – The husband of a Washington County commissioner won’t face any charges after investigators say he shot and killed his 31-year-old son during an argument earlier this month.

Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke declined to file charges Friday against Stanley Laybourn, 65, after investigators determined he acted in self-defense when he shot his son, Leyton Laybourn, the night of Aug. 13.

Stanley was arrested shortly after the incident on County Road 5 near Cope in Washington County and held on a $250,000 bond. He has since been released from jail.

Investigators from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation looked into the case and determined that Stanley, who is partially paralyzed and disabled, was forcefully pushed by Leyton and thrown into a planting pot.

While on the ground, Stanley shot Leyton once in self-defense, prosecutors say. Leyton died later that night at a Yuma hospital. Investigators have not said what led up to the altercation.

Because of the relationship between Stanley Laybourn, the victim and the Washington County commissioner, the Weld County D.A.’s Office was brought in and appointed the special prosecutor for this case.

[internet troll]

Let's do 4 for today.


Dine and dash: Onalaska burglar held at gunpoint after midnight snack


http://lacrossetribune.com/news/loca...479df07df.html
A Westby, Wis., man was charged Friday with burglary after he allegedly entered an Onalaska home, ate a rack of ribs and found himself on the wrong end of a gun.

According to a criminal complaint, a woman woke up early Friday when she heard someone open the bedroom door of her home on Hanson Court. She saw a shadowy figure in the doorway and yelled for her husband to wake up and grab the gun.

The intruder, identified as 31-year-old Kenneth Fish, began running through the house as the owner retrieved an unloaded rifle. Fish ran out a sliding door but stopped on the patio when the woman cocked the gun. According to a police report, Fish begged them to let him go, but the residents instructed him to empty his pockets and lie down with his hands behind his head while they called police.

Fish was holding one of the couple’s energy drinks and had one of their lighters in his pockets, according to the complaint. He told them he believed he was at his friend’s home in West Salem.

The occupants later discovered Fish had eaten an entire rack of ribs, half a chicken breast, a pickle and some cookies. They noted he had put his dirty dishes in the sink.

According to court records, Fish has multiple convictions since 2011 and was sentenced in June to four years probation on a drug charge in Trempealeau County.

[internet troll]

And the armed citizen stories continue to pile up. 5 for today.

Rowlett homeowner shoots two armed intruders, one discovered at gas station on SH 205


http://inforney.com/crime/item/5862-...tion-on-sh-205
KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — A home intruder, shot by a Rowlett, Texas, homeowner, was discovered at a gas station on State Highway 205 earlier today and transported to an area hospital with a gunshot wound, according to officials.
Steve Silver Co Outlet


According to McLendon-Chisholm City Administrator Dave Butler, two intruders were shot by a Rowlett homeowner earlier today. One of them escaped and ended up at the Shell gas station.

The reported home invasion and shooting occurred in the 7000 block of Mercurys Road in Rowlett, Texas, before noon.

The wounded home intruder was discovered at the gas station, in the 100 block of State Highway 205 just north of the Kaufman-Rockwall County line, and was transported to an area hospital to undergo surgery. The intruder’s current condition is unknown.

Butler says the intruder falsely reported being carjacked to explain his gunshot wound.

The second intruder was found at a local hospital after seeking medical attention for a gunshot wound to the torso, according to the Rowlett Police Department.

The Rowlett Police Department says both individuals forcibly entered the home on Mercurys and began shooting. The male homeowner returned gunfire with a handgun.

A female resident sustained non-life threatening injuries when she fled the house and shooting. She was transported to a local hospital where she was treated and released.

"The names of the suspects are not being released at this time," stated the Rowlett Police Department. "The police investigation continues."