West Virginia man accused of killing teen who bumped him

[internet troll]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/24/us/wes...hot/index.html

West Virginia man accused of killing teen who bumped him
By Ray Sanchez, CNN

Updated 2:15 PM ET, Thu November 24, 2016
West Virginia teen shooting death ath_00010027


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Cops: Man killed teen, went home, ate dinner 02:26
Story highlights
William Ronald Pulliam is charged with first-degree murder
Police and witnesses say incident started with two strangers bumping into each other
(CNN)William Ronald Pulliam appeared unrepentant after fatally shooting a teenager during a confrontation outside a West Virginia discount store.

"The way I look at it, that's another piece of trash off the street," Pulliam allegedly told police, according to a criminal complaint.

But the 62-year-old man, in a jailhouse interview with CNN affiliate WCHS, categorically denied making that statement. He said he feared for his life when 15-year-old James Means allegedly pulled a gun on him. The complaint did not say Means had a gun.
"I mean, believe me, I did not want to kill anybody, but they're not going to kill me," Pulliam, wearing an orange jailhouse uniform, told the station Tuesday.

Pulliam has been charged with first-degree murder for an incident that police and witnesses say started with two strangers bumping into each other Monday night. He has not yet been assigned an attorney by the public defender's office.

The suspect told police he had dinner immediately after the alleged crime and then visited a female friend -- in whose home the .380-caliber revolver used in the shooting was found, according to the criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County magistrate court.
'I felt my life was in danger'
In the jailhouse interview, Pulliam said shooting was his only option.
"I felt my life was in danger," he told the station. "I'm sorry, but I'm 62 years old. I'm not going to take a bunch of punks beating me up."

Friends of the victim told police that Pulliam and Means bumped each other outside a Dollar General store on Washington Street East in Charleston, according to the complaint.

Words were exchanged but Pulliam entered the store.
When Pulliam came back outside, one of Means' friends said, the teen and the older man again had a "verbal dispute," the complaint said.

Means crossed the street to confront Pulliam, who fired two shots at the teenager, according to the friend.
Pulliam told WCHS that he saw three teens outside a house as he was walking to the store. They were laughing, he said. One of them cursed him when he got closer.
"What the ... did you say to me?" Pulliam recalled asking the teenager.

The teen flashed a gun, Pulliam told the station. The friends encouraged Means to shoot but Pulliam continued into the store.
Pulliam said in the interview that he walked on the other side of the street when he left the store to avoid trouble but that Means approached him and taunted him with a gun.
"I just shot him," Pulliam told the station.
He added, "I work. I'm a good citizen. I don't do anything to anybody."
Pulliam said race did not factor into the confrontation. He is white, Means was black.

"I don't care if they're white or black," he told WCHS.
"Nobody is going to do me like that. It doesn't make any difference if he's black. My God, everybody I live around over there is black. I get along with all of them. Ask them."
In an email statement, the FBI said it was monitoring the case.

"If in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal civil rights violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate," the statement said.
Pulliam may not have had right to own gun
James Means, 15, was fatally shot Monday in Charleston, West Virginia.
James Means, 15, was fatally shot Monday in Charleston, West Virginia.

It appears that Pulliam should not have been armed. He pleaded no contest to domestic violence charges in 2013, according to WCHS. Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of domestic violence charges from possessing a gun.
Means' relatives, meanwhile, remembered the teenager as smart, funny and loving.

"James could put a smile on anybody's face no matter the situation," his aunt, Teresa Means, told the station.
The teen's mother, Nafia Adkins, said: "My son's in a safer place now, and we all love him."

The family, which has set up a GoFundMe page for funeral expenses, made a plea to Means' friends: Let justice take its course. Don't seek revenge. Don't post messages of hate on social media.
"I'm going to leave everything up to the courts to take care of this man and do whatever they have to do to make him be punished," Adkins told the station.

"We don't hold a grudge, so nobody else should hold a grudge. We all have to forgive and let everything take its place."
CNN's Tony Marco, Mary Kay Mallonee, Connor Spielmaker and Tanika Gray contributed to this report.

[Krichardson]

Random shooting and the Freebase Institute jumped right in on this one huh?

[Mitch10mm]

A lot of information is missing. An article yesterday by an angry reporter claimed definitively race was the reason. He cited Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown as other innocent victims of the white man and our racist system of justice.

[GunLawyer001]

I notice that most of the story is "as told by" friends of the dead kid, and family of the dead kid.

It would not surprise me if the kid had a gun, but his companions removed it from the scene after the shooting. It's common practice to sterilize the crime scene before cops arrive, they know how the game is played, you stage the scene so that it's "unarmed black youth", remove the criminal flags, maybe shove a hymn book in his dead hands if you have the time. Plus, that gun would be worth something. I bet the dead kid wasn't found with a wallet or drugs or jewelry, either.

The truth could be anywhere between "angry white guy kills a black kid without cause" and "career criminal killed but his friends tamper with all the evidence, and race-baiting DA makes headlines by crucifying the white guy with the gun". We'll probably never know the truth. And much of the media don't care. Look for the rubber-stamp "he was turning his life around", "he was a father looking to provide for his kids and their mothers", "aspiring rap star". It's all file copy, they just reach for "narrative A" from the shelf.

[Democrat Gun Owner]

I notice that most of the story is "as told by" friends of the dead kid, and family of the dead kid.

It would not surprise me if the kid had a gun, but his companions removed it from the scene after the shooting. It's common practice to sterilize the crime scene before cops arrive, they know how the game is played, you stage the scene so that it's "unarmed black youth", remove the criminal flags, maybe shove a hymn book in his dead hands if you have the time. Plus, that gun would be worth something. I bet the dead kid wasn't found with a wallet or drugs or jewelry, either.

The truth could be anywhere between "angry white guy kills a black kid without cause" and "career criminal killed but his friends tamper with all the evidence, and race-baiting DA makes headlines by crucifying the white guy with the gun". We'll probably never know the truth. And much of the media don't care. Look for the rubber-stamp "he was turning his life around", "he was a father looking to provide for his kids and their mothers", "aspiring rap star". It's all file copy, they just reach for "narrative A" from the shelf.

I'm not saying the dead kid "didn't do nuffin'", but aren't you also pulling a "narrative A" from your shelf of file copy?

[CartBone69]

I notice that most of the story is "as told by" friends of the dead kid, and family of the dead kid.

It would not surprise me if the kid had a gun, but his companions removed it from the scene after the shooting. It's common practice to sterilize the crime scene before cops arrive, they know how the game is played, you stage the scene so that it's "unarmed black youth", remove the criminal flags, maybe shove a hymn book in his dead hands if you have the time. Plus, that gun would be worth something. I bet the dead kid wasn't found with a wallet or drugs or jewelry, either.

The truth could be anywhere between "angry white guy kills a black kid without cause" and "career criminal killed but his friends tamper with all the evidence, and race-baiting DA makes headlines by crucifying the white guy with the gun". We'll probably never know the truth. And much of the media don't care. Look for the rubber-stamp "he was turning his life around", "he was a father looking to provide for his kids and their mothers", "aspiring rap star". It's all file copy, they just reach for "narrative A" from the shelf.

Seems like the guy is helping crucify himself. Went out and had dinner immediately after the shooting and left his gun at a friend's house? What sane person does that? No contest plea to domestic violence charges in 2013, so he shouldn't have had a gun in the first place. Seems like he wasn't the only career criminal, one just started early in life and this guy started later in life.

[Metz]

I notice that most of the story is "as told by" friends of the dead kid, and family of the dead kid.

Even they say, that the punk crossed the street to "confront" the shooter. That's enough information for me. I'm not some liberal imbecile, and don't assume he was on his way to give hugs and kisses.

[hog45]

This one is no good. None of us will ever know the truth. It could be anywhere from a legitimate, justifiable shoot to a cold blooded murder. The dead kid could turn out to be a truly innocent honor roll kid, or a trouble making armed criminal. We don't know and won't likely know. The witnesses are unreliable and the shooter is unreliable.

Do not pick up this case as a pet cause for any particular issue. It is going to bite you on either side.

[Mitch10mm]

This is possibly a reason why I'm against prohibition.

[Metz]

This one is no good. None of us will ever know the truth. It could be anywhere from a legitimate, justifiable shoot to a cold blooded murder. The dead kid could turn out to be a truly innocent honor roll kid, or a trouble making armed criminal. We don't know and won't likely know. The witnesses are unreliable and the shooter is unreliable.

Do not pick up this case as a pet cause for any particular issue. It is going to bite you on either side.

Honor roll student, crossing the street to confront an elderly man? Are you kidding me?