Posted on 01/11/2017 2:20:53 PM PST by BenLurkin
The victim, Rebecca Rawson, 65, was fatally injured after approaching the armed householder's home on Tuesday night, say sheriff's officials.
As her relative knocked on the door, Eugene Matthews, 83, emerged firing a handgun, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
...
Officials say that Ms Rawson and her daughter waited in their car as her brother-in-law knocked on Mr Matthew's door to ask if he had seen their dog.
Police say Mr Matthews opened his door and started shooting at the family.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
There will be more to this story. His yard is fenced with a gate. I wonder what time of night it was?
I once confronted a couple of teenagers looking inside cars for things to steal. I told them to get lost. They said they were looking for their dog. I told them their dog wasn’t inside any of the cars:
FOX 13 video from the scene showed the home has a gate out front with several signs with messages like “private property” and “no trespassing,” along with a uniformed mannequin on an elevated platform holding what appears to be a rifle.
Pretty much let's you know that's not a door to knock on.
If the only threat was that someone knocked on his door, people like him will help us lose our rights.
No requirement that you answer and open the door, you can yell through the door to go away.
If they get pushy then, that’s a different matter.
Still no excuse for coming out shooting. Need more details but won’t be surprised if homeowner charged with at least voluntary manslaughter.
I agree completely.
Yep. This link has a slide show of pictures of his property. Nobody on the up and up would cross into that yard.
http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/228464134-story
If he actually had a fully fenced yard with a closed gate then it is the same as walking into the house. LEO at my home would not pass my gate. Not to say coming out shooting was the right thing to do but it also sounds like a possible home invasion. Lot’s of bad people out there.
If intent is proved, he could be looking at 2nd-degree murder. IANAL, just my opinion as someone who reads a lot of self-defense legal issues, and someone who has been trained on these issues by the best (Ayoob, Branca).
My dad lives just north of there. He came home one day and saw a fellow poking around in the garage.
“What are you doing?” my dad asked.
“Uh... I’m looking for a job...” the guy says.
“Well, you won’t find one in there,” my dad replied.
He shot her as she sat in the car?
Doesn’t sound good for him.
I agree there must be more to this story. The shooters house is a giant STAY AWAY warning. You would need to be an idiot or a SWAT team to get near it.
She was apparently there to retrieve her late husband's dog, which had been in the care of the shooter. Her husband died last week.
That was not clear from the excerpt or title, thank you for the clarification. It sounded like they were searching the neighborhood.
There is.
It was not a "cold call" looking for a lost dog. The Rawsons were there to pick up a dog which belonged to the victim's late husband. Matthews, apparently a friend of the husband, had been caring for the dog.
Reportedly, Matthews has a record going back at least thirty years.
“a gate out front with several signs with messages like “private property” and “no trespassing,” along with a uniformed mannequin on an elevated platform holding what appears to be a rifle
Pretty much let’s you know that’s not a door to knock on.”
If the victim was in her car, how did she knock on his door?
If he’s 83 and has records for the past 30 years, there are likely more.
I dont know many people who turn to a life of crime at 53 :)
This is a bizarre story.
I don’t know, but if you got by my front gates and my “no trespassing” signs and my outside dogs and was able to knock or enter my house. hmmmm. I live in Texas so I don’t know?????
Are there any pics of the woman? Maybe he had reason to be afraid.
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