Posted on 10/20/2009 4:43:40 AM PDT by marktwain
PINEVILLE, Mo. — A 39-year-old man, who reportedly shot and killed another man in self-defense Sunday night in Anderson, has been turned over to U.S. marshals in anticipation of a federal weapon charge.
McDonald County Sheriff Robert Evenson said Matthew D. Robertson, 32, died of a single shotgun blast during an altercation with Michael J. Smith at the Wallain Court apartment complex in Anderson, where both men lived in separate units.
Authorities received a call at 8:30 p.m. reporting the shooting at the apartments and found Robertson dead, the sheriff said. Evenson said deputies determined that Robertson was in the act of breaking in the door to Smith’s home when Smith shot him in the chest with a .410-gauge shotgun.
“It appears that he is not going to be charged with any homicide-related charge,” the sheriff said.
There were witnesses to the shooting whose accounts substantiate the self-defense claim, Evenson said.
Evenson said the shooting was preceded by an altercation Saturday night during which Robertson reportedly punched Smith in the face. A second exchange of words took place Sunday night outside Smith’s apartment, with Smith retreating inside and locking his door, the sheriff said. Evenson said Smith reportedly told Robertson before going inside that he did not want to fight.
“As (Robertson) forced the door, Smith fired one shot from his .410 shotgun, which struck Robertson in the chest and was immediately fatal,” the sheriff said.
Smith initially fled the scene. He was found at an address near Stella in Newton County, returned to McDonald County and held overnight while deputies investigated the shooting, Evenson said. The determination was made Monday not to charge him in the shooting, the sheriff said.
But, because of a prior felony conviction, the U.S. attorney’s office in Springfield plans to charge Smith with being a felon in possession of a firearm, Evenson said. Smith was transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Specifics of the prior felony conviction were not available Monday night.
Records
Both men involved in a fatal shooting Sunday in Anderson had prior criminal records, according to McDonald County authorities.
I don’t really have a problem with a person who was convicted of a crime being able to have a firearm. Assuming they weren’t convicted of a violent crime.
What I have a problem with is all these criminals being released back into society before serving their time.
Felony DUI, Felony tax evasion, felony embezzlement. Why should any non violent felony keep anyone from owning a gun?
Once upon a time felony meant violent. The meaning has changed as more and more crimes were ratcheted up to felony, so that now that meaning was lost.
Of course the reporter was too lazy to dig up that information.
A head line and a press release make up the story.
From the perspective of the Founders, once a man had served his time, and was released into society, his life is no less valued to him than is any other citizen’s life.
Therefore, I suggest that a felon may be allowed to keep a weapon within his home for defense.
Thus, I am of the opinion that this case should result in no charges, and an “Atta Boy Award” for saving society the costs of years of jail time for the now dead violent criminal.
I suggest the cost of one year of jail as the minimum for such an “Atta Boy Award”.
Whether he should be allowed to carry it outside his home is another question.
WAIT ! Now comes the best part!
The TEXAS grand jury NO-BILLED him ! ! ! ! Many of the jury-members said they would have done the SAME THING!
A positive story about gun safety:
Gun safety a serious topic for area police
October 20, 2009
By BRIAN STANLEY Bstanley@scn1.com
CHANNAHON — Sgt. Shane Casey and Officer Brad Bucciarelli bring a lot of firepower to their classroom lectures.
They also bring a lot of videos and slideshows, but it’s their service weapons that really seemed to interest the students in Sgt. Jon Jackubowski’s Citizens Police Academy class Tuesday night.
About 15 students are participating in the department’s third academy designed to show what an officer’s job consists of.
Casey and Bucciarelli frequently joked about their instructional efforts, but turned serious when they explained how guns are handled at the department.
Among the lessons:
• “Always treat guns as if they are loaded.”
• “Never let your muzzle cover anything you’re not willing to destroy.”
• “Keep (your) finger off the trigger until the decision to fire has been made.”
Training is vital
Students then watched a video of a DEA agent who mistakenly performed a very cursory check to see if a gun was unloaded ... during a lecture. No one was harmed, but the clip illustrates a serious concern.
“No one wants to be this guy and no one wants to work with this guy,” Casey said. “That’s why we have rudimentary firearm training before we send officers to the police academy and continue to train several times a year.”
Casey and Bucciarelli showed several videos of Channahon officers running different drills at the rifle range before clearing the unloaded guns from the room and bringing in the simulated pistols and rifles for students to practice with.
Casey said the frequency of firearm training is a compromise.
“If it were based on (how likely) one individual officer were to be involved in a shooting event, you’d never do it. If it were based on the severity of an event, you’d do it every shift,” he said.
Taking up arms
Melody Moss-Brachle was the first student to shoot a training pistol on the makeshift range in the classroom and did pretty well.
“It was my first time with a pistol and I hit the target, so I was happy,” she said.
Some students, like Noribel Rodriguez are hoping to use the Citizen’s Police Academy toward a career in law enforcement.
“I grew up loving all cop stuff and this has totally given me a better insight into it,” the young lady said.
Larry Duffy, on the other hand, is a retired Channahon firefighter, but has taken the same thing from the program.
“I worked with them but getting this up-close look gave me a better understanding, learning about whole new scenarios they face,” he said.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1834099,4_1_JO20_ACADEMY_S1-091020.article
“...Smith fired one shot from his .410 shotgun, which struck Robertson in the chest and was immediately fatal,”
I’d kind of like to know what kind of shell he had in the .410 shotgun.
I assume it was a slug for it to be immediately fatal. I suppose a chest full of bird shot could be immediately fatal if fired from very close range, but I’d like to know.
This was not criminal. Nobody should be denied the right to own firearms in the US. If he was a danger to society then he should be incarcerated, not treated like a 2nd class citizen while supposedly “free.”
A free citizen is a free citizen. There should be no restrictions on carrying, ownership, or types of firearms for anyone who is not incarcerated.
I would go a little bit further, and say that a former criminal who wants to go straight will have greater need for a weapon to defend himself from the expectations of his former criminal partners.
I will suggest that one could reasonably restrict a felon during the term of his probation, but if a violent felon is considered a risk to society, then they should not be released on probation.
I suggest that people on probation are very reasonably second class citizens. They do not (in California) have the legal expectation of privacy that other citizens have. They also have legal restrictions on their job, movements, and contacts.
Sex offenders have, in an ex post facto manner had those restrictions extended to cover the rest of their life. I find the ex post facto nature of that extension bothersome, but recognize that extension was passed in response to a demonstrated high recidivism rate for sex criminals. I think a better legislative response would have been to extend the sentence for violent sex crimes to life in prison, and a better parole board response would have been to not grant parole to that class of sex criminals.
Many laws are to my mind imperfect, but this is not the worst by a long shot.
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