Posted on 04/09/2013 1:44:21 AM PDT by grundle
A father who was trying to eat with his family at Burger King was able to defeat an armed robber by pulling his own weapon and shooting at him, Miami police said.
It was at the height of lunch time, about 1 p.m., when a would-be robber walked into a Burger King, flashed his gun at one of the family diners, and demanded the diner fork over money and valuables, police said in a CBS report. The robber was exiting when the father, who feared for his and his familys life, CBS said, took out his own gun and shot the suspect in the leg.
The suspect then fled in his Ford F-150. Police later found him 36-year-old Travis Harris and the driver of the truck, 38-year-old Ramon Smalls, at a gas station down the road, CBS said.
The pair was linked to another robbery of a woman that took place earlier that day, CBS said. Mr. Harris was taken to the hospital for treatment and was charged with three counts of armed robbery, police said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Well, ah, here the shooter was not the one being threatened, and the state might have something to say about that.
Whatever a perpetrator has done to someone else, and is leaving the scene with no threat to you, the reality is that to take up another person's a offenses can leave you with a jail sentence and a big bill to pay. You are not the law at that point.
Shoot him in the act of commiting a felony even though you are not the perp's target? Perhaps. Be ready to shoot if the perp turns back around on you? Sure. Shoot him just on speculation without totally disabling him when he is fleeing? Not wise. And that could convince him/her to eliminate you.
This is not weakness, it is wisdom. Hmm? In this particular case, what would your lawyer tell you to do? More to the point, and very serious, WWJD?
Respectfully --
Possibly eternal damnation. What you got?
Has nothing to do with my personal history. It has to do with shooting someone not when he is threatening to someone else, but rather after he has ceases to be a threat to others (and to you) and is leaving the scene.
To shoot him then smacks of sniping at someone not to prevent the robbery, but to take advantage of a situation that will give you an excuse to wound someone just for retribution. That is not your job, it is the job of law enforcement. IMHO
SampleMan: Possibly eternal damnation. What you got?
inardmd1: Would you want Jesus/God to treat you fairly?
I don’t have the powers of the Holy Trinity, therefore, I can only act on my best judgment.
Having had my life threatened in an armed robbery, my personal experience has been that the assailant’s orientation and percentage of task completion doesn’t play any role in a victim’s defensive reaction whatsoever.
When an assailant triggers an innocent person’s natural response, the assailant is responsible for that outcome. If you haven’t stood next to your wife and children while someone is waving a gun around, or looked down the barrel of a pistol inches from your face, I recommend you give it some thought.
Going toward the threat to neutralize it, is the natural reaction of many people. Robbers often revisit the same place/victims and sometimes do so immediately if they feel they have been shorted.
Bottom line, I give the benefit of the doubt to the victims and consider anything on premises within minutes of the attack to be an immediate response.
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George Zimmerman and Mark OMara have found otherwise.
The local DA didn't have an issue with the Zimmerman-Martin case. It was politically pushed from above. But point taken, if you are part white and shoot a black perp, you may have problems.
An armed robber ceases to be a threat when he turns his back and starts to leave?
Sorry - Once he is out of the building, down the street, and out of gunshot range (for him shooting back) is when the threat is over. Not one millisecond before.
With very much due respect, I understand your feeling. But in my position, I regularly carry a concealed deadly weapon, and must continually remind myself of the practical legal consequences of deploying that power of injury and death.
The rule is not to confuse your role as engaged endangered individual with that of post-event judge, jury, and executioner after the fact. To do so might amount to "breaking into jail."
What you feel about it will have little, if any, bearing on how your actions will be judged if you wound, permanently disable, or kill an assailant as the event unfolds.
Defense is permitted, subsequent retributive or vindictive acts are not, AFIK.
Hmmm, was that sarcasm?
According to you, not according to law. Law trumps here, and your response is to be in proportion to the threat.
No, it is not. Neither is it values nor emotion. It is of lawful and practical effects as a consequence.
If and when I shoot, it will be to kill; and there will be two or more, one of which will be reported as the warning shot.
Retribution:Synonyms: payback, reprisal, requital, retaliation, revenge, vengeance
Your statement literally was saying retribution was the job of the police...some police might think so and I was wondering if you were seriously saying that.
I grew up thinking the job of the police was to protect and serve.
Hope no one finds your post before the trial...sounds premeditated...
Really?...
Unfortunately for you, the DA with have access to your last post.
I grew up thinking the job of the police was to protect and serve.
You might have been encouraged to believe in a bit of a myth. Law enforcement's job is to enforce the law (once a violation has been committed), with the corollary effect of serving and protecting the general population, not specifically you as an individual, IIRC. Part of their function is to protect society from you or me, is it not? When did you get your last speeding ticket?
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