Too many brain dead replies on this thread. Unbelievable.
To think that it’s OK to shoot and kill somebody and then go to bed like nothing ever happened is unbelievable.
Not defending him but here is his response from post above
snip
He said he shot the person, who was coming toward him. The burglar
dropped the pickax and ran toward the park, Meyers said.
He didn’t know whether he hit the person so he went back to bed,
an arrest warrant affidavit said. After sunrise, he said he saw the
person lying on the ground.
I wonder if the old man even knew he hit the guy... may have thought he just scared him away... so he went back to bed.
“To think that it’s OK to shoot and kill somebody and then go to bed like nothing ever happened is unbelievable.”
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It wasn’t any “somebody”. It was “somebody” trying to kill you.
It is completely believable. People often do incoherent and disorganized actions after a stressful event. A "need sleep now" response is very common. So is a "clean this mess up and make it go away" response.
It has been said, "You don't rise to an occasion, you fall to the level of your training". Most people have no experience and little or no training in how to deal with shooting incident. They will often take stupid or inappropriate actions afterward.
A predatory District Attorney can make a conviction from such mistakes and they will always try to do so. And regardless of the "law" that may apply in any State, most Government officials do not want an armed citizen using force under any circumstances, even in self-defense. They certainly not want to allow an incident that looks like forceful defense of property to go unpunished.
"The process is the punishment". This old geezer will be most likely bankrupted and out in the street even if he is acquitted.
If that person was coming at him with a pick axe it was self defense at that point. A pick axe is indeed a deadly weapon.
If he didn’t know he hit the guy then going to bed doesn’t make him a murderer. I would have called LEO anyway but doesn’t mean he is a murderer that he thought otherwise.
You’re right - he should have at least thrown a couple of bags of lime on the deceased crook to keep the flies away.