Posted on 12/13/2025 12:15:27 AM PST by Morgana
An IHOP cook has been charged after allegedly shooting two teenage porch pirates outside his home as they ran away with packages.
Rakim Bradford, 34, opened fire after he came to the door to collect a delivery outside his townhouse in Atlanta and saw three youths he believed were trying steal it.
He called a co-worker after the shooting and told them he was cleaning his gun when he got a notification that the delivery had arrived, according to the arrest warrant.
The colleague told police that Bradford said he went to get the package holding his gun, and it 'went off'. He believed he hit one of the teens in the back as they ran.
Bradford fled his house after the shooting and wasn't there when police arrived about 3.30pm on Wednesday, but later turned himself in to a police station.
'We believe a property crime was occurring, that some packages were being taken off of a front porch,' Atlanta Police Chief Darren Sherbaum said.
'The homeowner did discharge his weapon to stop that theft of the packages.'
Whether Bradford, the head chef at a local IHOP who studied at the Culinary Institute of America, owned the two-storey townhouse or was renting it is unclear.
Bradford was on Friday charged with two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Police found one shell casing at the scene when they searched the Villages of Cascades gated community in Atlanta's western suburbs.
How many shots were fired is unclear.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Would it even rate a police case number in Texas?
I don’t think so.
Yes.
This appears to be City of Atlanta proper, Fulton County. Given the locale, almost certainly “youths” involved.
I’m sorry, no one will like my take on this. Unless you’re in fear of injury or death do not shoot . If they steal. Off the porch, build a drop box. If they break in, kill them, no warning shots, center of mass till the threat ends. IMO
Bait and shoot, no limit.
Maybe in Texas.
Fulton County? This is the land of Fani Willis, you realize. She is still the DA.
Well, I have some reservations about the shooting also. I didn’t read that the thieves were armed or that they threatened the chef. If that is correct, unarmed and no threat, then a warning shot to the ground would have been enough, imho. Cleaning his gun at the exact same time he was about to be robbed, and it accidently went off and shoots one of the idiots in the back as they were running away? Doesn’t make sense, imho.
Massad Ayoob, I would suggest yall read this man’s view on self defense. You don’t have too. Just bend over grab your ankles and brace for impact. BOHICA Cowboyzzz’s
You sir are wrong. Warning shots are like Unicorns. They don’t effing exist. If you draw it use it, or leave it in the holster.
I would have given him a medal.
The other idea is to put one of those exploding paint boxes outside on the porch, so that the “youths” will get a surprise when they try to steal it.
We had package thief living in the 36 unit courthouse building I am in that has a front and back gate that is locked. I am on the 2nd floor. Back in 2023 I had packages stolen in March and in May. A neighbor on the opposite side on the 2nd floor also had a package stolen in March. I figured it was one of two guys living here as I knew there were home at the time and both would use the 2 sets of stairs at times that passed our apts. One has since moved out.
Since then there are now 8 cameras setup and no package theft has happened since.
You’d go see bubba and play drop the soap.
I really don’t care, but by law if they were unarmed and running away, a shot in the back isn’t going to help the chef in court. And I’m not wrong. Some Latino guys who were running an illegal junk yard tried to steal one of my vehicles. They didn’t know anyone was home. I fired 2 shots from my 12 gauge double and they took off as fast as they could, jumped into a tow truck about 100 ft. away and were gone, but I got the plate number. Turns out they had stolen about a half dozen vehicles in the area.
You quote the law.
Not sure the law is fair.
When one steals one is taking a piece of another’s life... the time and investment of the another.
It should be a endeavor with substantial risk.
Ayoob, remarkable as he is, has been a representative of the law and teaches it.
Tell bubba hi while you stare at the drain. Butt head.
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