They beat the crap out of him before shooting her. I doubt he was really in any position to do anything, but still feels guilty about it.
Posted on 02/04/2005 7:20:48 AM PST by Jenya
NYC Actress' Slaying Teaches Hard Crime Lesson By TOM HAYS, AP
NEW YORK (Feb. 4) - As an actress, Nicole duFresne had roles in dozens of way-off-Broadway productions.
But it was an unfortunate real-life line witnesses say duFresne uttered before her slaying - "What are you going to do, shoot us?'' - that has brought her to the public's attention.
Authorities have refused to speculate whether the 28-year-old actress and playwright's defiant stand against a bandit prompted him to shoot her to death last week on a New York City street.
Safety advocates, however, have cited the case as a lesson in what not to do during a holdup.
On Wednesday, the Washington-based National Crime Prevention Council responded to widespread reports about duFresne's last words by circulating a list of tips on how to survive a mugging.
"It demonstrates that confronting an attacker is probably the worst thing you can do,'' said council spokesman Todd Post.
DuFresne, a Minnesota transplant whose Internet resume listed "stage combat'' as one of her skills, was leaving a bar with her fiance and another couple at about 3 a.m. Jan. 27 when they were accosted by a group of youths who had already tried to rob another person earlier in the evening.
Witnesses told police that when the group demanded the other woman's purse, duFresne responded with: "What are you going to do, shoot us?'' Police said she also may have gotten into a brief shoving match with the shooter before he fired a bullet into her chest.
"The ferociousness with which she always protected her friends never surprised me, especially in that moment,'' fellow actress and friend Mary Jane Gibson said before a memorial service Thursday.
Police arrested the alleged triggerman, Rudy Fleming, 19, and two teenage girls they say took a cell phone and credit cards and helped hide the murder weapon. All three have been charged with murder and robbery.
DuFresne's fiance, Jeffrey Sparks, his face still bruised, told reporters Thursday he didn't see his fiancee get shot. But he heard the gunfire and turned to find her on the ground.
"I ran to her and held her and begged her to hang on,'' he said as he began to cry.
Sparks said he regrets he "didn't take her hand and pull her down the sidewalk away from that idiot with a gun.''
Servisio Simmon, 21, a member of the group of youths who was taken into custody but released, gave a different version to The New York Times.
Simmon claimed duFresne told the alleged triggerman: "You got what you want? You got what you want?'' He also said the actress "kept raging after Rudy, she kept pushing him, she slipped over the snow'' and that the gun "went off.''
Police declined to comment on that account.
On its tip sheet, the crime prevention council advises potential victims to stay cool and comply with robbers. At the same time, people should take mental notes on what the assailant looks like so they can provide a detailed description to police, the sheet says.
A robbery "is more about power than anything,'' said Alfonso Lenhardt, president of the nonprofit council, known for its McGruff the Crime Dog mascot.
"It's a tragedy, but in this case it sounds like (the suspect) felt he wasn't getting the respect he was due,'' Lenhardt said. "When a gun is in the hands of a desperate person with low self-esteem, they're going to react that way.''
In the Soviet Socialist Republic of NYC you cannot even own and store a long gun in your home legally...when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns...
Sounds like George Costaza.....
Typical liberal: Gee somebody should help the poor man that shot her. It was a murder.
__________
That's not my take on this line of the story. My dad's common sense thinking comes to mind...don't pi$$ off the person holding a gun on you.
What a coward. Typical metrosexual don't-want-to-get-involved wuss. Left his girl to face the thugs. Real nice, Jeff.
The shooter "felt (!) he wasn't getting the respect he was due"... What exactly makes Lenhardt think he was "due" any respect?!
Limp-wristed libturd no doubt. All about gun control for sure. What a pissant. Next thing, he'll be blaming the cops for not knowing that this was going on.
On second thought, what do you expect when feminists have been telling us for 30 years that they don't need any help from men.
Not true....In NYC you need a permit for a long or hand gun.
the rest of the state no permit for a long gun. but you need a permit for a hangun....
almost no people can get full carry for NYC....a full concealed carry in the rest of the state is good throughout the whole state with the exception of NYC.
Well no wonder she got shot. Look at all of the trouble she caused the police department. She provoked the gunman. That will certainly come up at his trial (if it gets that far). We once had a police officer give a presentation to a civic group on how to be a good victim. Must be a lot easier to interview a victim than to investigate a violent crime.
New york City is series about crime which is why it has one of the lowest homicide rates and one of the lowest overall crime rates of any big city in the United States. (I don't know where NYC stands in comparison to other big cities that allow concealed carry.) Don't get me wrong, I live in the NYC burbs, I'm pro 2nd Amendment, and I have a concealed carry permit (which is valid just about any place in NY State other than NYC), but I'm not about to claim that concealed carry would eliminate crime or that its even a good idea in all places and under any circumstance.
That was the impression I got while watching an interview with this guy this morning. I agree that if she'd had her own gun (and known how to use it), things would have likely turned out differently--but this guy ran, leaving her behind? Sheesh.
DuFresne's fiance, Jeffrey Sparks, his face still bruised, told reporters Thursday he didn't see his fiancee get shot. But he heard the gunfire and turned to find her on the ground.
"I ran to her .....
From these statements it would appear that Jeffrey was in the process of getting the hell out of there when his girl was shot.
Why else would he need to 'turn' around to see her shot and then 'run' to her.
Is this guy related to John Kerry?
That guy Sparks is a piece of work.
Safety advocates?
"If only we were all tied up and naked, we'd be safe!"
Safety is a good pistol plus the will and the skill to use it.
"DuFresne...was leaving a bar with her fiance and another couple at about 3 a.m. Jan. 27 when they were accosted..."
Anyone know if she was intoxicated? It might explain why she was so confrontational.
I feel for this poor girl, but you don't argue with a robber holding a gun on you.
Mea Culpa...should have added w/out a permit...which you need just to PURCHASE a long gun in NYC...I come from an adjoining state with plenty of gun laws, yet, you still don't have to have a permit to have a gun in your HOUSE...
Oh please explain to me just where you wouldn't let me carry to protect my life! And, it's already been proven by studies that concealed carry DOES, in fact, reduce crime.
See # 39.
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