Posted on 10/10/2008 7:06:08 AM PDT by KeyLargo
'I didn't want to shoot anybody'
A CREST HILL MAN WAS PREPARED FOR 35 YEARS FOR A DAY HE HOPED WOULD NEVER COME.
October 10, 2008 From Staff Reports
CREST HILL -- The same six bullets sat in the cylinder of the man's .38 special for 35 years until he fired four of them at someone who crashed through his bedroom window Wednesday.
"I often wondered if I could pick it up and pull the trigger," the shaken and emotional man said Thursday morning, hours after he gunned down an intruder in his basement apartment.
The apparent housebreaker, 34-year-old Demetrious Groves, a downstate man who moved a block away from the apartment about three months ago, was taken to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center. He died about an hour after he arrived.
The apartment's resident, a 68-year-old man, said he was watching the news on television when he got up and went into his bedroom about 6 p.m.
Because the man has not been charged with any crime, The Herald News is not identifying him.
"When I got to the door, I heard a loud thump at my window," said the retired electronic technician who served aboard an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War.
"I took a few steps to my window, and this big black guy threw himself through my window," he said.
The intruder hit the floor, he said, rolled and popped up. The resident grabbed the .38 from his night table and squeezed off four shots.
"I think the last shot, I must have hit him pretty good and he fell down," he said. "He was talking to me. He said, 'A black guy was chasing me so I went through your window.' I said, 'Why did you go through my window? Why didn't you go around the building?'"
Police Chief Dwayne Wilkerson said detectives were "still investigating all facets of the case." If Groves was being chased, his pursuers have not been identified.
The resident called the police. When they arrived, he was ordered to the ground, handcuffed and taken to the police station. A detective interviewed him before he returned home.
"Before I left, they told me he had died," he said of Groves.
Investigation continues Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for State's Attorney James Glasgow, said the incident remains under investigation and noted that the resident was cooperating with the police.
The man said he did not know where the bullets hit Groves. Deputy Coroner Bob Brenczewski said his office would not release that information. Coroner Patrick O'Neil said only that Groves suffered "multiple gunshot wounds."
The man said he bought the never-before-fired gun for protection decades ago.
"I live here by myself in a garden apartment, and the neighborhood down the street's getting kind of rough," he explained.
He called his reaction to the man coming through his window "instinct."
"I don't know what else to call it, just instinct," he said. "I've had the gun sitting on my night stand for years, loaded. I didn't want to shoot anybody. I was hoping I'd never have to use it."
The morning after Groves' death, he said he was visited by a man who asked, "Did you shoot my brother?"
"He was nice," the resident said. "He wasn't agitated or mad or anything. He said he wanted to see where he was shot."
He said he brought the man into his bedroom, which was splattered with Groves' blood.
"I told him I was sorry," he said. "He just shook my hand or hugged me, or whatever. He cried a little bit, and he left."
Of course he won’t be charged he is a “white guy’ like he said he saw a “big black guy” isn’t that always the defense. He was 5’7” damn I guess that’s huge. Sincerely TaNiqu Groves.
Thank you. from the family of Demetrious Groves Sr.
Many thanks! It says all .30 carbine is the good stuff!
All too often bad things happen to good folks in very difficult circumstances. Condolences and sympathy to you and your family; the loss of a good man diminishes us all.
I probably would have responded to a violent assault on my home in similar fashion, as would most reasonable people. Being able to know exactly what was happening (and the true motives of the participants) in that instant falls into the realm of the Almighty; us mere mortals must make life or death decisions w/o benefit of hindsight.
The homeowner who killed your brother is indeed as much a victim as your brother. The perpetrators, based on the information provided so far, are guilty of murder. Hopefully the Police investigation will find the truth, identities and follow with full prosecution.
God Bless.
Ms. Groves;
I would have legally defended myself with a legally carried firearm (assuming I was being threatened with deadly force); since I do not live in a state where free men are debarred the use of arms.
If I lived in Illinois, I would have long ago moved, just as I did from my home state of NY.
Again, condolences.
God Bless & MOLON LABE
I would like for someone defending themself in their own home to not be treated as a violent instigator. The shooter didn’t ask Demetrious to come crashing through his window. How would you react if a man half your age and twice your strength broke into your home without warning.. and police came to arrest you at gunpoint for having been assaulted like that?
I am very sorry for your family’s loss. God bless you and yours too.
Do you have any idea how many people we get on FR who log in to only post to defend someone, usually dead by their own actions that we get here?
No you don’t because you are another one of them. Maybe someday one will be real but I don’t think that today is the day.
BTW, I would have shot him too and would have done it with new ammo and current training.
I know some LEO types and I know that every serious perp has a plan to try and get him out of his situation. Knowing this makes me cynical when I hear an excuse from someone.
There are pro football player's who are 5'7" and quite large.
In regard to what I would do if I was being chased I would not jump through a window. I might smash a car window to set the alarm off or throw a brick,log,garbage can etc. through a house window to attract attention but I would not jump through a window in an occupied dwelling.
Once again I'm sorry for your lose.
Another thing, race has nothing to do with this. If a white guy jumped through a black guys window and was shot then oh well, he should not be prosecuted either.
Any relation to the TG that was the Danville Homecoming Queen in 96/97?
And how did you stumble over Free Republic just today (10 Oct 2008)?
Sorry to hear about your loss, was it David that went to the crime scene?
First of all, my heart goes out to D’s family. I can’t imagine the grief you’re feeling right now. I would ask everyone to please stop making assumptions about the circumstances of his entry into this man’s home until ALL the facts are known. Unless you were actually outside that building, you have no idea why D went through that window. And out of respect for his family (who is suffering enough grief over this tremendous loss), try to have a little compassion and not jump to so many conclusions.
Having said that, this is pretty frightening for anyone to go through, but especially for a 68-year-old Navy veteran who served this country in Vietnam. It’s sad that he would have to resort to that type of action in his own home, but under the circumstances, it’s a relief that he had the resources (and the right) to protect himself in that manner.
He said he acted on instinct. I believe that anyone would have acted in the same manner under the same circumstances. I certainly would have done whatever I needed to in order to defend myself and my home, and someone crashing through my bedroom window would definitely be cause for alarm.
I know for a fact that this homeowner regrets having to fire that gun under any circumstances, because this homeowner is my father. He has barely been able to sleep since that night and wishes that the whole incident never took place. This has obviously had a profound negative impact on him, regardless of the situation. I know that he regrets the results of his actions.
Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not trying to make light of what D’s family is going through. I just think we should consider the emotional impact on all of us who were affected by this.
Dang! I think this is a first for me — to see a news article on a shooting come on Free Republic and then have the shooter and the one who was shot — their family members come on here and comment on the article.
And yeah, to TaNiquaGroves — there are a lot of stupid people making stupid comments on Free Republic. Sometimes they don’t act like it’s “real life” here and take things so simply.
And to fatkidindahouse, I’m sure it’s extremely traumatic for your father and I understand the reacting out of instinct, especially having been in Vietnam.
Too many people have made callous remarks out of total disregard of any facts and simply going on some presuppositions that they’ve made. It’s not a good way to go, for sure.
Prayers go to both families...
Assume it’s corrosive primed, non corrosive powder from that era. Many people told me that no 30 carbine was corrosive, but why risk a nice piece? I have some Korean era ammo too-great stuff, reliable, consistent, full power,etc. Good ammo, just clean well when done (even hot soapy water works in a pinch for corrosive ammo, or any commercial cleaner,Hoppes, Shooters choice,etc.). Dry well, and oil well. If you reload, soak the brass in soapy water afterward, and rinse well. Or the corrosion eats the brass around the head of the cartridge, and weakens it for reloading. Had a head separation with 30-06 once when i was younger-only takes once to learn that!
That's an outrage, would the resident have called the cops if he had been the guilty party in the shooting? He was the victim fer cryin out loud. I bet they confiscated his gun too and he'll never see it again.
With cops like that, Crest Hill must be in the Chicago metro area. In some downstate counties the cops might have given the guy a medal.
True, but if the guy really was fleeing for his life then BBell is right, it sucks. Not that the shooter did anything wrong, he was the victim of a break-in and no matter what the cause may have been he didn't have time to sort things out before firing.
I keep a .38 revolver on my night table and I would have done the same thing. Only difference is that my .38 is fired for practice on a regular basis. But for a guy who hasn't fired his gun for 35 years he did OK and got the job done. I hope I could do as well if God forbid I am ever in that situation.
Thnx!
Good advice is to clean your pieces after every time out anyways!
I still have several boxes of Italian 7.35mm military rifle ammo marked 1939 that fires every time. I wish I had bought more of it decades ago because it isn't available anymore and the old rifle still shoots well.
I could buy Lee dies for it and make brass out of Norma 6.5 Italian cases, but I would have to cast lead bullets for it if Lyman still makes the molds for it and reduce the powder charge down for a low velocity load. But that's a lot of expense and trouble just to shoot an old rifle at plastic Pepsi bottles and soup cans.
You said — “He was the victim fer cryin out loud.”
Well, according to the guy’s sister (of the guy who was shot), the shooter wasn’t necessarily a “victim”... you see...
See post #40, from the dead man’s sister.
Yeah I read all that. I think it would be correct to say there were two victims in this incident, and the guilty party or parties got away.
Yeah I read all that. I think it would be correct to say there were two victims in this incident, and the guilty party or parties got away.
Yeah I read all that. I think it would be correct to say there were two victims in this incident, and the guilty party or parties got away.
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