Posted on 07/02/2010 2:59:26 PM PDT by marktwain
ALTURAS | An Alturas man wielding a weed trimmer who threatened his 68-year-old neighbor was shot twice Thursday and now faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Darren Lee Wilkerson, 40, of 365 80 Foot Road in Alturas, was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center for treatment of his wounds, but later was released and was booked into the Polk County Jail on Thursday night.
Wilkerson's neighbor, Willard Bruce, 68, of Alturas, wasn't injured.
Bruce wasn't arrested. A sheriff's report called the shooting self-defense.
Wilkerson was trimming Bruce's hedges about 12:40 p.m. at 295 80 Foot Road, reports said.
Bruce asked Wilkerson to stop, but Wilkerson said he would hit Bruce with the weed trimmer and lifted it toward his face, Detective Michael Carver reported. Bruce pointed a .25-caliber pistol and shot Wilkerson, who was standing sideways at the time, in the upper back and buttocks.
(Excerpt) Read more at theledger.com ...
Never bring a weed-eater to a gunfight.
So, the shooter gets off free while the guy who brandished the weed-whacker and took two slugs gets arrested. Now, that’s interesting.
I guess you had to be there.
I wonder what got him all we-weed up?
Apparently you don’t understand what some of these powered hedge trimmers can do to you.
The report says weed trimmer and some of them have a metal blade that will really tear you up.
But it is more likely that it was a powered hedge trimmer. They are even more dangerous.
I didn’t have to be there. I get it. What’s you’re argument?
BUmp for TRuth!
If I was shot Twice by a .25 and I found out about it I would be really pissed off.
Get a decent caliber of firearm it will make you seriously think about the ramifications of using it.
A .25 caliber? As an old cowboy once said regarding a .32, “You shoot me with that thing and I’ll kick your a$$ all over Texas.”
Obviously there’s details to this story that aren’t covered here.
Why was the guy with the weed-whacker trimming someone else’s hedges? Are they abutting public property, or the trimming guy’s yard? Or did tWilkerson just start trimming hedges because he took some sort of strange dislike to them. or the owner?
The shooter, also, was obviously worried about the trimmer - enough to bring a gun with him to the conversation. Is this guy some kind of threatening nut-case in the neighborhood? Does he have some sort of deteriorating mental condition?
I’m just glad nobody was killed. It’s obviously a ridiculous reason to get killed. Unless the trimmer was destroying topiary animals that took years to grow, the hedges themselves can probably grow back in a season. But even if a fellow took a chainsaw to Green Animals in Newport RI, it’s still no reason to kill him if there’s a different way.
Cal the police. Let THEM shoot him.
Uh, I guess.
One school of gunfighting is to have a small caliber handgun, .22,.25 or .32 and practice w/it so much (because of the cheaper ammo & smaller recoil fatigue) that you can whip it out (faster than a hand cannon) and shoot the eyes out of a fly - in the air.
Two hollow points in the head would defuse most situation.
I don’t think he was shot because he was trimming the hedges.
I think he was shot because he physically threatened the hedges’ owner.
That’s enough right there for me to do some defensive perforation.
That he used a heavy implement to emphasize the threat— indeed, one with a motor and some sort of cutting arrangement— makes me want to put him on the ground NOW.
Just damn.
Try reading the article....you might actually learn enough to post something worth reading.
Don’t start a fight with an old guy. If he’s too tired to fight, he may just shoot you in the ass.
I guarantee you, if I shot somebody twice with a 25 auto they wouldn’t be pissed off for long.
In shooting or real estate, it’s location, location, location. A 25 is far from ideal, but it’s a waayyy better than a weed-eater.
I read the article. Please tell me what you learned from it that I missed. I’m always willing to learn, even from teachers that use insulting and demeaning attitudes towards others.
You ask "Was the guy...trimming someone else's hedges? From the article...."Wilkerson was trimming Bruce's hedges."
You ask "Is this guy some kind of threatening nut-case in the neighborhood?" The Sheriff stated "It was learned...that Mr. Wilkerson routinely threatens and provokes his neighbors."
The tone of the article, and the words and action of the Sheriff, make it clear that an elderly dude defended himself against an arrogant neighborhood bully. Yet you question his actions. You feel bad for the bully....I fear for the safety of the old guy when the bully gets out. The old dude should have used a bigger gun, or emptied the one he used.
A .25 caliber? As an old cowboy once said regarding a .32, “You shoot me with that thing and I’ll kick your a$$ all over Texas
I guy told me some thing like that about a 3 inch pocket knife I was carring. I told him I guess you don’t mine a lot of little holes in your lungs.
He decided it was not best to find out.
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