Posted on 02/02/2012 12:00:55 PM PST by marktwain
BALDWIN HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- An elderly man from Baldwin Hills took matters into his own hands when two suspected burglars were at his bedroom window Tuesday night.
"I was in bed and heard the noise - boom, boom - then I came to see what it was," said 87-year-old Jack Goodwin. "It was two guys busting the window out coming in."
Fearing for his life, Goodwin grabbed his 9mm handgun and shot at the suspects, wounding at least one of them.
Goodwin was an Army marksman in World War II.
"I only shot twice. I didn't empty the gun or nothing like that," Goodwin said.
There are two bullet holes in his bedroom window.
Goodwin said he immediately called police after firing at the suspects.
Police said one of the burglary suspects was wounded by the gunshots. They said he is in the hospital in critical condition. The second suspect fled the scene. They do not know if he was wounded as well.
"Anybody, almost a blind man, could have hit them. I was right up on them," Goodwin said.
Goodwin said shooting a gun is second nature to him, even at his age.
"I don't brag, but I could shoot it," he said, adding that he bought the gun 20 years ago and keeps it close enough to quickly grab at night.
Police announced Wednesday night that Goodwin was acting in self-defense and was not expected to be charged with any crime.
(Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...
Note to everyone: Be prepared.
An intelligent person might have wondered why he didn't need bars, but an intelligent person wouldn't not have chosen to be a criminal. There's a lesson here about robbing an old man. They should stick to robbing younger metrosexuals.
And after word gets around, there won't be any need for him to install any, either.
“Police announced Wednesday night that Goodwin was acting in self-defense and was not expected to be charged with any crime.”
Not expected? WTF? Isn’t that freaking’ special? Of course the old man committed no crime. Self-dense is a natural right and duty, not a crime. Morons.
LOL, well there is that
“Not expected? WTF?”
The police don’t expect anything to happen, but can’t say for sure that some lefty DA won’t get his panties in a twist.
I hope that the laws in California aren’t too strict with regards to the inside the house versus outside the house breaking in.
And I didn’t click on the link, but I hope that part of the window is broken, and the other part has the bullet holes in it if California does have the stricter laws.
Okay - I clicked it. Looks like they did break it right below the little window lock so they could unlatch it and open it. I would hope it is as obvious to the law as it is to commonsense that the guy was protecting himself and what is his.
You have to understand that the laws governing the use of deadly force have nothing to do with right or wrong; nothing to do with justice; and nothing to do with common sense. They have everything to do with legal technicalities.
In many communities (not all - so know your laws if you own a firearm) you are only allowed to use deadly force if you are in fear for your life and/or property (and sometimes not property). Often (not always) if the you shoot at someone who is running away from you, the law views deadly force as not being required.
The issue in this case is that the homeowner shot at two people with two bullets. Was the crook he shot at the second time coming toward him and a risk to his life, or after hearing the first shot, was the crook running away.
One of the real reasons you don't want to talk to police and say much about what happened is if you “confessed that you shot at the second guy even though he looked like he may have turned away” in some places you will be quickly taken down to the jail and booked.
If the crook that had been shot was shot in the back the guy might be in trouble as if the guy is not moving toward you, many DA’s will not feel that your life is in danger.
Obviously, a lot of this technicality stuff does not make common sense. Hopefully a lot the technicality stuff would be ignored by a jury, but not always.
The moral of this is that the use of deadly force is something that should only be done after you are familiar with the laws governing its use.
One of the things I do with all my relatives that I teach how to shoot, is to give them a booklet on the firearm related laws where I live. Often if you go to the local sheriff, they will have such a collection of laws that they give out when someone applies for a concealed carry license. If they don't have such a booklet they may know of a good one for your area.
I would imagine that the two bullet holes in his window will be a greater deterant than the bars on windows that his neighbors have.
As far as I am concerned this is the post of the day! I am still laughing:)
I was thinking a Star as well, but it is hard to be sure, what with the finish all messed up.
I would think a Star model B, but I would not swear in court about it.
I wouldn’t call the Star model B a knockoff, but rather an improvement on the 1911 design, even if I disagree with the magazine safety.
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