Posted on 04/16/2010 5:35:48 PM PDT by Abathar
INDIANAPOLIS -- A man who shot and killed a teenager who broke into his car was charged Friday with voluntary manslaughter.
Virgil Lucas, 17, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the chest on the front porch of a home in the 3500 block of East Morris Street early on April 9.
James Ingram, 30, who lives nearby, told police he returned home from work to find the teen breaking into his car, and confronted him with a gun.
Ingram's attorney said his client was merely attempting to hold Lucas for the police, but when the teen ran, Ingram fired several shots after him.
Ingram told police he didn't think he'd hit the teen until he was found dead in the neighborhood.
Police said that legally, loss of property is not enough to justify the use of deadly force.
(Excerpt) Read more at theindychannel.com ...
Castle Doctrine needs to be nationwide whereever someone is.
Property needs to be included as well nationwide.
The deck needs to be stacked with the victim not the criminal.
Common criminals are cowards, they already know I am armed, so I doubt they would come back for a second chance at robbing an armed man.
Sorry, but most teenagers aren't hard core criminals who would come back for a revenge killing.
That's the chance I'd take before shooting an unarmed teenage running away from me
Yes, it is legal here in Texas, as you say, to use deadly force to protect your property, if you catch the perps actually committing the crime.(can’t go find ‘em later, shoot ‘em and get stuff back) and I don’t know about shooting them in the back. Seems like I read it has to be at night before you can do that?
Hopefully the jury will act with more sanity than law enforcement.
The jury in most states, I suppose, would have no choice. I suspect most states hold that one can only use deadly force if being attacked and feared for his life and/or grievous bodily harm.
I am of mixed minds about this.
It is never a good idea to think that a gun gives you control over a situation, because it does not. In fact, it reduces your control to just four things: put your gun back in your holster, pistol whip someone, fire a warning shot, or shoot them.
For a lot of situations, these are not enough options, which is why police really like Tasers.
In this case, the gun owner felt he had control, which in his mind reduced his choice to shoot or don’t shoot. When the thief darted away, it was an almost instinctual response to fire at him.
If at all possible, it is good to suggest to yourself that if you draw your gun, try to get a long blunt object in your other hand. Doing so gives you *more* control, because you have more options at close quarters.
And this last bit is critical. If you have a gun, you should avoid getting too close to an opponent. It is best if you stay 10-15 feet away, which is still “point blank range”, but any closer, and he might be inclined to try and rush you.
If you need to approach him, do so with the blunt object ahead and the gun back, well away from him.
Sorry but a terrorist wants to kill me. So does someone who has a weapon who enters my home. But if someone is unarmed
he is still a criminal if he enters my home but then again
i´m, not willing to kill someone as long he/she is no treath to my live. And fact is when i point a gun to your head and you are running away then you are no danger to my life. Full stop! Does this mean that i don´t care? Well definitely no. But does this mean that i´m not willing to kill for this then yes. Just a question have you killed someone? I have and it haunts me. (but this was even my opinnion before this did happen) so nothing changed. I would never kill someone as long as my life is not in danger only because the law says i might be legal able to do this. (btw. before you get me wrong the people i have killed have been in afghanistan and i thought my life would have been in danger).
Try reading the second sentence.
He was shot in the chest.
Glad I don't live in that state.
It is in Texas.
SSS: Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up.
No, I didn’t hear about it until that night...didn’t realize anything had happened...and even then I wasn’t sure where it had happened...but then a few days after there were protests and marches over by his house...then HIS neighbors complained and got something or some law passed to keep the protestors out of their neighborhood....it was a win for gun owners, anti-illegal immigration, and a stab at the race baiters all in one....
If you mean the guy in Houston who did cleanup with a shotgun, while an unmarked police car sat right out on the street?
The grand jury returned a "no bill". Meaning that they found no crime had been committed. Just lawful use of deadly force.
Local race baiter tried to make something of it, until he found out the perps were not Blacks, but rather illegal aliens from central America. ;)
So, Joe kid, age 11 comes onto your yard (obviously to steal your son's bike), you chase after him and shoot him in the back two blocks from your home?
That nice, the story indicated 17 year old was running away. That would seem to indicate he was possibly shot in the back.
I believe I agree with you. I don’t see theft as a death penalty offense.
I understand the anger of the victim, believe me, but there are degrees of crime.
Save the death penalty for murderers and violent rapists and child rapists, IMO.
Actually, no. Cops are very restricted in the occasions when they can use deadly force. A non violent crime and an suspect who runs does not justify deadly force.
You didn’t answer the question?
Of course it does. Jury nullification is always an option.
Shooting some stupid punk in the back for steeling CD's or something out of my car? No way I'd do that. I'd like to, but there is no way would I shoot someone in the back for this type of crime.
To be honest, without perceived or direct physical threat to me or someone else, I'm not shooting. Now catching someone that has entered or are attempting entry to my home is an entirely different story.
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