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Mute Air Force veteran, 72, with advanced Alzheimer's shot dead by homeowner ...
The Daily Mail Online ^ | November 27, 2013 | Louise Boyle

Posted on 11/28/2013 5:45:24 AM PST by Uncle Chip

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To: Uncle Chip

It is difficult for me to imagine a scenario wherein a 72 year old man wandering around the front yard in a semi-responsive condition represents a potential deadly threat that justifies armed response.


41 posted on 11/28/2013 6:38:27 AM PST by spodefly (This is my tag line. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)
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To: Uncle Chip
This hits close to home for me. I had a relative who developed Althimers at a similar age. He was a veteran of hand to hand combat in WWII and had been a LEO most of the rest of his life. He felt threatened once and nearly cleaned house on the whole nursing home staff. This included some big young men. Not saying this is a similar situation, but it could be.
42 posted on 11/28/2013 6:42:17 AM PST by CrazyIvan (Obama phones= Bread and circuits.)
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To: napscoordinator

You say that now, but I still believe that if you ever become disabled you will stop advocating murdering people for being disabled.


43 posted on 11/28/2013 6:45:36 AM PST by BykrBayb (Somewhere, my flower is there. ~ Þ)
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To: Uncle Chip
At 4:00am Wednesday Morning East Tennessee and parts of Norther Georgia were under very poor weather conditions. Wet including snow, sleet, and rain came down all night. Temps were upper 30’s. It's a miracle the man lasted outside as long as he did. As for Mute? Patients loose the ability to communicate as the disease progresses. If he was talking it likely was not understandabe

It sounds like it was likely a only one caregiver situation and the man simply got out. Families dealing with this do not get outside help in the way of others to watch the person if no other family is there. In other words caretaker is on their own.

44 posted on 11/28/2013 6:45:40 AM PST by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
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To: Uncle Chip

If the facts in the story are accurate, this looks like a BAD shooting and the shooter should go to prison for a LONG time!


45 posted on 11/28/2013 6:46:36 AM PST by piytar (The predator-class is furious that their prey are shooting back.)
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To: napscoordinator
Is this going to be our Trayvon case where we look to the homeowner as a villain when he was just protecting his property.

Not unless the 72 year old man dragged the 34 year old man to the ground and beat his head against the pavement.

46 posted on 11/28/2013 6:47:18 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: DJ Taylor

So he wasn’t the homeowner — just the boyfriend of the homeowner.

Whose handgun was it — his or his girlfriend’s???

He was probably upset that the old guy ringing the bell interrupted his orgasm and he was going to teach him a lesson.


47 posted on 11/28/2013 6:48:17 AM PST by Uncle Chip
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To: piytar

From today’s newspaper:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/nov/28/wandering-man-with-alzheimers-shot-killed/

An Ooltewah man who shot and killed what he thought was a middle-of-the-night prowler — actually a 72-year-old man with advanced Alzheimer’s disease — Wednesday in Walker County, Ga., hasn’t been charged but he might be later, authorities said.

The slain man, Ronald Westbrook, had walked about 3 miles to the shooting scene from his home on Carlock Circle, Sheriff Steve Wilson said at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. When Westbrook was shot, he was clutching letters he had taken from a mailbox on Marbletop Road, where he had lived previously, the sheriff said.

A deputy had stopped and questioned Westbrook at about 2:30 a.m. at the mailbox, Wilson said, but Westbrook said he was getting his mail and lived up the hill.

Westbrook then rang the doorbell and turned the doorknob of a home at 188 Cottage Crest Court at 3:54 a.m., awakening Joe Hendrix, 34, of Ooltewah, and his fiancee. They had rented the home in the new subdivision about two weeks ago, next-door neighbor Brandi Wallace said.

Wilson said Westbrook was lost, confused and possibly exhausted. He had wandered for about four hours in the night with his two dogs, wearing a light jacket and straw hat as the wind-chill temperature hovered around 20 degrees.

“This one house at the end of the cul-de-sac had a porch light on,” Wilson said. “I tend to think [Westbrook] was drawn to that light.”

Hendrix’s fiancee, whose name Wilson declined to give, called 911 and stayed on the phone with an emergency dispatcher who sent two sheriff’s office patrol cars en route.

After a nine- to 10-minute wait — and before deputies arrived — Hendrix went outside armed with a .40-caliber handgun and saw the elderly man in silhouette behind the house, the sheriff said.

“There was no light except for the front porch light,” Wilson said, explaining there are no street lights at The Woodlands, the subdivision off North Marble Top Road west of Chickamauga.

“[Hendrix] gave several what he described as verbal commands,” Wilson said. “[Westbrook] continued walking toward him after he told him to stop.”

Westbrook was slow to talk, Wilson said, because of his advanced Alzheimer’s disease.

Fearing for his safety, Hendrix fired four shots, the sheriff said. One bullet hit Westbrook in the chest, killing him.

‘Should have stayed inside’

No charges were filed Wednesday against Hendrix, who drove himself away from the shooting scene around 10:30 a.m. as investigators were wrapping up their evidence gathering.

Hendrix and his fiancee were fully cooperative, Wilson said.

“Both [their] stories matched completely,” the sheriff said.

However, Wilson said that Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin, whom Wilson called to the shooting scene, might bring charges after reviewing all the evidence. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation helped the sheriff’s department on-scene with its investigation.

“We reserve our options and rights to file charges once the investigation is complete, if we feel like Georgia law warrants charges being filed,” Wilson said.

Georgia’s 2006 “stand-your-ground” law that allows people to use deadly force to protect themselves “may apply to this case,” Wilson said.

The dispatcher who stayed on the phone with Hendrix’s fiancee wasn’t aware Hendrix went outside the house with a handgun, the sheriff said.

“In my personal opinion, I believe that he should have stayed inside the house,” Wilson said. “Did he violate any laws by exiting the house? No.”

“Mr. Hendrix is clearly saddened and heartbroken,” the sheriff said. “Mr. Hendrix has to live with his actions for the rest of his life.”

Westbrook ‘a fine man’

Wilson said he knew Westbrook and they attended the same church.

“Just a fine man, fine family,” Wilson said. “I really hate it for his wife and his children.”

Westbrook’s family didn’t realize he had wandered off until around the time the shooting occurred.

“You can’t watch them 24/7,” Wilson said of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, which he said got progressively worse for Westbrook after he was diagnosed two years ago with dementia.

Contacted at their Carlock Circle home, Westbrook’s family declined to comment.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6651.


48 posted on 11/28/2013 6:49:45 AM PST by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war, and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
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To: MCF
It sounds like Hendrix fired 3 warning shots which the old man ignored and keep advancing on

More likely he was a rotten shot as well as being reckless.

49 posted on 11/28/2013 6:52:11 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: trebb
I have similar thoughts. No situational awareness or thoughts that they are dealing with a harmless person; just a chance to kill someone. Many here on FR would disagree - they think any shoot is a good one, even the cop who riddled the kid with the toy gun.

You ignorant f***. No one on FR thought that shooting that kid was a good shoot except for a couple of cop apologists.I believe they are missing a idiot over at DU, you had better get back there.

50 posted on 11/28/2013 6:52:32 AM PST by calex59
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To: CrazyIvan
This hits close to home for me. I had a relative who developed Althimers at a similar age. ...He felt threatened once and nearly cleaned house on the whole nursing home staff.

I have a relative with Alzheimer's who is in her eighties. Once when I took her for a ride, she started hitting me, and attacking me while I was driving the car. Luckily, I was able to safely pull over.

I had a neighbor with Alzheimer's. She was in her seventies. She climbed up on my roof one year, and took all my Christmas Lights down, and over to her house. She could easily scale my 6 foot wooden fence, and get in my backyard. She was very strong because she was basically a perpetual motion machine..always walking, climbing, never still.

51 posted on 11/28/2013 6:58:26 AM PST by sockmonkey (Of Course I didn't read the article. After all, this is FreeRepublic..)
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To: Uncle Chip

Sadly, this retired LTC should have been under custodial care. If he was, this can be prosecuted as reckless neglect.

An advanced Alzheimer’s patient, taking his dogs for a walk at midnight, while lightly dressed in very cold weather, possibly freezing temperatures, could be a death sentence in its own right.

Just the opposite is true in Arizona, with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia patients, usually aged, going for a walk in the heat of summer. Several die each year from this.

The homeowner made a fatal mistake by not bringing a flashlight with him, in that if at all possible, you do not fire a gun without first identifying your target. It was mentioned that the homeowner’s wife had already called 911, so it was just as possible that he could have shot a police officer, had one arrived quickly.

In this case, as a minimum the homeowner should be charged with a misdemeanor, for reckless endangerment, even if that is not the exact charge.


52 posted on 11/28/2013 7:11:26 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Last Obamacare Promise: "If You Like Your Eternal Soul, You Can Keep It.")
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To: Vaquero
No. If he entered the house and was told to leave and he kept advancing he may have felt a threat for himself or his fiancé. Bad judgement? Maybe but not a crime from my prospective.

As sad as this situation is, I think I'm with you. Technically, he met the criteria of being a threat but...

While I'd have no remorse about shooting anyone who was a threat to me and my family... I'd have a hard time seeing an unarmed 72 year old guy as a threat. Sure, I'd hold my weapon on him (finger off the trigger!) and maintain my distance from him... But as long as I could see he didn't have a weapon in his hands I would not take his life.

And yes I have been and continue to be very pro defense. (there's a loaded G19 on the desk in front of the keyboard as I type this) And yes, if it were a 20 or so year old punk busting into my house I would shoot a heck of a lot sooner. (like maybe after one command to stop, or even without a command) A younger, fit person is much more of a physical threat.

53 posted on 11/28/2013 7:35:02 AM PST by ThunderSleeps (Stop obarma now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: trebb
Many here on FR would disagree - they think any shoot is a good one, even the cop who riddled the kid with the toy gun.

It's not that easy to distinguish a realistic looking toy gun from a real one. A 72-year-old man who's not armed on the other hand, is not a threat, if all he's doing is ringing a doorbell.

54 posted on 11/28/2013 8:06:25 AM PST by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: Uncle Chip
I'm a great believer in being armed and defending my home, but there's no reason to put yourself in a position to use deadly force when the suspicious guy is not in your house or trying to force entry at the time: especially when you've already called 911.

I hope I can end my days knowing that all my shooting was at the range.

55 posted on 11/28/2013 8:06:41 AM PST by jumpingcholla34
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To: napscoordinator

there is a way of asking without words coordinator smartie pants


56 posted on 11/28/2013 10:33:06 AM PST by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yarddog
I can’t imagine anyone shooting someone in that way. That is assuming the report is accurate.

I bet he is charged and should be


You sound an awful lot like my liberal sister.

Let's see, 4 AM and the person/personnel/facility responsible for Mr Westbrook... How is it he managed to wander off on his own for several miles? Do you support free-range Alzheimer patients?

Do we know whether his behavior might have looked threatening? I'm not saying it did. I'm simply saying we don't know.

57 posted on 11/28/2013 10:38:57 AM PST by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: cripplecreek

Was that the “girl” who had a car accident but was still able to drive her car and showed up at the guys door under the influence of drugs and alcohol at 3 AM “looking for help?”


58 posted on 11/28/2013 10:41:00 AM PST by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Uncle Chip

He probably ordered him to tell him his name and he couldn’t — so he shot him.


Or maybe the guy was walking towards him and he told him to stop. My speculation seems a bit more likely than yours.

Just declare the homeowner guilty and be done with it. If we’re lucky he’ll get Zimmermaned by the President and the Media.


59 posted on 11/28/2013 10:43:12 AM PST by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Rides_A_Red_Horse
My speculation seems a bit more likely than yours.

But your understanding of the meaning of the word "mute" is not.

A "mute" is someone unable to speak -- not someone unable to hear.

60 posted on 11/28/2013 11:19:16 AM PST by Uncle Chip
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