“Justifiable Homicides” by Private Citizens, Cops Fell in 2011
The number of incidents where a person took up arms or simply defended themself and it resulted in what the Federal Bureau of Investigation calls a “justifiable homicide” fell in 2011.
Justifiable homicide is when a “peace officer in the line of duty” or a private citizen kills a felon.
“Because these killings are determined through law enforcement investigation to be justifiable, they are tabulated separately from murder and nonnegligent manslaughter,” according to the FBI report. When reported by law enforcement the incidents are reported as “justifiable or excusable.”
According to the FBI’s Crime in the United States 2011 report, there were 260 incidents of justifiable homicide by private citizens in the United States in 2011. Of those 260 incidents, 77 percent of those (201) involved firearms. And of those firearms, 153 of those incidents involved handguns; 12 involved rifles; and 10 involved shotguns. Twenty-six incidents were in the “firearms, not stated” category and 46 justifiable homicide incidents involved a knife or cutting instrument. In 2010, there were 25 more incidents of justifiable homicide (285) by a private individual.
In 2007, there were 257 justifiable homicides by private citizens – just three less than the 2011 number. In the years between, with the exception of 2010 which saw a slight rise in the number of justifiable homicides, the numbers have been in the 260s.
Law enforcement took many more justifiable shots at felons than private citizens each year from 2007 to 2011.
FBI data shows that cops barely used anything other than a firearm to take down, in a justifiable or excusable way, a felon.
In 2011, there were 46 incidents where a knife or cutting instrument was used by a private citizen in a justifiable homicide, nine incidents where citizens used other dangerous weapons and four incidents where personal weapons were used.
In contrast, police used firearms in justifiable homicides 99.2 percent of the time, or 390 of the 393 incidents. The number of justifiable homicides by police fell by four incidents from 2010 (397).
Homeowner shoots and kills intruder, 1 at large Posted: 01/15/13 at 8:00 am EST Last Updated: 01/15/13 at 1:49 pm EST
NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police said two men broke into a home and the homeowner shot and killed one of them, late Monday night. The other remains at large.
More than 12 hours later, police remain on scene, investigating what happened at about 11:05 p.m., Monday, at a complex on Northeast Eighth Court and 209th Terrace.
Jerome Irving, a resident who lives nearby, noticed the crime scene. "I thought that it was that something pretty bad that went down when I see all the [crime scene] tape and police cars," he said.
Resident Arthur Li heard the shooting. "I was outside hanging around, and then I heard a couple gunshots, and I saw a couple of people looking and seeing what's going on; nobody knew."
Investigators said a home invasion led to the shooting. They said a 19-year-old male homeowner shot and killed the 22-year-old intruder. The intruder's accomplice fled the scene. "I think I heard several shots, like six or seven, possibly eight." said Li. "I don't know; they were just quick."
Some who live in the neighborhood call it a nice area. However, Irving said, bad things can happen anywhere. "I'm one that's been around for awhile, and I know things are gonna happen, and it will get worse. It only gets worse."
Police are now searching for the second subject. If you have any information on this home invasion, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
Mom shoots intruder: A point for gun rights advocates? (+video)
A Georgia mom shoots an intruder coming for her and her two children. Gun rights advocates are making her an example of responsible gun ownership.
By Associated Press / January 10, 2013 Share on stumbleupon Share on email
Loganville, Ga.
A Georgia mother who shot an intruder at her home has become a small part of the roaring gun control debate, with some firearms enthusiasts touting her as a textbook example of responsible gun ownership.
Melinda Herman grabbed a handgun and hid in a crawl space with her two children when a man broke in last week and approached the family at their home northeast of Atlanta, police said. Herman called her husband on the phone, and with him reminding her of the lessons she recently learned at a shooting range, Herman opened fire, seriously wounding the burglary suspect.
The National Rifle Association tweeted a link to a news story about the shooting, and support poured in from others online, hailing Herman as a hero. The local sheriff said he was proud of the way she handled the situation.
"This lady decided that she wasn't going to be a victim, and I think everyone else looks at this and hopes they have the courage to do what she done," Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman said Wednesday.
Herman was working from home Friday when she saw a man walk up to the front door. She told police he rang the doorbell twice and then over and over again. He went back to his SUV, got something out and walked back toward the house, a police report said.
Herman took her 9-year-old son and daughter into an upstairs bedroom and locked the door. They went into bathroom and she locked that door, too. She got her handgun from a safe, the report said, and hid with her children. At some point, she called her husband, who kept her on the line and called 911 on another line.
In a 10-minute 911 recording released by the Walton County Sheriff's Office, Donnie Herman calmly explained what was happening to a dispatcher. His part of the conversation with his wife was also recorded.
"Is he in the house, Melinda? Are you sure? How do you know? You can hear him in the house?" Donnie Herman said.
His wife told him the intruder was coming closer.
"He's in the bedroom? Shh, shh, relax. Just remember everything that I showed you, everything that I taught you, all right?" Donnie Herman told his wife, explaining later to the dispatcher that he had recently taken her to a gun range.
It wasn't clear from the recording exactly when they went to range and Donnie Herman told The Associated Press on Wednesday the family didn't want to talk about the shooting.
After Donnie Herman told his wife police were on the way, he started shouting: "She shot him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him. She's shootin' him."
"OK," the dispatcher responded.
"Shoot him again! Shoot him!" Donnie Herman yelled. He told the dispatcher he heard a lot of screaming, but he seems to get increasingly worried when he doesn't hear anything from his wife.
Melinda Herman told police she started shooting the man when he opened the door to the crawl space. The man pleaded with her to stop, but she kept firing until she had emptied her rounds, she told police. She then fled to a neighbor's house with her children.
The man drove away in his SUV. Police found the SUV on another subdivision street and discovered a man bleeding from his face and body in a nearby wooded area. Police identified the suspect as 32-year-old Paul Slater of Atlanta.
Chapman said the hospital asked him not to comment on Slater's condition, but he said he is not certain Slater will survive. Authorities have a warrant but haven't formally arrested Slater yet. They plan to charge him with burglary, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and aggravated assault, Walton County sheriff's Capt. Greg Hall said.
A phone number for Slater was not listed and it was not clear whether he has an attorney.
Authorities believe Slater targeted a home in another local subdivision but left when confronted by the homeowner, Chapman said.
By Jennifer Crossley Howard Posted January 13, 2013 at 5:09 p.m. Share this
PENDLETON — A man who shot an intruder in his Pendleton home Saturday night will not be charged by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.
James Crawford acted in self-defense when he shot Kevin Powers, 39, in the leg when he entered Crawford's home, said Chad McBride, spokesman for the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.
The 7 p.m. confrontation at 2100 Refuge Road followed one earlier in the day, according to McBride. Powers was armed with a handgun when he arrived at Crawford's house. Powers' condition at AnMed Health Medical Center in Anderson was not available on Sunday, said spokeswoman Heidi Charalambous.
Upon recovery, Powers faces charges of burglary in the first degree and possibly possession of a weapon during a violent crime, McBride said.
Published January 17, 2013, 08:08 PM Grand Forks homeowner shoots at burglar Waking to the sound of creaking floorboards made by a burglar early Thursday in his north Grand Forks home, Greg Kaml grabbed the revolver he keeps for such a time. He confronted the stranger, who packed a pistol, hit him over the head with the gun butt, chased him outside and shot twice as the man ran away.
By: Stephen J. Lee, Grand Forks Herald
Waking to the sound of creaking floorboards made by a burglar early Thursday in his north Grand Forks house, Greg Kaml grabbed the revolver he keeps for such a time.
He confronted the stranger, who packed a pistol, hit him over the head with the gun butt, chased him outside and shot twice as the man ran away.
Kaml, 50, said he missed but “dented” the man’s head with the gun butt.
He called police, who quickly found Jared Christensen, 24, an experienced burglar, nearby in an alley, showing evidence of head wounds consistent with Kaml’s account, said Lt. Mike Ferguson.
It happened about 3:40 a.m. Thursday at 1703 11th Ave. N.
Nobody was hit by the two shots Kaml fired, police and Kaml agreed. But police took his .45 caliber Colt M1917 pending an investigation into the shooting, Ferguson said.
It turned out the pistol Christensen carried is a pellet gun.
Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Falck was not available Thursday to talk about the investigation into the shooting.
Christensen, however, was charged by Falck.
Crime record
On Thursday, Christensen appeared via TV from the Grand Forks County jail in state district court on a felony burglary charge that carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
He also faces misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon — the pellet pistol — and possessing marijuana and a pipe to smoke it.
By chance, Christensen already had been set to be in court Thursday on a charge of not paying fines from an earlier misdemeanor of driving with a suspended license.
He told District Judge Lawrence Jahnke he hadn’t made any payments because “I just started working recently, about a month ago.”
On the new charges, Falck asked for a bond of $10,000, cash or surety, saying Christensen had “an extensive criminal history” in Minnesota.
Christensen, whose address is Nielsville, Minn., south of Crookston, has several convictions in Minnesota, including one in 2010 for burglary in Polk County for which he was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation, according to court records.
Judge Jahnke scheduled Christensen’s preliminary hearing on the new charges for Feb. 20.
‘Snap, snap’
Police canvassed the neighborhood to make sure nobody and no houses were hit by Kaml’s shots, Ferguson said.
Footprints in the snow showed police had looked closely at nearby trees on the berm for bullets or bullet holes.
Alex Randle lives a few houses to the west and across the street. He said he got up about 5 a.m. to walk his dog and saw police searching the area. They told him about the incident and asked if he had heard anything; he had not.
Walter Wockovich lives across the street from Kaml’s house. He said he woke up about the time of the shooting. “All I heard was snap, snap.”
He didn’t look out to see what was going on.
Confrontation
Kaml said he woke up when he heard someone walking on the hardwood floor above his bedroom. His only roommate was not due back until the weekend, so he was suspicious.
The burglar was just coming out of his roommate’s bedroom with a laptop inside his jacket, when Kaml confronted him.
“I was pointing my .45 at him and told him to stop and get on the floor and he just kept coming right at me,” Kaml said. “We danced round the living room and kitchen a little bit. I’ve got a couple of purple toes; I’m not sure if he stomped on them or dropped the laptop on them.” “He kept telling me he was mentally ill and he just wanted to leave,” Kaml said. “I had him by the jacket and had the .45 pressed against his chest. Then he pulled a pistol out of his pocket.”
Holding his six-shot revolver by its wooden handle grips, Kaml said he hit Christensen in the head two or three times with the butt of the handle. “I was trying to knock him out.”
The intruder had gotten in the unlocked kitchen door and was leaving the same way.
“I caught up to him and just whaled on the back of his head with the .45, but it didn’t put him down,” Kaml said. “That’s why I think he was cranked up on something. His eyes looked like it. He took off, ran off the deck and off down the sidewalk.”
“He had a gun,” Kaml said. “I felt he was going to go and raid somebody else’s house.”
“I said ‘Stop or I’m going to shoot you,’” Kaml said. “He kept running so I shot at him two times. After the first shot, he went from about 15 mph to about 70.”
Kaml said he figures Christensen was about 80 yards away when he shot. “That’s a long shot for a revolver. But I do a lot of target shooting.”
Freaked out
Neither shot hit Christensen; at least one slug hit a big cottonwood tree in a neighbor’s front berm.
Police found where one slug had gone through the cottonwood’s bark, apparently bouncing off the tree itself, leaving some shrapnel, Kaml said.
A crane operator who grew up in Badger, Minn., Kaml said he spends a lot of time hunting and fishing and target shooting, but he’s never had to use a gun for self -defense before.
“It will freak you out a little bit,” he said of waking up to a burglar in his home. “I can guarantee you all my doors will be locked from now on.”
Call Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 1237; or send email to slee@gfherald.com.
Police say a homeowner shot and killed an armed intruder who tried to break into a third floor apartment in North Dallas Wednesday night.
Kendra Lyn, NBC 5 News
A grand jury will decide if a homeowner had the right to shoot and kill an armed man trying to break into a home in North Dallas Wednesday night.
The shooting happened in the 7700 block of McCallum Boulevard in North Dallas around 8:30 p.m.
Police say the intruder tried to break into the third floor apartment at McCallum Corners armed with a handgun. Investigators say the 36-year-old man from Denton was shot and killed by the homeowner on the spot during the home invasion.
The intruder had several gunshot wounds to his upper body.
Officers seized marijuana, cash, and a semi-automatic pistol from the apartment.
Police say the intruder had an accomplice who got away when gunshots rang out.
Under Texas law, the Castle Doctrine typically sides with the homeowner. The law states that a person’s home is their castle and has the right to defend themselves from criminal intruders.
Lawmakers say it presumes that use of force is reasonable and necessary when someone is illegally entering or trying to get into an occupied home, car, or workplace to commit a crime.
A homeowner can still be charged if police discover the killing wasn’t truly self-defense.
We do not know if there is any connection between the intruder and resident.
Friday, December 28, 2012 Resident Uses Handgun to Defend Himself from Home Invader
Resident shoots intruder in NW Houston apartment
A man home alone shot an intruder on Wednesday at an apartment in northwest Houston. view full article
The day after Christmas, December 26, 2012, a renter in an apartment in Northwest Houston was startled by the sound of somebody kicking in his front door. Initially, there was a knock on his door while he was in bed; when he went to the front door and looked through his peephole, no one was there, prompting him to return to bed. This was likely the robber's way of determining which apartments were empty. After he heard the door kicked in, the renter grabbed his handgun and ran to the living room, where he confronted the robber and shot him in the butt. The injury was non-life threatening. The shooter will not be charged, since he was defending himself and his property.
Police: Homeowner shoots, kills intruder SHARE URL EMAIL FONT: A A A By Chris Cole The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team Wed Jan 2, 2013 2:49 PM A man was shot and killed after trying to break into a house near 28th Avenue and Acoma Drive in Phoenix Wednesday morning, authorities said.
Police believe the man was shot by the homeowner after the man tried to break in, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
The man was taken to the hospital, where he died, police said.
The homeowner told police that his family was awakened by their dogs and he found the man trying to get into his house through the window of his daughters’ bedroom, said James Holmes, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department.
The homeowner, armed with a weapon, began yelling at the man telling him to leave the property. The man reached into his pocket, which led the homeowner to believe the man had a weapon, and the homeowner shot him, Holmes said.
Witnesses told police that the man was displaying bizarre behavior, including yelling to himself and flailing his arms and legs, Holmes said.
Police believe the man was trying to break into several homes in the area, Holmes said.
The man hasn’t been identified at this time and his motives are unknown, Holmes said.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the situation, Holmes said.
Man stabs intruder trying to break into Pittsburg home Tuesday, January 08, 2013 Tags: pittsburg, crime, home invasion, east bay news, alan wang
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PITTSBURG, Calif. (KGO) -- It was a fight to the death between a man and an intruder in his apartment. On Tuesday night police interviewed the tenant who killed the intruder. It happened at the Villa Serena Apartment in Pittsburg on East Leland Road.
Police say it was likely an attempted burglary, but the tenant was in his apartment alone when the intruder tried to break in.
Police say when the tenant in apartment 124 looked through his peephole and saw someone trying to break in, he immediately went to his bedroom and grabbed his gun.
"By the time he makes it back to the front door, he is confronted by the suspect who is now inside of his house. The suspect engages in a physical altercation with our resident. During the altercation, the resident loses control of the firearm," said Pittsburg Police Lt. Ron Raman.
But the tenant managed to grab a knife and stab the intruder in the neck, killing him. Police say the intruder was a 54-year-old Pittsburg man with an extensive criminal history.
"It does definitely appear that the home owner was acting in self-defense," said Raman.
"Well, he shouldn't have been breaking into his house," said one apartment resident.
There didn't seem to be much sympathy for the dead man at the Villa Serena Apartments. Residents say it's been relatively safe here, but now there's some concern.
"It looks like that's what I'm going to have to do the next time somebody come up in my house," said another resident. "You know times are rough nowadays, and it seems like they don't even care if you're there or not, so."
With crime on the rise, the thought of taking the law into their own hands is something many at the complex are contemplating, especially because they can relate to their neighbor who fought back.
"He's a very nice guy. I see him every day take his kids to school, drop them off. He's with his kids a lot. Family oriented I guess, but he's a really nice guy," said one neighbor.
Police say the intruder also had a gun that turned out to be a fake one. They also arrested two other people nearby who they believe have some connection to the intruder.
Homeowner kills intruder in western Pa. home invasion
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities in western Pennsylvania have identified a man stabbed to death by a resident during a home invasion in a Pittsburgh suburb.
The Allegheny County medical examiner's office said 21-year-old Devin Davis of the North Side neighborhood in Pittsburgh was the man killed during the 7:30 a.m. Wednesday home invasion in Penn Hills.
Police said three men entered the home through a garage and struggled with the homeowner. Investigators said Davis was stabbed and the homeowner pushed him out of the front door, where neighbors saw the body on the porch and called 911 while the homeowner and his wife fled for their own safety.
The other two men fled and remain at large. Police said no charges have been filed against the homeowner.
WOW! I've seen a 2 fer on this board quite often... and a 3 fer occasionally occurs...
BUT THIS MAY SET A RECORD AS BEING THE BOARDS FIRST 11FER!
From what I can gather from L4Life's rants... he is demonstrating a case for the right of the public to use guns to defend themselves...
Hard to tell... but if that is his point... then we agree. I believe in the 2nd amendment and I believe in strong gun laws.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
No, I posted that the board administrators had requested consolidating postings.
I never mentioned an 11 post RANT!
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
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