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Self Defense in the news Part 12
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Israeli Forces Raid Refugee Camp
Israel: Armed Guard foils Attacker who Tries to Bomb Club
AP
Friday: Israeli police examine the body of a Palestinian who tried to attack a Tel Aviv nightclub.
Friday, May 24, 2002
TEL AVIV, Israel - Israeli soldiers on Friday raided a West Bank refugee camp ? a stronghold of Palestinian militants ? following back-to-back attacks on Israel's largest fuel depot, a pedestrian mall and a nightclub.
As fighting persisted, an adviser to Yasser Arafat said the Palestinian leader will hold general elections this winter, but only if Israeli troops pull back to positions they held before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000.
Israeli forces, however, looked poised to stay in the West Bank.
Israel TV's Channel Two reported that the army has been given a green light to launch a new military campaign, including raids into Palestinian cities that could last for several days. Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said he was not aware of government approval for a new offensive.
In the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern West Bank, Palestinian militiamen ambushed Israeli soldiers riding atop an armored personnel carrier at the camp's entrance, wounding two soldiers. In the hail of gunfire, one of the soldiers fell from the vehicle, said a Palestinian gunman, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Israeli army said one soldier was killed.
Tank gunners fired shells and machine guns, and four Palestinians were wounded, including a woman and a 4-year-old child, Palestinian doctors said.
The Israeli military confirmed the exchange of fire.
Israeli troops imposed a curfew in Tulkarem. Israeli soldiers have been carrying out daily arrest raids in Palestinian areas following a recent military offensive aimed at dismantling militant groups that have launched scores of bombing and shooting attacks against Israelis.
FNC
A brief lull in attacks ended this week.
In a third attack in 28 hours, a Palestinian militant drove a bomb-laden car at high speed toward a Tel Aviv night club early Friday, but was shot and killed by a security guard. The assailant tried to blow up the Studio 49 club in Tel Aviv, where about 200 people were partying at about 1 a.m.
Security guard Eli Federman said he saw the car turn sharply and race toward the club. He pushed clubgoers inside and opened fire, hitting the attacker, who fell from the car, which burst into flames.
"Then I fired the rest of the bullets into his head," killing him, Federman said.
The car had been carrying pipe bombs.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Arafat's Fatah movement, identified the driver as Amer Shkokani of the West Bank town of El Bireh.
A suicide bombing Wednesday in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion was also carried out by the Al Aqsa militia. Two Israelis and the bomber were killed.
The attacker, 16-year-old Issa Bdeir from Al Doha village outside Bethlehem, was the youngest suicide bomber during 20 months of fighting.
AP
Friday: Israeli police carry away the body of a Palestinian who tried to attack a Tel Aviv nightclub.
In a videotaped farewell message, the boy wore a backpack and posed with two pistols.
"I am going to carry out my operation to avenge the continuous Israeli aggression that is still committed against our people," he said, reading from a piece of paper.
Arafat's office issued a statement Friday denying that his Fatah movement had any link to the Al Aqsa militia's leaflets claiming responsibility for recent attacks. That statement highlighted growing division within the Palestinian faction over bombing attacks.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack on the Pi Glilot fuel depot, in which a bomb attached to the underside of a tanker truck exploded, destroying the cabin but causing no injuries. The depot, Israel's largest, is in the center of the country's most densely populated area near Tel Aviv.
The attack highlighted Israel's vulnerability to large-scale, strategic attacks that security officials and counterterrorism experts warned Palestinians were seeking to carry out.
Security officials also announced this week that they uncovered a plot to explode trucks laden with a ton of explosives under Tel Aviv's twin Azrieli Towers, Israel's tallest buildings.
Sharon's office said Friday that 32 Palestinian attacks had been foiled since Israel's large-scale military operation in the West Bank wound down last week.
Also Friday, a senior adviser to Arafat said the Palestinian leader plans to hold elections for president and parliament this winter, as long as Israeli military forces withdraw to positions they held before fighting began 20 months ago.
Arafat is under pressure from abroad and at home to reform his Palestinian Authority, and to unify the Palestinian security services into one agency.
Before elections are held, Arafat also wants to be sure that Palestinian residents of traditionally Arab east Jerusalem will be allowed to participate ? as they did in 1996, said his adviser, Nabil Abu Rdeneh.
Abu Rdeneh also said Arafat would appoint a new, smaller Cabinet for the interim period leading up to the elections.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53606,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Israel: Armed Guard foils Attacker who Tries to Bomb Club
AP
Friday: Israeli police examine the body of a Palestinian who tried to attack a Tel Aviv nightclub.
Friday, May 24, 2002
TEL AVIV, Israel - Israeli soldiers on Friday raided a West Bank refugee camp ? a stronghold of Palestinian militants ? following back-to-back attacks on Israel's largest fuel depot, a pedestrian mall and a nightclub.
As fighting persisted, an adviser to Yasser Arafat said the Palestinian leader will hold general elections this winter, but only if Israeli troops pull back to positions they held before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000.
Israeli forces, however, looked poised to stay in the West Bank.
Israel TV's Channel Two reported that the army has been given a green light to launch a new military campaign, including raids into Palestinian cities that could last for several days. Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said he was not aware of government approval for a new offensive.
In the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern West Bank, Palestinian militiamen ambushed Israeli soldiers riding atop an armored personnel carrier at the camp's entrance, wounding two soldiers. In the hail of gunfire, one of the soldiers fell from the vehicle, said a Palestinian gunman, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Israeli army said one soldier was killed.
Tank gunners fired shells and machine guns, and four Palestinians were wounded, including a woman and a 4-year-old child, Palestinian doctors said.
The Israeli military confirmed the exchange of fire.
Israeli troops imposed a curfew in Tulkarem. Israeli soldiers have been carrying out daily arrest raids in Palestinian areas following a recent military offensive aimed at dismantling militant groups that have launched scores of bombing and shooting attacks against Israelis.
FNC
A brief lull in attacks ended this week.
In a third attack in 28 hours, a Palestinian militant drove a bomb-laden car at high speed toward a Tel Aviv night club early Friday, but was shot and killed by a security guard. The assailant tried to blow up the Studio 49 club in Tel Aviv, where about 200 people were partying at about 1 a.m.
Security guard Eli Federman said he saw the car turn sharply and race toward the club. He pushed clubgoers inside and opened fire, hitting the attacker, who fell from the car, which burst into flames.
"Then I fired the rest of the bullets into his head," killing him, Federman said.
The car had been carrying pipe bombs.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Arafat's Fatah movement, identified the driver as Amer Shkokani of the West Bank town of El Bireh.
A suicide bombing Wednesday in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion was also carried out by the Al Aqsa militia. Two Israelis and the bomber were killed.
The attacker, 16-year-old Issa Bdeir from Al Doha village outside Bethlehem, was the youngest suicide bomber during 20 months of fighting.
AP
Friday: Israeli police carry away the body of a Palestinian who tried to attack a Tel Aviv nightclub.
In a videotaped farewell message, the boy wore a backpack and posed with two pistols.
"I am going to carry out my operation to avenge the continuous Israeli aggression that is still committed against our people," he said, reading from a piece of paper.
Arafat's office issued a statement Friday denying that his Fatah movement had any link to the Al Aqsa militia's leaflets claiming responsibility for recent attacks. That statement highlighted growing division within the Palestinian faction over bombing attacks.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack on the Pi Glilot fuel depot, in which a bomb attached to the underside of a tanker truck exploded, destroying the cabin but causing no injuries. The depot, Israel's largest, is in the center of the country's most densely populated area near Tel Aviv.
The attack highlighted Israel's vulnerability to large-scale, strategic attacks that security officials and counterterrorism experts warned Palestinians were seeking to carry out.
Security officials also announced this week that they uncovered a plot to explode trucks laden with a ton of explosives under Tel Aviv's twin Azrieli Towers, Israel's tallest buildings.
Sharon's office said Friday that 32 Palestinian attacks had been foiled since Israel's large-scale military operation in the West Bank wound down last week.
Also Friday, a senior adviser to Arafat said the Palestinian leader plans to hold elections for president and parliament this winter, as long as Israeli military forces withdraw to positions they held before fighting began 20 months ago.
Arafat is under pressure from abroad and at home to reform his Palestinian Authority, and to unify the Palestinian security services into one agency.
Before elections are held, Arafat also wants to be sure that Palestinian residents of traditionally Arab east Jerusalem will be allowed to participate ? as they did in 1996, said his adviser, Nabil Abu Rdeneh.
Abu Rdeneh also said Arafat would appoint a new, smaller Cabinet for the interim period leading up to the elections.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53606,00.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
Owner trades fire with 2 suspects after he is beaten, police say
SunSpot staff and wire reports
Originally published May 31, 2002, 3:00 PM EDT
Baltimore City police have one man in custody and are searching for another suspect in the armed robbery of a store this morning that ended with the shopkeeper trading gunfire with his two attackers, according to a department spokesman.
Officer Troy J. Harris said the incident occurred just before 8 a.m. in the 600 block of Edgewood St. He could not immediately provide the name or exact address of the store.
Two men entered the store and accosted the owner -- who police have yet to identify -- beating him "severely" with at least one gun, according to Harris, and reportedly stealing an undetermined amount of cash. As the suspects fled, Harris said the store owner shot at the men, who returned fire.
Harris said no one is believed to have been hit in the shootout. He could not say how many shots were fired or what type of weapons were involved, but did say the store owner was licensed to have the gun.
Responding officers detained one suspect in the assault and robbery during a canvass of the neighborhood, Harris said. He had no information on the suspect's identity or any charges against the man.
The other suspect remains at large, Harris said.
The store owner suffered "considerable injuries" to his right eye and head as a result of the beating, Harris said. He is listed in stable condition at St. Agnes Hospital. http://www.sunspot.net/news/custom/guns/bal-robbery31.story
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Granite Falls man sentenced for fatally shooting neighbor
Herald Writer
It was well known around Granite Falls that Kenneth Charles Jensen carried a loaded pistol in the leather pouch he wore. That fact didn't stop a confrontation Aug. 8 with neighbor Martin Frank, 40, whom Jensen shot in the chest and killed.
But the fact that the gun was there and readily available was a prime reason for the death, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Bowden said Wednesday.
"It underscores the danger of an armed society," Bowden said.
Bowden said he doesn't consider the killing of Frank self-defense, as Jensen and his lawyers insisted in the defendant's two trials. They made the same claim on Wednesday when Bowden sentenced 58-year-old Jensen to prison for a little more than 16 years.
In addition, Bowden said Jensen is to never return to the city of Granite Falls.
Jensen's case apparently polarized the Granite Falls community, Bowden said, citing four dozen letters he received in support of a prison term.
Jensen was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury on April 17.
Another jury in December could not come to a unanimous verdict, deadlocking at 9-3 in favor of acquittal.
The judge's decision split the difference between what prosecutors and defense attorneys wanted.
Defense lawyer Joseph Wilson told Bowden that Frank for two years harassed Jensen because of the defendant's sexual orientation. He accused the victim of assaulting and falsely imprisoning Jensen when he accosted the defendant, who was riding a bicycle near the Frank property that day.
But David Hiltner, deputy prosecutor, argued that Jensen chose to continue engaging in a verbal war over a long period, despite his assertion that he was afraid of Frank.
Jensen himself was tearful at times Wednesday when he begged the judge for mercy.
"He was a case for the law," Jensen said of Frank. "I called the law on him several times. ... I never wanted to harm him. I simply wanted to stand up to his insults, his harassment and his menacing."
He said he's sorry a life was taken. "That was not my intention," Jensen said.
Frank's widow, Gia Frank, addressed the court and said her husband misjudged Jensen.
"If Frank had realized exactly how cowardly you were, he would have never confronted you that day," she told Jensen.
You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447 or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/02/5/16/15486626.CFM
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Joe Gerrety, Journal and Courier
An 18-year-old Mexican national caught in the act of burglarizing a home near Battle Ground last summer was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison.
Arturo Rodriguez, who was 17 at the time of the offense, received the minimum sentence on his guilty plea to residential burglary, a Class B felony, thanks in large part to a plea for leniency from his victim.
"He's a lucky boy," said Dennis Clark, who got his gun and chased Rodriguez from his property last August. "Because if he'd have come at me, I'd have shot him."
Instead, on Thursday, Clark came to Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 to urge Judge Thomas Busch to give Rodriguez a break.
Earlier this week, Clark said, prosecutors told him they intended to ask for a 12-year prison sentence. "I just thought for a kid, 17-18 years old, to take 12 years out of your life, that just seemed excessive."
Clark said he was touched by a letter of apology he received from Rodriguez in January, which seemed sincere.
The owner of Lafayette Glass Co., Clark was home with his wife and daughter the night of the attempted burglary. Three nights earlier, Rodriguez had broken into the house and stolen money from Clark's wife's purse and several firearms from their garage while the couple were home with their grandchildren.
Despite the intrusions, Clark said his family wasn't particularly traumatized, as many people who suffered residential burglaries are.
Clark fired three warning shots into the ground with his 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in an effort to get Rodriguez to stop, but the youth got into his pickup truck and sped away with Clark in pursuit in his own vehicle.
Rodriguez eventually got away, but Clark got his license number, and police arrested him later.
Because Rodriguez was on probation for auto theft at the time of the burglaries, he faced a minimum of six years in jail. And because he is an illegal immigrant, he is not eligible for probation.
Busch found mitigating circumstances -- including Rodriguez' age, efforts to get his GED in jail and Clark's plea for leniency -- outweighed aggravators. Rodriguez' sentence in the burglary case must be served after he completes any jail term imposed for violating probation in the auto theft case.
When he is released, he'll likely be deported to Mexico http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20020524/200205237local_news1022215871.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Man, 77, beaten, shoots robber
By ADAM BOWLES
Norwich Bulletin
CANTERBURY -- Three masked and armed intruders who invaded Edward Gustave's home early Wednesday morning started with an easy advantage when they found the 77-year-old, 5-foot, 2-inch man fast asleep in his bed.
But by the end of the robbery attempt, the quick-acting, World War II veteran managed to turn the tables on his attackers, who fled from the house at 64 Lisbon Road after Gustave shot and wounded one of them.
The case remained under investigation by the Eastern District Major Crime Squad late Wednesday and the intruders had not been apprehended.
It was the second time in the last year that Gustave's home was invaded. Gustave occasionally sells antiques and collectibles from his home despite warnings from neighbors that such activity would attract criminals and alert them to his valuable possessions.
Gustave said he had been sleeping in his bedroom when three individuals jumped on him, tied him up with a clothesline and dragged him down into the cellar, where he keeps some of his valuable items locked up in two safes.
Gustave initially told his attackers he was unable to unlock the safes, but after the individuals threatened and hit him, he gave them the combinations.
While two of the individuals tried to open the safes, Gustave asked the third attacker whether he could use the bathroom, though he didn't need it.
When his request was denied, Gustave pointed to a bucket across the room and said he'd use it instead. While the third man went to retrieve the bucket, Gustave -- who had managed to untie himself -- threw off a sheet draped over his head and ran up the stairs to his bedroom in the dark.
He grabbed his handgun and fired two shots at the individual who chased him up the stairs. One of them wounded his attacker. Gustave said the intruder cried out that he had been shot. Someone then punched Gustave in the back. When he fell to the floor, someone slammed a coffee table over his body before they fled, Gustave said.
About $2,000 was stolen from Gustave's home, he said.
'Pretty scared'
A neighbor, Bob Kinne, 55, said it could have been worse.
"They could've killed the guy," he said.
Gustave, who served in a U.S. tank corps in Europe during World War II, was transported to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich. He suffered two or three cracked ribs.
He was released and his friend, Mae Raymond, dropped him off at his neighbor's house across the street around noon. Shirley Moffitt, his neighbor since 1971, greeted him and asked him how he was doing.
"I've been better," Gustave said, before walking across the street to help police with the investigation. "I was pretty scared."
The intruders apparently cut the phone wires to his house, disabling his alarm system. A backup system failed to work, Gustave said.
The incident was first reported to state police at Troop D at 2:55 a.m. State troopers and state police K-9 teams conducted an emergency search of the scene but did not find the intruders. Blood was discovered inside and outside the home, police said.
Police said one of the intruders was described as approximately 5-feet, 7-inches tall and 180 pounds. All of the intruders wore dark clothing and masks. Gustave said they were all males.
When Gustave first was robbed a year ago, he came home earlier than usual from one of the casinos to find a window shattered on his bathroom floor. Kinne said Gustave believed the men escaped from the back of the house after Gustave triggered the floodlights when he pulled into the driveway. Some coins Gustave collected had been stolen.
Gustave also collects carnival glass and antique guns.
Moffitt described Gustave as a "laid-back" man who visits the casinos, mows his lawn, holds yard sales and visits flea markets. Moffitt said she warned Gustave about his yard sales and about selling items -- some for as much as $1,000 -- from his house.
"I told him, 'People see what you got, they're going to come back.' He was like, 'Ah, nothing is going to happen.'"
Still, Moffitt was in awe of the incident.
"I'm really impressed that he had the wits to trick them and get the gun," she said.
Strive to survive
Moffitt, a widow since 1995, said she would ask her son-in-law to teach her how to use her handgun. She owns a steel baseball bat in case her house is broken into. She said she has had items stolen from her property.
"You just never know anymore," she said.
Trooper Roger Beaupre from the State Police Public Information Office said the first step people should take if their house is invaded is to secure themselves in a safe place, such as a closet or locked bedroom, or escape from the house. The second step is to call 911.
"You need to do whatever you can to survive a home intrusion," he said. "Leave the search and apprehension to the professionals. Quite often, people who confront intruders with a weapon of any sort, the weapon is taken away from them and used against them."
State police at Troop D want anyone who observed suspicious activity in the area around Lisbon Road in the southern section of Canterbury to report it to them by calling 779-4900. All calls will be kept confidential. http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20020523/localnews/363452.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Melissa Hall
Columbia County Bureau
Columbia County authorities said Thursday they are investigating an incident involving a Grovetown man who is facing numerous charges, including striking a 77-year-old man in the head with a lug wrench and kicking out the window of a patrol car.
Frank Mauro Asuncion Jr., 18, of the 4000 block of Orchard Hill Road, is being held on bonds totaling $55,300 on two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of battery, burglary, obstruction and interference with government property.
According to a report filed with the sheriff's office, the assault took place about 10:55 p.m. May 17 at Thomas Screws' residence in the 300 block of Furys Ferry Road when Mr. Asuncion and Shane Sweet went to the house to meet friends before going to dinner.
According to the report, Mr. Asuncion became violent and fought with the four men there.
"I'm not sure what they were fighting over; it remains unclear," sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said.
The most seriously injured was Mr. Screws, who was struck several times over the head with a lug wrench.
One of the men fired a gun into the air twice to end the assault, witnesses said.
Mr. Asuncion reportedly left the scene and went to Mr. Sweet's home in the 300 block of Parliament Road and forced his way inside.
Mr. Sweet arrived home and found Mr. Asuncion in the house and notified the sheriff's office. Mr. Asuncion was reportedly in the hallway when deputies arrived and took him into custody.
Deputies said he kicked out the rear window of the patrol vehicle while in transit and tried to climb out. He allegedly tried to resist when officers stopped the car to restrain him, Capt. Morris said.
Reach Melissa Hall at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 113, or melhall@augustachronicle.com.
http://augustachronicle.com/stories/052402/met_158-3835.001.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878