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Self Defense NEWS
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Months after attack at her home in Early, woman remains rattled
By VESS MITEV
Register Staff Writer
07/29/2002
Early, Ia. - Seven months later, Tracey Roberts still doesn't let anyone but family in her house.
The one recent exception was the Schwan's man, and even that jangled her nerves.
Every time a car drives by slowly, she cringes. Every time headlights sweep across her bedroom window, she jumps.
As far as movies - forget about it. She went to see "Black Hawk Down" and spent half of the graphic war film in the lobby, trying to calm herself.
"I can't bear to see anybody getting attacked," Roberts says. "You don't realize how much violence there is, even on TV, until you have been in that situation."
Roberts was in a violent situation in December, when she was attacked in her home by two intruders.
Police said Roberts was repeatedly assaulted by the two attackers and choked with a nylon stocking. Roberts says she passed out twice before she regained consciousness, grabbed two guns - a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson and a Beretta 9mm - and shot and killed one of the assailants, who later was identified as Dustin Wehde, 20, a troubled youth whom her husband was mentoring.
The other suspect, described as a tall, clean-shaven, wavy-haired man, escaped on foot and has yet to be found, police said.
Roberts' 12-year-old son, Bert, says he protected his younger brother and sister with a baseball bat while his mother was blacked out.
"I started swearing at them and he told me to shut up or I was next," Bert says. "He told me he had 'taken care of' my dad at the airport."
The incident has severed a friendship between the Roberts and the Wehde families and unnerved the 649 residents of this small northwest Iowa community. The police are working leads as far away as Virginia and Chicago but have not released much new information. Why Roberts was attacked and what Wehde was doing in her home are two questions officially unanswered by sheriff's deputies, fueling speculation and debate throughout the town.
The incident has left its mark on a town where people leave the keys in their cars and their front doors unlocked.
"I think we are all a little more cautious," said resident Verona Clifton. "We were shocked when this happened, and it has left a mark."
Mona Wehde, Wehde's mother and a former employee of Tracey Roberts' husband, Michael, says she is sure her son's name will be cleared.
"We have so much to say about Dustin, and about this case, but we can't right now," she says. "Asked if there is division in the town, she says no - "There are too many people on our side."
Michael Roberts isn't so sure.
"I think the one problem people have is in understanding why my family would have anything to do with a kid like Dustin," he says. "We simply wanted to show him the love of Christ in a practical way."
Life has yet to go back to normal for the family of five. The Robertses rarely go to restaurants anymore and they are careful about who their kids play with.
"We live in faith, not in fear," Michael Roberts says. He is splattered with white paint, trying to renovate a barn which is for sale several miles down the road. Stables and horses where the kids can ride could be the next step forward.
The day of Wehde's funeral, the Roberts family closed on another house in Storm Lake with Mona Wehde, a real estate agent, who sold them the house a month before the shooting.
In the town, conspiracy theories run deep. The Robertses say they have heard speculation that there was no other man; that Wehde was trying to stop the other man from hurting Roberts; that Tracey Roberts called Wehde to the house because her husband was away. Both Roberts dismiss those theories as people "hoping for a bit of Jerry Springer in their own town."
"These rumors are like rubbing salt in a wound, not to mention the detrimental effect they have on the police investigation," Michael Roberts says.
Sac County sheriff's officials declined to comment on their investigation but said this is Early's first fatal shooting in memory.
Both families are frustrated at the slow pace with which new information is released. Police have said they are closely tracking the backgrounds of all involved, but divulging information prematurely could damage the progress of the investigation.
Capt. Dennis Cessford, a 22-year veteran of the sheriff's department, said he understands the anxiety of the families.
"Until we get the answers, they will all be nervous, but I guarantee you this case is on my desk right now in three or four thick binders, and it grows week by week," said Cessford, who is working with the state Department of Criminal Investigation.
"I know they are working hard, but not knowing anything is harder," said Tracey Roberts. "Even a press release every three months would be something, but they don't say anything."
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788998/18822988.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
Edited by - Josey1 on 07/30/2002 07:06:28
By VESS MITEV
Register Staff Writer
07/29/2002
Early, Ia. - Seven months later, Tracey Roberts still doesn't let anyone but family in her house.
The one recent exception was the Schwan's man, and even that jangled her nerves.
Every time a car drives by slowly, she cringes. Every time headlights sweep across her bedroom window, she jumps.
As far as movies - forget about it. She went to see "Black Hawk Down" and spent half of the graphic war film in the lobby, trying to calm herself.
"I can't bear to see anybody getting attacked," Roberts says. "You don't realize how much violence there is, even on TV, until you have been in that situation."
Roberts was in a violent situation in December, when she was attacked in her home by two intruders.
Police said Roberts was repeatedly assaulted by the two attackers and choked with a nylon stocking. Roberts says she passed out twice before she regained consciousness, grabbed two guns - a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson and a Beretta 9mm - and shot and killed one of the assailants, who later was identified as Dustin Wehde, 20, a troubled youth whom her husband was mentoring.
The other suspect, described as a tall, clean-shaven, wavy-haired man, escaped on foot and has yet to be found, police said.
Roberts' 12-year-old son, Bert, says he protected his younger brother and sister with a baseball bat while his mother was blacked out.
"I started swearing at them and he told me to shut up or I was next," Bert says. "He told me he had 'taken care of' my dad at the airport."
The incident has severed a friendship between the Roberts and the Wehde families and unnerved the 649 residents of this small northwest Iowa community. The police are working leads as far away as Virginia and Chicago but have not released much new information. Why Roberts was attacked and what Wehde was doing in her home are two questions officially unanswered by sheriff's deputies, fueling speculation and debate throughout the town.
The incident has left its mark on a town where people leave the keys in their cars and their front doors unlocked.
"I think we are all a little more cautious," said resident Verona Clifton. "We were shocked when this happened, and it has left a mark."
Mona Wehde, Wehde's mother and a former employee of Tracey Roberts' husband, Michael, says she is sure her son's name will be cleared.
"We have so much to say about Dustin, and about this case, but we can't right now," she says. "Asked if there is division in the town, she says no - "There are too many people on our side."
Michael Roberts isn't so sure.
"I think the one problem people have is in understanding why my family would have anything to do with a kid like Dustin," he says. "We simply wanted to show him the love of Christ in a practical way."
Life has yet to go back to normal for the family of five. The Robertses rarely go to restaurants anymore and they are careful about who their kids play with.
"We live in faith, not in fear," Michael Roberts says. He is splattered with white paint, trying to renovate a barn which is for sale several miles down the road. Stables and horses where the kids can ride could be the next step forward.
The day of Wehde's funeral, the Roberts family closed on another house in Storm Lake with Mona Wehde, a real estate agent, who sold them the house a month before the shooting.
In the town, conspiracy theories run deep. The Robertses say they have heard speculation that there was no other man; that Wehde was trying to stop the other man from hurting Roberts; that Tracey Roberts called Wehde to the house because her husband was away. Both Roberts dismiss those theories as people "hoping for a bit of Jerry Springer in their own town."
"These rumors are like rubbing salt in a wound, not to mention the detrimental effect they have on the police investigation," Michael Roberts says.
Sac County sheriff's officials declined to comment on their investigation but said this is Early's first fatal shooting in memory.
Both families are frustrated at the slow pace with which new information is released. Police have said they are closely tracking the backgrounds of all involved, but divulging information prematurely could damage the progress of the investigation.
Capt. Dennis Cessford, a 22-year veteran of the sheriff's department, said he understands the anxiety of the families.
"Until we get the answers, they will all be nervous, but I guarantee you this case is on my desk right now in three or four thick binders, and it grows week by week," said Cessford, who is working with the state Department of Criminal Investigation.
"I know they are working hard, but not knowing anything is harder," said Tracey Roberts. "Even a press release every three months would be something, but they don't say anything."
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788998/18822988.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
Edited by - Josey1 on 07/30/2002 07:06:28
Comments
By JON SOLES Of The Record Staff
The Alston family is living in fear.
They remain traumatized by the attempted robbery in which a would-be-robber was killed Wednesday night.
The Alstons live at 9066 N.C. 42 in the northern tip of Harnett County. Terry Alston said he shot a Garner man to death after the man pulled a gun on him and tried to rob him. Mr. Alston and his family are safe, but far from feeling that way.
"My children are still really shook up," Mr. Alston said. "Last night at my mother's house I had to sit up with them in the same room all night." At around 10 Wednesday night, Mr. Alston and his family returned from a barbecue at his wife's mother's house.
When they got home, his wife went to bed while he and his two children congregated in the living room to watch television. Mr. Alston's 12-year-old daughter was lying on the sofa and his 16-year-old son was at the computer.
Thought It Was Sister-In-Law
About 20 minutes later, Mr. Alston heard a knock at the front door. He opened the door, assuming it would be his wife's sister.
"I just opened it because my sister-in-law usually comes by at that time of night," Mr. Alston said.
Instead, he was met with two men he had never seen before. The two strangers told him their car had broken down and they needed to use the phone. Mr. Alston said he could see no car. When he asked where it was, he said they told him it was up the road.
They had stopped by two other houses, but no one answered the door - which made Mr. Alston suspicious. "My neighbors around here normally, if someone knocks on their door and asks them for help, they don't hesitate to help," Mr. Alston said.
Mr. Alston handed them a cordless phone. When the two men dialed, or pretended to dial a number, they claimed no one answered. Mr. Alston said he decided that he would just give the men a ride home.
"I said `Where do you live at?' and one said `Sanford' and one said `Raleigh,'" Mr. Alston said. "They both spoke at the same time and gave me two different answers and that made me suspicious."
Mr. Alston told the strangers to wait while he put on his shoes. He shut and locked the door and retrieved his .38-caliber revolver.
When he came back to the door, he said the two men were trying to push the door open, saying they were finished with the phone.
The situation changed drastically. When Mr. Alston cracked open the door to get the phone, one man tried to push open the door while the other pulled a gun from his pants and said, "You know what time it is."
Mr. Alston tried to hold the door shut and began firing his handgun at the two men. "I went from letting them use my phone, offering to take them to having to defend me and my family's lives," Mr. Alston said.
One man ran away into the darkness but the gunman was not so lucky. He was hit by several bullets and collapsed at the end of the front door walkway.
When Harnett County Sheriff's deputies arrived, they found 31-year-old Roger Atterick McRae's lifeless body with a handgun on the ground next to him.
Son Gave Description
Mr. Alston's son was able to help deputies track down the other would-be-robber by giving them a description of the suspect. Mr. Alston said his son got a good look at the men when he got up to get them a glass of water.
Deputies caught Jeremy Attollah McRae in a traffic stop at the Duncan Junction, Sheriff's Maj. Steve West said. Mr. McRae was riding in a getaway car with Miguel Johnson of Fuquay-Varina, Maj. West said.
Jeremy McRae, who is 21, was charged with attempted armed robbery and placed in the Harnett County Jail under a $125,000 secured bond. He is from Knightdale.
Miguel Johnson, who is 28, was charged with conspiracy to commit attempted armed robbery. He was jailed under a $50,000 secured bond. Roger McRae, who was 31, was from Garner. He was Jeremy McRae's cousin.
Charges Unlikely
Maj. West said the district attorney will examine the case to determine if charges will be brought against Mr. Alston, but doubted that he would face charges.
Mr. Alston and his family are safe, but they don't feel secure, he said. "It happened so fast I didn't feel anything then, but ever since then I've been nothing but scared," he said. No one in the Alston family has been able to sleep since the shooting Wednesday night.
"What's taken the hardest effect on them is that my kids have not either (slept) and school is about to start back," Mr. Alston said.
But fear and anxiety are not the only problems for the Alston family. Mr. Alston said his perception of Duncan has been forever shattered.
"This has always been a kind of good community. I have always told my wife this was a good place to raise our kids," he said. "I don't think it will ever be the same. ..."
Mr. Alston said he has no regrets about defending his family with a gun, but he is sorry that Mr. McRae lost his life.
Feels Some Remorse
"I hate I did, but then at the same time I'm glad because my next-door neighbor is an older gentlemen and he lives by himself and I would hate for them to have gotten to him," he said.
A gun is a recent addition to the Alston house. Mr. Alston said he got the revolver after a 90-year-old woman was raped last year in Duncan. "I had never even shot the gun before," Mr. Alston said. "My wife is against guns and I had been trying to talk to her about getting a gun permit because I think every home needs a gun in it. ...I think it is a blessing that we had a gun in the house."
Mr. Alston said he is sorry for Mr. McRae's family. "Our prayers go out to the guy's family. Just because he chose to do bad things in life don't mean his family is like that," he said. "I know somebody loves him and is upset by this."
http://www.dunndailyrecord.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=34886
"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
A Fresno merchant accused of murder has been acquitted. It took the jury only three and a half hours to come to a verdict.
The defendant closed his eyes and his body was physically shaking as the verdict was read. After the verdict was read, Amhare Kidane stood, faced the jury and bowed in gratitude. Then, he collapsed onto the defendant's table and wept.
Kidane was charged with the murder at his China Town convenience store near Tulare and G streets last August. Ardeen Purnell, the brother in law of Kidane's ex wife, was killed.
Police say the two had an argument days before the store shooting and that the victim had slammed Kidane into a wall during that fight.
The day of the killing, Kidane fired five shots at Purnell from across the counter in his store. His attorney says he feared for his life.
Kidane's nephew says it was a clear case of self defense, "He was in the store ... and somebody come to threaten you twice for your life ... that's the measure you take ... is to defend yourself."
Kidane's attorney says the jury didn't buy the district attorney's story that the murder was pre-planned, "I do not believe the case should have been prosecuted in the first place. I think the jury felt the same way."
Outside court, a supporter of the victim's family exploded in grief. She called Kidane the devil and warned him that one day he'd have to face a much more powerful judge and jury.
Prosecutor Dennis Peterson says it was a tough case. He says he couldn't convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting was not a case of self-defense, "We believe they had a tough decision to make here and I respect their verdict."
Had Kidane been convicted, he could have been sentenced to the next 50 years in prison. He will soon be released from custody.
A side note to this story, Kidane's wife was murdered at his store in February. The prosecutor says there is no connection between her murder and this case.
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/news/041202_nw_kidane.html
Teen kills would-be rapist
Dumisane Lubisi & Riot Hlatswayo
Bushbuckridge - A Mpumalanga teenager is receiving counselling after she wrestled a gun from her would-be rapist and shot him dead on Tuesday morning.
The alleged attacker, a local primary school teacher, was reportedly undressing when the terrified 16-year-old grabbed his pistol and shot him twice in the chest.
The man is reported to have abducted the teenager while she was walking from her home in Ladglow village in Bushbuckridge at about 05:00.
The girl tried to run away, but the teacher fired a shot into the air to scare her, said Lowveld area police spokesperson Captain Moatshe Ngoepe.
He grabbed the girl and dragged her to the bushes where he laid his jacket on the ground and forced her to undress at gunpoint, Ngoepe said.
"She was already naked when he placed his firearm on the ground and started undressing himself to rape her," Ngoepe explained.
The teacher barely had his trousers to his knees when the girl leapt for the gun and shot him twice in the chest.
The traumatised naked teenager ran to the Thulamahashe police station and reported the incident.
Police drove with the girl to the scene where her attacker's body was found. She was taken to a place of safety for counselling. The police investigation is continuing. - African Eye News Service
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Mpumalanga/0,1113,2-7-833_1161579,00.html
Jeweler recalls minutes of terror
After a violent robbery leaves him with stitches and a concussion, the owner of Sachi Fine Jewelry and Design wonders, "why Snohomish?"
By Cathy Logg
Herald Writer
SNOHOMISH -- Every time the door at Sachi Fine Jewelry and Design opens, all heads inside swing toward the door, as if they were connected by strings to the bell that announces each entry.
Even Shelby, the quiet cocker spaniel, tenses and turns toward the windows at the sound of an emergency siren outside.
But it's in the quiet moments when the store isn't filled with city residents, neighboring business people, friends and well-wishers that Brad Jorgensen and Lesa Kraft relive the terrifying assault and robbery that shattered not only glass jewelry cases Friday, but also the staff's comfort and security.
"It's during the quiet times you see the kid coming at you and you hear the sounds..." Kraft said of the attack that left her scrambling for cover under a desk.
"When everything's happening, you don't process it right away," Jorgensen said.
Shortly before noon on Friday, two armed robbers burst into the store and immediately went on the attack. They wore hooded jackets that hid most of their faces. One confronted Kraft, who was standing in the doorway to the back room, and showered her with pepper spray. The second robber began smashing glass display cases with a hammer.
Jorgensen stepped out of his office next to the door to the back room and the man who had sprayed Kraft also sprayed him, then slammed him in the head with something hard.
"I've got my battle wounds now," he said, referring to the shaved circle on the right side of his head that sports nine stitches, surrounded by black hair.
The robbers fled the store with stolen jewelry and were surprised and hampered in their escape by local residents, one of whom shot out a tire in the pair's getaway car and tried to get them to stop. When they didn't, he fired into the robbers' stolen car and wounded one of the suspects in the arm. The pair fled to a nearby neighborhood, where they crashed into another car, abandoned their car and fled on foot.
Police captured one of the suspects, an 18-year-old who was booked into the Snohomish County Jail and later was released after he posted $7,500 bail. He obtained an attorney and refused to talk to investigators.
The other suspect escaped, despite an intensive manhunt on the ground and from the air. On Monday, police were negotiating with his attorney in an attempt to get the man to turn himself in, Sofie said. He's believed to be from Seattle.
Police don't know if the second suspect was wounded, or how he left Snohomish County, but "We're confident that he's back in his home arena," Sofie said.
"We're trying to sort this out," Sofie said.
Investigators think all of the stolen jewelry was recovered in the robbers' car, he said. A preliminary estimate indicates the jewelry had a retail value about $15,000. Police also found evidence in the stolen car that links the second suspect to the robbery and assault, Sofie said.
"Everything happened so quick," Jorgensen said, estimating that the robbers were in the store only about two minutes.
"They had a gun, which was dropped on the floor and I was able to kick it out of the way," he said.
The robber who hit him then smashed a third display case and the pair began grabbing a mixture of colored stone and gold jewelry, he said.
"I was able to hit our (silent) holdup alarm. I did tell them the police were on the way. They continued to grab the jewelry that they could and they decided to leave the store," Jorgensen said.
The robbers never spoke, he said.
Stunned and bleeding, he followed them out the door. Their car was parked right in front of the store.
As he got to the door, another local merchant was walking by.
"I hollered, 'Help! Help!' I was unaware he was armed," Jorgensen said.
The merchant pulled his gun and tried to stop to robbers from leaving and pointed the gun at them with both hands, Jorgensen said. The pair didn't stop.
"He then went around to the driver's side of the car. I believe he fired two shots into the (left front) tire. They at that point attempted to back up and he jumped out of the way to avoid them. He then fired a shot into the driver's side window," Jorgensen said.
Kraft, still suffering from the pepper spray, was hiding under the desk when she heard the gunshots.
"I heard the wheels squeal really loud and they proceeded north on Avenue B," she said. "I came out and hit the alarm button again."
Another local resident followed the fleeing car and told police where they went.
"And the rest is history," Jorgensen said.
Realizing he was bleeding, he went back inside the jewelry store and laid on the floor, asking Kraft for help.
While he laid in a pool of blood, he heard someone mention a gunshot wound. He told them he hadn't been shot.
Medical personnel initially feared he had a skull fracture, but he was lucky to get off with stitches and a concussion.
"My worst fear was although I did not feel I was in serious or critical condition, that something was going to happen and they were going to put the paddles on me and I was going to fade out and not be aware of what was happening," Jorgensen said.
Meanwhile, the store he has operated since 1979 reopened about noon on Saturday and Jorgensen and his staff are trying to return their focus to business, but it's tough. The robbery is on everyone's mind, and people continue to stop by to check on them and make sure they're OK. About 25 people were in the store most of the day.
The response from the community has been extremely supportive and "absolutely phenomenal," he said. "On Saturday, it was crazy."
"The paramedics and everybody were wonderful," Jorgensen said. "I have many people to thank, including the guy upstairs."
He praised the paramedics, police, the community, Harborview Medical Center's staff (where he was airlifted), and his staff.
"The question on our minds is 'why Snohomish?' What in their minds made them choose Snohomish, and even my business?" he said.
He hopes events in the community will return to normal.
"This town -- we've had such a bad rap," he said, referring to a fight at a local tavern in late February in which a Bothell fire lieutenant died.
Jorgensen's thoughts aren't just for Snohomish residents, however.
"Whatever families are involved in this, I feel for them for what their kids have done," he said.
You can call Herald Writer Cathy Logg at 425-339-3437
or send e-mail to logg@heraldnet.com.
http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/02/4/16/15406226.cfm
Suspected stalker critically injured
DESERT HOT SPRINGS -- A gunshot victim listed in critical condition was identified Saturday as 31-year-old Phillip Clark, Desert Hot Springs Police said.
Clark was wounded Friday after allegedly forcing his way into a 33-year-old woman's home in the 66-700 block of First Street and fighting with her and a 24-year-old man, police said.
Clark was shot in the abdomen with a 12-gauge shotgun by the man, who believed his life was in danger, police said.
Officers are investigating the incident as a stalking case because they responded to four other incidents involving Clark and the other two parties since March 29.
Clark was shot at 1:33 p.m. and ran to a nearby apartment complex where he was found and taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.
The names of the two other parties involved haven't been released by police.
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories/local/1018747484.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
by Peg Kenyon
Staff writer
Two quick-thinking Jacksonville residents turned the tables on an apparent home invasion suspect Tuesday, police say.
Initially, a strange man got the upper hand on a female resident, who lists her address as 615 Northeastern Ave. in Jacksonville. The woman told police that she had heard a knock at the backdoor of the residence and thought it was the man whose address was also listed as 615 Northeastern Ave., as well.
The woman said that she then went to the door and opened it only to have a male suspect, later identified as Thomas Perrow III force his way into the residence. The woman advised that Perrow refused to leave and told her to stay put as well. Perrow also allegedly told the woman that someone was trying to kill him.
While the male suspect went into another room, the woman grabbed up her keys and fled to her van. Up the road, she met up with the actual man she had thought had been knocking upon the backdoor.
After the woman told him what had transpired at the residence, this man took a gun out of his truck and tried to gain entry through a side door of the residence. The man told police, however, he had to break the door to gain access because it had been locked with a chain.
The man advised that upon entering the residence, he observed a white male standing in the kitchen. The man told police that he then grabbed the white male by the shirt and pointed his gun at him while asking him, "`Why he was at his house?'"
Perrow allegedly replied that he had been running from "some black males."
No arrest report was accessible in connection with this case. However, Jacksonville Police Department officials indicated that Perrow now faces a burglary charge stemming from this incident.
http://www.jacksonvillepatriot.com/Pages/06-30-04/Home invasion thwarted by armed citizen.htm
"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<P>
An alleged crime prompted one Mississippi store owner to take matters into his own hands, and his fate is now in the hands of a judge.
Chun Wong is facing aggravated assault charges after shooting an alleged robber who was driving away from Wong's Grand Market in Greenville.
Wong shot suspect Julius Crawford in the neck.
http://www.thejacksonchannel.com/news/3598123/detail.html
GEORGE WASHINGTON (First President)
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people's liberty teeth keystone... the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable... more than 99% of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference. When firearms go, all goes, we need them every hour." (Address to 1st session of Congress)
Resident shoots and kills intruder An intruder was shot and killed in this Debonaire home in Modesto. BART AH YOU/THE BEE February 5, 2002 Posted: 04:55:03 AM PSTBy TY PHILLIPSBEE STAFF WRITER A homeowner shot and killed a man Monday night during an attempted home-invasion robbery in northwest Modesto, police said.The shooting happened at about 7 p.m. shortly after two armed men broke into a house in the 1900 block of Debonaire Drive, police spokesman Doug Ridenour said.Two people, identified only as a couple in their 50s, were sitting in their living room at the time of the break-in. The front door was unlocked."The homeowners said they were completely startled," Ridenour said. "The two men busted into the house asking for the stash. They kept asking where the stash was."One of the intruders, who was armed with a pistol, grabbed the woman and took her to the back of the home, Ridenour said. The other attacker, armed with an assault rifle, stayed in the front room with the other homeowner.The husband later told police he heard his wife screaming and yelling from a back room. At some point, he got a chance to grab his shotgun, which was nearby, Ridenour said.He fired one blast that hit one of the intruders in the throat, Ridenour said. The man, described as being in his 20s, was pronounced dead by the first paramedics who arrived.After the shooting, the other intruder ran out of the house. Neighbors said they heard tires squealing, but police were uncertain if the man fled on foot or in a car.Police immediately closed off neighboring streets and began searching for the attacker.But the attacker hadn't been found late Monday. He is described as a thin, light-skinned black man in his 20s who is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. He was wearing black pants and a black sweat shirt.Meanwhile, neighbors who live along Hunt Avenue and Debonaire huddled in small groups just outside the yellow crime tape. Some people mentioned rumors about late-night traffic and constant visitors at the home, but others said they hadn't noticed anything like that.Ridenour said investigators had found a small amount of marijuana in the house, but said "at this point there's nothing to lead us to believe they're anything but innocent homeowners."By 9 p.m., neighbors Teresa Casler, 52, and Rhonda Shafer, 36, watched from afar as detectives moved about.Shafer said her sons had been riding bicycles around the block a half-hour before the shooting."This whole neighborhood is full of children," Shafer said. "What if my kids were riding in front of that house when there was a guy running around with an AK-47? That's scary."Casler said she was listening to the scanner when the events began to unfold. She came outside to watch the action, but she expressed little sympathy for the man lying dead half a block away."I'm glad they got him, I really am," Casler said. "Maybe it will teach some of these little punks a lesson."Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Modesto police detectives at 572-9551. http://www.modbee.com/local/story/1584002p-1660293c.html
Police say robbery suspect picked wrong target, left caller ID Friday, January 25, 2002Associated Press PORT ST. LUCIE - Police say they nabbed a suspect in a home-invasion robbery because he made two mistakes: He picked the home of retired Sheriff C.L. Norvell, who carries a gun in his robe when he answers a knock on his door late at night. He first borrowed the sheriff's cordless phone to make a phone call. Police said the case started when Travis Suomi banged on Norvell's door shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday and asked to use the telephone, according to police. Norvell said he gave Suomi a cordless phone and Suomi made a call in the front yard. Police said Suomi then returned to the phone to Norvell and announced that it was a robbery. Norvell said he drew a .38-caliber pistol from his robe pocket and ordered Suomi to leave, which he did. About 10 minutes later, Suomi's girlfriend, who apparently had caller ID, returned Suomi's call and Norvell answered, police said. Norvell also has caller ID, and the number the woman was calling from turned out to be Suomi's home phone. Suomi, 23, was arrested and charged with home invasion robbery. He was being held Thursday at the St. Lucie County Jail on $20,000 bond. The public defender's office said he hadn't yet been assigned an attorney. http://www.naplesnews.com/02/01/florida/d745696a.htm
Off-duty S.F. cop shoots, kills manAssociated Press An off-duty San Francisco police officer fatally shot a man in the street Saturday after refusing to buy drugs from him, police said.The 36-year-old officer and his girlfriend were walking in Chinatown when they were approached by a man selling drugs, said police spokesman Sherman Ackerson. The officer declined to buy and continued walking, but the man kept after him. The two got into an argument that turned into a fight, and the officer was knocked to the ground and hit his head, Ackerson said.Witnesses told police the man continued to hit and kick the officer even after he identified himself as a policeman and showed his badge. The officer then pulled a gun from his fanny pack and shot the unarmed man, Ackerson said.The man was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon at San Francisco General Hospital. No names have been released.The department's homicide division will investigate, along with internal affairs, to determine whether the officer broke any laws. It has not been determined whether the officer will be placed on administrative leave, Ackerson said.The 11-year veteran officer of the Tenderloin Task Force was taken to the hospital, suffering from what appeared to be a concussion. http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/copshoot03.htm