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Man, 65, kills teen who knocks him off bicycle
Sturmgewehr
Member Posts: 4,420
A 65-year-old man who was knocked off his bicycle by three teenagers on a Pennsylvania trail shot two of them, killing one, police said according to reports.The Reading Eagle newspaper said the wounded teen, 16, was taken to hospital and the third, age 15, was taken in for questioning and was later sent to a youth center.
The paper said the mother of the slain boy, 16, asked officials not to release his name until she had been able to tell other members of the family what happened.
The incident happened on the Thun Trail near a bridge over the Schuylkill River, between Reading and West Reading around noon Wednesday. According to WGAL.com, police said the boys knocked the man off his bicycle in an apparent robbery attempt.
Story: Okla. mom won't face charges for shooting intruder
"There was one juvenile who was shot and is deceased [and] another juvenile who was shot and is in surgery," Police Chief Jed Habecker said, according to a report by the WFMZ-TV station.
According to police, the 65-year-old was riding his bicycle when the teens knocked him to the ground, the station said.
Police said two teens then assaulted the man, who drew his gun and shot them.
The man was released by police after they consulted with District Attorney John Adams late Wednesday, WFMZ reported.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46143485/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.TyFg9IGj2M4
The paper said the mother of the slain boy, 16, asked officials not to release his name until she had been able to tell other members of the family what happened.
The incident happened on the Thun Trail near a bridge over the Schuylkill River, between Reading and West Reading around noon Wednesday. According to WGAL.com, police said the boys knocked the man off his bicycle in an apparent robbery attempt.
Story: Okla. mom won't face charges for shooting intruder
"There was one juvenile who was shot and is deceased [and] another juvenile who was shot and is in surgery," Police Chief Jed Habecker said, according to a report by the WFMZ-TV station.
According to police, the 65-year-old was riding his bicycle when the teens knocked him to the ground, the station said.
Police said two teens then assaulted the man, who drew his gun and shot them.
The man was released by police after they consulted with District Attorney John Adams late Wednesday, WFMZ reported.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46143485/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/#.TyFg9IGj2M4
Comments
Good for him ! !
You can replace a bike but who knows if they would of stopped or found his gun.
Age of the offenders are irrelevant, there are plenty of 16 year old young men that are fully grown.
dont mess with old people, they dont care
[:D]
In my mind, if I were ambushed by 3 men and knocked off my bicycle, and then an assault began that is CLEARLY a deadly force situation. I don't know how that will fly in a lib state like PA, but I think I could clearly articulate my fear of imminent serious * injury or death.
Age of the offenders are irrelevant, there are plenty of 16 year old young men that are fully grown.
luckily Pa isnt as lib as you might think
shall issue, open carry WITHOUT any permit...
many of the leos i dealt with for years WANT you to carry!
this is the report from the Reading paper;
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=361731
Man, 65, won't be charged in shooting of 2 teens
Mike Urban
Reading Eagle
A 65-year-old Reading man who was riding his bicycle was justified in shooting two teens - one fatally - who tried to rob him on a Schuylkill River trail as part of a crime spree, the Berks County district attorney said Thursday.
The teens, age 16 and 15, and another 15-year-old boy skipped school Wednesday and robbed two pedestrians in West Reading before they attacked the man as he rode on the Thun Trail in Cumru Township at 11 a.m., police said.
The man, whose name authorities withheld, will not be charged for shooting the teens because he acted in self-defense, which is legal under Pennsylvania's Castle Doctrine, District Attorney John T. Adams said.
"While I don't condone violence, the bike rider had no choice," Adams said. "It was justifiable homicide."
Julius Johnson, 16, of Reading was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday morning after he was shot in his chest with a handgun, officials said.
Autopsy results on Johnson are pending.
The 15-year-old shot in the neck remained in Reading Hospital on Thursday, officials said. Information about his medical condition could not be obtained. Police did not release his name because he has not been charged.
AND JUST WHY THE HELL NOT? K
The third teen, Michael Gonzalez, 15, address unavailable, was charged with robbery, aggravated assault and related offenses and committed to the county youth center in Bern Township.
Officials said an investigation continues.
Johnson was a Reading High School student, and the 15-year-olds are Gov. Mifflin High School students, Adams said.
Adams gave this account:
Johnson was on probation for previous offenses. Juvenile probation officers had gone to his Oakbrook residence earlier Wednesday and found the three teens playing video games.
They told the two 15-year-olds to leave. The officers put an electronic monitoring device on Johnson's ankle, ordered him to stay home and report to their office with his parents at 4 p.m.
Instead, the three met up and decided to jump and rob random victims.
They first robbed an elderly man in West Reading shortly after 10 a.m., taking money from his pockets, then tried to rob another man in West Reading, kneeing him in the stomach and pushing him to the ground. Neither man was hurt.
The bike rider was on the trail between Reading and West Reading.
As he rode past the teens, the 15-year-old whose name was not released punched the man in the face, knocking him from his bike. Johnson ran and kicked the man, who was sitting against a chain-link fence along the trail.
As one of the teens ran toward the man, he shot Johnson and the 15-year-old.
People who found the man called 9-1-1 and waited for police to arrive. It was unclear if the people heard the shots or were on the trail.
The teens weren't armed, but the shootings were legal because the man was unable to escape, thought his life was in danger and had a permit to carry his gun, Adams said.
The man told investigators: "I was scared for my life. I was in big trouble. ... If I could have kept my bike on the trail, I would have gotten out of there."
The man was unhurt but shaken by the shootings, Adams said.
Adams did not know if Johnson's monitoring device had GPS tracking capabilities or if it simply triggered an alarm when he left his home. Adams said juvenile probation officers acted appropriately.
Cumru Police Chief Jed Habecker credited his department for their quick investigation.
He said the crime was only the second robbery to occur along the Cumru section of the Thun Trail in about a decade.
Adams said he has heard from many people in the community that the bicyclist was a hero for successfully defending himself.
"When your life is in danger, you have no choice but to use deadly force," he said.
Contact Mike Urban: 610-371-5023 or murban@readingeagle.com.
Those poor young boys just needed a strong father figure.
Plus, with proper advice from a consular and rehabilitation, they will be fine and productive members of society......[xx(]
He should have engaged them with conversation first, and if that didn't work, he should have been prepared to go "hands on." If "hands on" didn't work, he should have had an intermediate force option at his disposal, such as a TASER or pepper spray. Or, he could have just let them have the bicycle and bought another one. They probably deserved the bike anyway, being from underprivileged upbringing.
As it is, someone is planning a funeral, and someone else has big medical bills, because this bully, who was probably picked on when he was a kid, seriously over-reacted.
He should not have gone straight to deadly force. That's just wrong. The teens were empty-handed, and this guy just murdered one of them, and probably permanently maimed another, all over a freakin' bicycle.
He should have engaged them with conversation first, and if that didn't work, he should have been prepared to go "hands on." If "hands on" didn't work, he should have had an intermediate force option at his disposal, such as a TASER or pepper spray. Or, he could have just let them have the bicycle and bought another one. They probably deserved the bike anyway, being from underprivileged upbringing.
As it is, someone is planning a funeral, and someone else has big medical bills, because this bully, who was probably picked on when he was a kid, seriously over-reacted.
Nunn is right and a day later I bet the guy wishes he had done just this. But as most of us would be this guy was scared and mad. Ain't no telling what any of us would do.
Since Berks County created that trail out of the old rail road bed it has been a haven for illicit activity.
The City of Reading, once a very nice place to live, is a very dangerous place to be as person of an anglo decent with predators like these three yutes waiting for their next victim. I was a township LEO in a neighboring township and later worked in the city of Reading where Spanish is the official language............no offense to legal citizens and immigrants of Spanish origins.
The old guy can thank his lucky stars that he was armed and proficient in his use of a firearm for self defense. Unfortunately for him, he will probably lose everything he owns and has worked for in his life with all the law suits that will be coming his way from all the minority activist groups in the city.
In reality he not only saved his own life but also the lives of other citizens who would have ended up as victims of these three yutes.
He should not have gone straight to deadly force. That's just wrong. The teens were empty-handed, and this guy just murdered one of them, and probably permanently maimed another, all over a freakin' bicycle.
He should have engaged them with conversation first, and if that didn't work, he should have been prepared to go "hands on." If "hands on" didn't work, he should have had an intermediate force option at his disposal, such as a TASER or pepper spray. Or, he could have just let them have the bicycle and bought another one. They probably deserved the bike anyway, being from underprivileged upbringing.
As it is, someone is planning a funeral, and someone else has big medical bills, because this bully, who was probably picked on when he was a kid, seriously over-reacted.
Read the whole article, David. The man was attacked by 3 individuals, knocked from his bicycle, kicked and pinned against a chainlink fence. When one of punks came after him again, he fired. You would have preferred that he "talked" his way out of it???
These 3 punks had quite a full morning before their encounter with this good, American citizen that defended himself.
quote:Johnson was on probation for previous offenses. Juvenile probation officers had gone to his Oakbrook residence earlier Wednesday and found the three teens playing video games.
They told the two 15-year-olds to leave. The officers put an electronic monitoring device on Johnson's ankle, ordered him to stay home and report to their office with his parents at 4 p.m.
Instead, the three met up and decided to jump and rob random victims.
They first robbed an elderly man in West Reading shortly after 10 a.m., taking money from his pockets, then tried to rob another man in West Reading, kneeing him in the stomach and pushing him to the ground. Neither man was hurt.
In my mind, if I were ambushed by 3 men and knocked off my bicycle, and then an assault began that is CLEARLY a deadly force situation. I don't know how that will fly in a lib state like PA, but I think I could clearly articulate my fear of imminent serious * injury or death.
Age of the offenders are irrelevant, there are plenty of 16 year old young men that are fully grown.
PA isn't a lib state...it's got one of two Republican Senators, 12 of 19 Republican Congressmen, a Republican Governor, and very relaxed firearms laws. While Pittsburgh and Philly may be predominantly liberal, the rest of the state is solidly conservative.
As we see, the man is NOT being charged in this shooting--he was clearly justified. Good for him, I say!
My post was meant to be sarcastic, to contrast with the posts by those of you who want police officers jailed for using deadly force when it is warranted.
No one noticed the GREEN font?
My post was meant to be sarcastic, to contrast with the posts by those of you who want police officers jailed for using deadly force when it is warranted.
Golly pete Nunn...now I feel like an idiot. I stand by my reply to the green post. It can't feel good to kill someone...in any situation... and I still assert that this guy probably wishes he hadn't.
No one noticed the GREEN font?
My post was meant to be sarcastic, to contrast with the posts by those of you who want police officers jailed for using deadly force when it is warranted.
See green itallics is the official sarcasm font.
quote:Originally posted by nunn
He should not have gone straight to deadly force. That's just wrong. The teens were empty-handed, and this guy just murdered one of them, and probably permanently maimed another, all over a freakin' bicycle.
He should have engaged them with conversation first, and if that didn't work, he should have been prepared to go "hands on." If "hands on" didn't work, he should have had an intermediate force option at his disposal, such as a TASER or pepper spray. Or, he could have just let them have the bicycle and bought another one. They probably deserved the bike anyway, being from underprivileged upbringing.
As it is, someone is planning a funeral, and someone else has big medical bills, because this bully, who was probably picked on when he was a kid, seriously over-reacted.
Read the whole article, David. The man was attacked by 3 individuals, knocked from his bicycle, kicked and pinned against a chainlink fence. When one of punks came after him again, he fired. You would have preferred that he "talked" his way out of it???
These 3 punks had quite a full morning before their encounter with this good, American citizen that defended himself.
quote:Johnson was on probation for previous offenses. Juvenile probation officers had gone to his Oakbrook residence earlier Wednesday and found the three teens playing video games.
They told the two 15-year-olds to leave. The officers put an electronic monitoring device on Johnson's ankle, ordered him to stay home and report to their office with his parents at 4 p.m.
Instead, the three met up and decided to jump and rob random victims.
They first robbed an elderly man in West Reading shortly after 10 a.m., taking money from his pockets, then tried to rob another man in West Reading, kneeing him in the stomach and pushing him to the ground. Neither man was hurt.
GREEN FONT IS SARCASM, LIGHTEN UP!
It should be "Senior thwarts would be robbery attempt".
Margaret Thatcher
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Mark Twain
I, too, missed the green when I replied. Not used to David being sarcastic. [:D]
No one noticed the GREEN font?
My post was meant to be sarcastic, to contrast with the posts by those of you who want police officers jailed for using deadly force when it is warranted.
+++
No one noticed the GREEN font?My post was meant to be sarcastic, to contrast with the posts by those of you who want police officers jailed for using deadly force when it is warranted.
I did![:p][:)]
No one noticed the GREEN font?
My post was meant to be sarcastic, to contrast with the posts by those of you who want police officers jailed for using deadly force when it is warranted.
Well put nunn, but you forgot to add another option. He should have calles the police first then waited for their arrival. [8D]
No offense to you of course.
With that said it's so sad how some have NO RESPECT for the elderly these days, or themself for that matter.
When I was young not one person/kid I knew would dream of something like this. The elderly were always treated with the utmost respect and helped,watched out for whenever possible.
Today it seems the elderly are seen as easy prey. [xx(][:(!]
Not a nice thing to do, knock a guy off his bike and then assault him. They deserved to be shot at. Morons.
Waco Waltz, I hope that you do not mind me suggesting that you had a typo that you did not notice earlier this is my feeble attempt to correct it to what I believe you may have meant: ... knock a senior off his bike and then assault him. They deserved to be shot at dead.
It would be valuable information to some newer posters. [:)]
Great job of it! [:)] [^] [8D]
I salute the victim here and would say to those that would criticize him for his actions, if you as a senior citizen, no scratch that, if you as a law abiding citizen are lying on your back in the woods and three people 1/4 your age are kicking your brains out ....... who should the ultimate looser be? I think the outcome was harsh but just. I'll bet that the other two fly straight and level for a long time after this. If they don't then they have already witnessed their own futures.
Reports like this should be required reading for all kids, it just may save one.
I have a problem with the title.
It should be "Senior thwarts would be robbery attempt".
How about this article, following the above heading?- "65 year old bicycle rider successfully defends self from three thugs."
Three young thugs skipped school and were assulting and robbing seniors. They physically assaulted the wrong person, a senior that knew how to defend himself. He is now taking regular handgun training through a "Senior Citizen Preparation and Persevere Course".
The State and County officials are hopeful that through this program, Seniors will have access to improved physical safety and security.
They fully expect that through his current and continued training, experience and persistent practice, he and other Seniors will manage to improve the the quality of their lives by taking an active part in improving the safety and security in their households and on the streets of their communities.
The Senior Instructor of the new program states his sincere belief that has improved remarkably in target acquisition and disposition.[^] [:)] [^]