Tough one

[mjz]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/2...home-intruder/

An 80-year-old Long Beach man could be facing charges after admitting he shot a home intruder twice in the back, killing her, as she ran away and despite the fact that she told him she was pregnant.


Tom Greer returned to his home Tuesday to find it being ransacked by a man and a woman. “I walked in on them,” Greer told KNBC. “And they jumped on me in the hallway.”

Greer said that he was tackled and thrown to the ground but managed to get his .22-caliber revolver and confronted them as they ransacked a safe containing cash. Seeing the gun, the couple ran out of the house and started down an alley.

“The lady, she couldn’t run as fast as the man, so I shot her in the back twice,” Greer explained. “She’s dead, but he got away.”


“She says, ‘Don’t shoot me, I’m pregnant! I’m going to have a baby!’ And I shot her anyway,” Greer said.

According to NBC4 legal analyst Royal Oakes, authorities will have a lot to consider as they contemplate pressing charges.
“On the one hand, a frail man in his eighties, he’s been attacked in his own home by intruders, he has a right to self defense,” Oakes explained. “On the other hand, he did shoot a person who was trying to get away, so he wasn’t in imminent danger himself, and the law says you can’t shoot somebody under those circumstances.”


Greer, who suffered a severe shoulder and collarbone injury in the altercation, says he has no regrets about the shooting, “I shot her so that’s going to leave a message on his mind for the rest of his life.”
Police who are investigating the shooting have not located the man who escaped.

He has a right to defend himself. They knocked him to the ground.
However, he shot the woman in the back as she was running away.

What say you, was the shooting "justified?"

Honestly, I don't know. He was no longer in imminent danger, but he was obviously emotionally compromised.

Was he defending himself from future attacks?
Or was he pissed and killed the perpetrator as she ran away?

max

[Riker36]

Don't break into someone's house: you won't get shot. Simple as that. Not really tough or complicated at all. I don't care if she was trying to flee or not. i hope they don't press charges against the 80 year old man. Geeesh.

[callouses]

Originally Posted by Riker36

Don't break into someone's house: you won't get shot. Simple as that. Not really tough or complicated at all. I don't care if she was trying to flee or not. i hope they don't press charges against the 80 year old man. Geeesh.

this right here

[ewalling]

I don't know the answer either. But I do think that if an intruder were to break in and confront us in our own home, we might react in a state beyond reason.

[fazool]

Every attacker can say "dont shoot me" that is irrelevant. if getting attacked you don't stop defending yourself because the attacker says "dont shoot me"



Why does her pregnancy have anything to do with this story? it doesn't.

If they want to report a story about *HER* getting killed while breaking into an elderly man's house then they should spin it that way.

The wording of this 'article" very clearly shows the bias of the reporter and the publisher.

Because the *REAL* story here is how a pregnant mother-to-be was irresponsible and got her unborn child killed by being a violent criminal.

[patrickgm60]

What say you, was the shooting "justified?"

I believe the term is "justifiable," but not sure.

The legal answer: No. There was no reasonable belief on the part of the homeowner that the robber was about to cause serious harm to the homeowner or to someone else.

The human (read "political") answer: ....

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Riker36

Don't break into someone's house: you won't get shot. Simple as that. Not really tough or complicated at all. I don't care if she was trying to flee or not. i hope they don't press charges against the 80 year old man. Geeesh.

+1.

The old man is going to have to demonstrate that he thought his life was in danger and that is why he shot.

[martind42]

Did she deserve getting shot? Yes. Once she made the decision to break into someone's home, she gave up her right. Unfortunately, she also made a stupid choice for her child, using it as a human shield. She should be charged with murder, because she put her baby in harm's way. But the mother is dead, so that's a moot point.

Should the homeowner have shot at them? If they had already left the house, then no. He was not in imminent danger. But they could have easily stopped and turned around to finish the job of beating him up, so he could say he feared for his life. But generally, if you shoot someone in the back, it's not good for you as a shooter. For him to say "I shot her anyway" after she said she was pregnant does show a certain amount of callousness and unconcern for the innocent unborn child, so there could be a charge of manslaughter for that one.

[harmonics101]

We had an interesting case here in Spokane, shooter acquitted and public needs to pay for his defense trial,

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...th-of-fleeing/

H

[sweiss]

"Seeing the gun, the couple ran out of the house and started down an alley"

They were out of the house and running down the alley.....and he shot her in the back. They were clearly trying to get away from the threat posed by his gun. He showed poor judgement.

Had he shot them as they were attacking him in the house.....that's a different thing altogether. He would have been totally justified in putting a neat little .22 sized hole in each of their foreheads.

He's not a murderer, but a very stupid, and no doubt scared, old man.

[HHP]

He's got a problem. The general standard for civilian self defense is to counter a threat to your life and well being. Once the robbers retreated, he could no longer claim credible fear for his life. The events leading up to this don't matter, at the moment he fired, he had no reasonable fear.

[harmonics101]

Originally Posted by sweiss

"Seeing the gun, the couple ran out of the house and started down an alley"

They were out of the house and running down the alley.....and he shot her in the back. They were clearly trying to get away from the threat posed by his gun. He showed poor judgement.

Had he shot them as they were attacking him in the house.....that's a different thing altogether. He would have been totally justified in putting a neat little .22 sized hole in each of their foreheads.

He's not a murderer, but a very stupid, and no doubt scared, old man.

Sweiss, I agree with this, but no jury on God's Green Earth does, they will never convict the shooter, no matter how unjustifiable the shooting is, see my link above,

H

[fazool]

Originally Posted by harmonics101

We had an interesting case here in Spokane, shooter acquitted and public needs to pay for his defense trial,

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...th-of-fleeing/

H

The family of the slain criminal said immediately they will bring a civil lawsuit.

Here in my hometown people are more reasonable (and ranked one of the best police departments in the nation): A very drunk guy at his relative's party goes out and comes back but comes to the wrong house, forces the door open stumbles around inside and is shot dead by the neighbor who thought he was the victim of a home invasion (which he was).

No complaints. No finger pointing. No charges filed. No lawsuits. A whole town mourned a tragedy. And the neighbor feels bad he killed him but there is no stupidity around this tragedy.

[harmonics101]

Originally Posted by fazool

The family of the slain criminal said immediately they will bring a civil lawsuit.

Here in my hometown people are more reasonable (and ranked one of the best police departments in the nation): A very drunk guy at his relative's party goes out and comes back but comes to the wrong house, forces the door open stumbles around inside and is shot dead by the neighbor who thought he was the victim of a home invasion (which he was).

No complaints. No finger pointing. No charges filed. No lawsuits. A whole town mourned a tragedy. And the neighbor feels bad he killed him but there is no stupidity around this tragedy.

Its amazing how many questionable shooting death incidents have occurred here in Spokane, I can think of at least three,

H

[fitness1]

First, I don't own any guns and probably won't. But, if someone has entered my home uninvited, starts knocking me around.....they better be ready for some serious "wrath". I don't like seeing people killed for any reason, but if you break into someone's home in this day and age, there's a good chance you will be shot.