Boston, MA

1/27/19 Boston Herald:

A legally licensed gun owner brought to an end a high speed road rage incident that spawned a flurry of calls by terrified motorists who reported an SUV racing down the Mass Pike with a man clinging to the hood of the car, police said.

Mark Fitzgerald, 37, of Ashland and Richard Kamrowski, 65, of Framingham will face each other in Waltham District Court on Monday. The two were released on personal recognizance after their arrests on Friday.

The perilous incident ended with Kamrowski clinging to the hood of Fitzgerald’s 2016 Infiniti QX70 for miles, smashing the windshield with a water bottle, until a third motorist state police said is a licensed gun owner drew his weapon on Fitzgerald and ordered him out of the SUV.

Chicago, IL

1/9/19 WLS:

CHICAGO (WLS) --
A woman fatally shot a man who was trying to rob her at a bus stop Tuesday morning in Chicago's Fernwood neighborhood, Chicago police said.
The shooting and attempted robbery occurred at a bus stop in the 500-block of West 103rd Street at about 6:15 a.m., police said.
The incident was captured by surveillance video. The victim, a 25-year-old woman, was waiting for her bus when a 19-year-old man attempts to rob her at gunpoint.
The woman, who has a conceal carry license, was armed as well. Surveillance video shows as they struggle, she pulled out her gun and shot him in the neck.

Bonner County, ID

1/14/19 KREM:

BONNER COUNTY, Idaho — The Bonner County Prosecuting Attorney has determined that the shooting death of 39-year-old Joshua Matthew Cole on Oct. 12, 2018, was a “justifiable homicide” carried out in self-defense.

Cole died after being shot by 41-year-old Jimila Hall in the Clagstone area outside of Spirit Lake, according to a letter from Louis E. Marshall, Bonner County Prosecuting Attorney.

Hall shot Cole in her driveway after he approached her and her 70-year-old mother Theresa. Robert Johnson, a man who Cole had allegedly began chasing after as Johnson drove away, said Cole then approached Hall and her mother, according to the letter.

Cole ran shirtless toward the two with his fists clenched and Hall armed herself with a baseball bat and handgun. Marshall said in his letter that the fact Hall grabbed a bat and not only a gun showed that she did not intend to kill Cole.
Despite Hall telling the man to stop, he continuing running at them, at which point Theresa threw rocks at Cole in an effort to stop him. As he got closer, Cole told the pair “I’m going to get you,” according to the letter.

Hall fired a shot at Cole when he got within approximately five feet of her, striking him in the chest and killing him, according to the letter. Hall began life-saving measures but Cole later passed away as a result of the gunshot.

When detectives arrived on-scene, they corroborated Hall’s claims about Cole’s actions before he passed and Cole told officers he had multiple alcoholic beverages that day. An autopsy found his blood-alcohol level to be .233.
Due to Hall’s attempts to get Cole to stop approaching her and her mother, Marshall said “the act of using deadly force by Jimila Hall was, in this circumstance, reasonable.”...

Cole's family claims another factor was at play: race. Hall and her mother were black and Cole's family thinks the women stereotyped him as a racist skinhead.
Detectives said that wasn't the case.  

Detectives discovered various previous charges of violent acts against women by Cole, according to Marshall’s letter. Cole's sister denied that he committed crimes against women and said he had turned his life around. 

Turned his life around?   .233% BAC?   A non-alcoholic would be asleep at that level. 

1/12/18 Bonner County Bee includes a picture of him.  With those tattoos, shirtless, after exposing himself, I would be afraid too.  The comments include several by relatives, including his first ife (who thought the fear completely justified).

Jacksonville, FL

This a weird one.  1/15/19 WOKV:

Jacksonville, FL -  The fatal shooting of 7-year-old Tashawn Gallon last February was at the hands of one of the boy’s family members who was acting in self defense, according to new investigative reports released by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

WOKV told you Monday that the death had been ruled “excusable”. On Tuesday, police say they had an additional consultation with the State Attorney’s Office, and have instead classified the case as a “justifiable” homicide instead....

Gallon was caught in the crossfire in a Durkeeville shooting last February. Police say an SUV pulled up in front of a Mt. Herman Street home and at least one person inside opened fire. Police have now concluded that three people outside of that home shot back. One of them was a family member of Gallon, and the reports show that it was his gun that fired the fatal shot, while shooting back at the SUV, which is believed to have been done in self defense.

The dozens of pages of investigative reports paint a complex and interconnected web of several persons of interest, shootings, and even murders that may be connected to this case. The motive to the shooting appears to have been either in retaliation, or in relation to a falling out between the family member and a person of interest.

The gunshot that killed the 7 year old was fired in self-defense against a felonious attack, so justifiable, much like when a bank guard shoots at a robber and kills a customer.   Still a tragedy, but without returning fire, someone else might have died.

 

Yuma, AZ

1/7/19 KYMA:

YUMA, Ariz. - A woman was killed and three people were injured in what deputies said was a home invasion in the 3800 block of East County 18 1/2 Street early Thursday morning....

One of the calls to 911 came from the home that got broken into, according to Alfonso Zavala with the Yuma County Sheriffs Office.

"The homeowner was woken up by some noise outside shortly after the subject made entry into the home, the occupant fired multiple rounds striking all four subjects," said Zavala.

KYMA spoke with many residents who say the calm and quiet neighborhood isn't used to crime.

One neighbor, who wanted to remain unnamed told KYMA that the man protecting his home first warned the alleged intruders that someone was home by flickering his lights before he opened fire.

Sounds like the victim had more decency and concern for the bad guys than they deserved,

Wichita, KS

1/3/19 KAKE:

The number of homicides rose by 13 percent in 2018, the highest in decades, justifiable homicides more than doubling.  The chief sat down with KAKE's Pilar Pedraza to take a closer look at what's going on.

"A significant number of the homicides in 2018 have a drug connection," he said.
Police investigated a total of 44 homicides in Wichita last year.  A homicide legally is when one human kills another.  Some homicides are legal, some are crimes.

It started on January 8th with what's called a justifiable homicide, a case of self-defense.
"Our first two homicides were one incident - where a homeowner...had people at his door with guns and he shot and killed both of them," Ramsay said.  "And that's how the year started out,  was our first two homicides were  justifiable."

Justifiable homicides climbed to a high of nine confirmed last year, with Chief Ramsay expecting a shooting last week to become number ten on that list.

"You know when we look at last week's, very obviously justified you know, with a store being robbed. He had had a gun pointed in his face."