NAU "Rampage Shooting" Apparently Not

I completely missed this tragedy.  From Oct. 9, 2015 AFP:

Los Angeles:  One person was killed and three others wounded in a shooting at an Arizona university early on Friday before police captured the gunman, university officials said.

The deadly shooting at Northern Arizona University (NAU) comes just over a week after the October 1 shooting rampage at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, in which a 26-year-old gunman shot dead nine people, then committed suicide.

The first emergency calls came through to police at 1:20 am Friday, when most NAU students would have been in bed at the university campus in the city of Flagstaff.

The motive for the shooting -- just the latest at colleges and universities in the United States -- was not immediately clear and the identity of the shooter and the victims was not immediately known.

But there's another side to the story.  From Nov. 20, 2015 Arizona Republic:

Northern Arizona University shooting suspect Steven Jones told police he was being charged by other students when he fired shots, killing one student and wounding three others, according to reports released Friday by the NAU police.

Jones, 18, claimed he and two friends were first attacked and beaten outside an apartment complex in the Oct. 9 incident and then chased to his car by another group of students who shouted obscenities and threatened to kill them.

But the surviving victims and other witnesses told varying stories that corroborated some of Jones' statements and contradicted others.

Jones, who wept during police interviews, claimed he got his Glock pistol from the car and told the pursuers, who were then surrounding his friends, that he had a gun. He said he shot two of the attackers, again saying they would kill him, when they charged him.

Colin Brough, 20, was pronounced dead at the scene. Nicholas Piring, 20, was the second student shot.

One of the friends who was with Jones corroborated the initial fight and that they ran from their attackers. He told police that Jones pointed the gun and told two men to get to the ground, but one lunged at him and was shot twice. Then he shot the other student, he said.

Jones has been indicted, but it sounds like he has at least a plausible argument for self-defense.

UPDATE: The story gets more interesting.  From Nov. 30, 2015 Arizona Daily Sun:

Accused killer Steven Jones was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he shot four fellow Northern Arizona University students, killing one.

But all four of the victims had alcohol, drugs or both in their systems on the night of the fatal shooting.

According to a new section of the police report released by NAU Police Department Monday, Arizona Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory technicians found no alcohol or drugs in blood recovered from Jones, 18, after he shot Colin Brough, Nicholas Prato, Nicholas Piring and Kyle Zienteck, all 20 years old, in what he characterized as an act of self-defense in the early morning hours of Oct. 9.

The same police report cited lab results that listed Prato’s blood alcohol content at 0.92 percent, Zientek’s blood alcohol content at 0.181 percent and Piring’s blood alcohol content at 0.208 percent. All three readings were above the 0.08 percent blood alcohol content used to determine whether a person is driving under the influence, although, as 20-year-olds, having any alcohol in their systems would be illegal. The lab tests also detected cannabis in Prato and Zienteck’s blood. Piring’s drug screening results were not included in the report.

Jones' claim looks more and more believable.

North Carolina: Duke student shot during struggle with would-be robber

Durham, North Carolina

From WRAL of August 9, 2009

Duke student shot during struggle with would-be robber

A Duke student struggled with a man who tried to rob him, resulting in gunfire that wounded him and possibly the would-be robber, Durham police said.

The student and a woman were walking in the 500 block of Watts Street shortly before midnight Saturday when a man armed with a gun approached them from behind, police said. He ordered the pair to put their hands on their heads and started to search them.

A struggle ensued over the gun, and two shots were fired, police said. The student was shot in the abdomen, and the attempted robber fled.

"I was pretty sure that it was shots, not firecrackers. ... It was like right here, and the woman, she was screaming her guts out,” said Anita Akella, a Duke graduate student who lives nearby.

The victim, whose identity hasn't been released, was treated at a nearby hospital. The woman was uninjured.

The gunman was limping when he fled and might have been shot, police said. He was described as black, approximately 40 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a stocky build. He has bulging eyes. He wore a gray shirt and dark jeans.

The shooting happened one block from Duke's East Campus, where first-year students are to move in next week.

Graduate student Melanie Oberman said the shooting happened outside the apartment she recently rented.

"I definitely don't feel comfortable living in the house until I have security put in," she said. "I had no idea that something could happen right outside my door like that."

Residents said Trinity Park neighborhood has long been a safe area.

“It makes me very sad, more than it does fearful," homeowner Sally Spears said. "But the world we live in now has turned into the situation that it is."

Anyone with any information about the shooting should call Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases, and callers never have to identify themselves.

College Park, Georgia Home Invader Shot To Death

College Park, Georgia

From the May 3, 2009 Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

College Park police are investigating a home invasion at a College Park apartment early Sunday in which a victim shot and killed one of the robbers.

Police said two men forced their way into a unit of the Southern Lakes apartments on Lakemont Drive about 2:54 a.m. There were 10 people in the apartment, police said.

After robbing them, the men and women were moved to different areas. One of the men has a gun and fought the robbers, shooting one of them, police said.

The robber was found dead outside the complex, police said, and his accomplice had fled. Their names were not released by police.

From May 4, 2009 WSB-TV channel 2:

Bailey said he thought it was the end of his life and the lives of the 10 people inside his apartment for a birthday party after two masked men with guns burst in through a patio door.

“They just came in and separated the men from the women and said, ‘Give me your wallets and cell phones,’” said George Williams of the College Park Police Department.

Bailey said the gunmen started counting bullets. “The other guy asked how many (bullets) he had. He said he had enough,” said Bailey.

That’s when one student grabbed a gun out of a backpack and shot at the invader who was watching the men. The gunman ran out of the apartment.

The student then ran to the room where the second gunman, identified by police as 23-year-old Calvin Lavant, was holding the women.

“Apparently the guy was getting ready to rape his girlfriend. So he told the girls to get down and he started shooting. The guy jumped out of the window,” said Bailey.

A neighbor heard the shots and heard someone running nearby.

“And I heard someone say, ‘Someone help me. Call the police. Somebody call the police,’” said a neighbor.

The neighbor said she believes it was Lavant, who was found dead near his apartment, only one building away.

Bailey said he is just thankful one student risked his life to keep others alive.

Arizona: Evidence at UA-area double-shooting consistent with self defense

Tuscon, Arizona

From the Arizona Daily Star of October 16, 2008

Tucson police: Evidence at UA-area double-shooting consistent with self defense

Evidence in a fatal shooting of two home invaders by a University of Arizona student appears to be consistent with his story that he was defending himself, police said.

At least one of the invaders was armed with a gun during the incident, which occurred shortly after 12:30 a.m., according to Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

The 23-year-old student was home alone in the 800 block of East Adams Street — near North Euclid Avenue and East Speedway — when the home invasion occurred.

There was a knock at the door, at which time he armed himself with a gun because of the late hour, Pacheco said.

The man at the door asked for someone and the student told him that the person did not live there, Pacheco said.

The student looked past the man he was speaking with and saw another man who had his face covered and was armed with a gun.

He attempted to retreat into his home but the men made their way in, Pacheco said.

The student called police to report the shooting and when officers arrived at the guest house they found the two men dead inside just past the doorway.

Their names and exact ages were not released, but one was in his mid to late 20s and the other was about 25 years old, Pacheco said.

The UA student was questioned and is cooperating with police, Pacheco said. His name is not being released.

There is no indication that the student is or has been involved in any criminal activity, police said.

Pacheco could not say what the men were looking for or if they had possibly gone to the wrong house.

The case will be presented to the Pima County Attorney’s Office for a determination on whether the double homicide was justified, Pacheco said.

Ali Adelmann, a UA sophomore, just moved into the neighborhood this semester and was concerned about what happened.

“It really worries me,” the Phoenix resident said. “All we can do is keep our doors and windows locked.”

Jenny Wise also moved into the neighborhood in August. The 19-year-old sophomore said she wasn’t home at the time.

She had gone to a party and upon arriving home around 2 a.m. found her street taped off and flooded with police.

“It’s really the scariest thing,” Wise said. “I’ve lived a sheltered life. This seems like a nice little neighborhood. I don’t know what I would’ve done if two guys tried to get into my house.”

Man With Baseball Complains About Driving; Leaves When Pistol Appears

Hilton Head, South Carolina

From the August 9, 2008 Island Packet:

Slow driving led to a confrontation between a 22-year-old Citadel student and an unidentified man involving a baseball bat and a pistol on Hilton Head Island on Thursday afternoon, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office incident report.

The student, who was lost, had been driving slowly on Beach City Road looking for a doctor's office when he pulled into a parking lot to look at a map, according to the report.

A man driving a Porsche pulled in behind him and approached him carrying a baseball bat. The man was yelling about the student's driving.

The student pulled a Glock 23 pistol from his glove box and got out of his car, the report stated.

The man with the bat put his hands up, returned to the Porsche and drove away.

The student called the sheriff's office from his parents' Hilton Head home. He was not charged in the incident.

Ann Arbor College Student Shoots, Kills Intruder

Ann Arbor, Michigan

From the January 19, 2008 Detroit Free Press:

Andrew Myrick, a 28-year-old University of Michigan student, was inside his house in the 1500 block of Jones Drive on Wednesday night when David Copeland, 29, of Ypsilanti and three other men broke in, Ann Arbor Deputy Police Chief Greg O'Dell said.

Two of the suspected intruders were arrested Thursday and charged with robbery. But on Thursday, the Washtenaw County prosecutor called Copeland's death "justifiable homicide," O'Dell said.

Orem, Utah

From the Daily Herald of September 18, 2007

Orem man shoots attacking pit bull

If John Erickson hadn't had his gun with him when a neighbor's pit bull attacked him, there's no telling how bad things might have been.

Erickson, 22, was walking up to his house on 400 South near 700 West in Orem on Wednesday when a neighbor's pit bull bit him from behind. As he rode his scooter to his house around 8:30 p.m., Erickson saw the dog sitting calmly while a neighborhood girl petted it. Then he parked and took three or four steps toward his house when the dog bit him.

"All of a sudden the dog grabbed my leg from behind," he said.

He swung his scooter helmet at the dog, which backed off for a moment. But when the dog charged forward, Erickson, who has a concealed weapons permit, drew his 9-millimeter pistol and fired at the dog's head. Erickson said he worries about what would have happened if he hadn't been armed.

"There's nothing I could've done. I couldn't run. There's no way I'm going to outrun it. There's nowhere I could go," said Erickson, a student at Utah Valley State College.

Even more, he said he worries about what would've happened if the dog had attacked his wife, Lynn Ann, who came home just two minutes before him, or the many children who walk down that street on their way to and from Orem Elementary School.

Erickson's mother, Lyn Erickson, who lives across the street, said she used to dislike her son's gun.

"Now I'm saying, 'I'm just so thankful he had a gun.' I'm just so thankful because what would you do?" she said.

At Erickson's request, no charges were filed against the dog's owner, said Orem police spokesman Lt. Doug Edwards. Vicious animal citations and letting dogs run free are misdemeanor offenses.

"You can't allow your dog to run at large. It doesn't matter how they get off the property, whether it's a hole (in the fence) or a broken leash. Dogs can't run loose," Edwards said.

The dog survived the shot to the top of its head. Erickson said the owner initially planned to euthanize the dog because its veterinary bills were expected to be as high as $4,000. But the owner had a change of heart and decided not to put the dog down, he said.

The owner of the dog, who Erickson said moved to the neighborhood several weeks ago, was not identified and could not be reached for comment. Orem police would not release the owner's name because no charges were filed.

Erickson said he is now concerned because the hole in his neighbor's fence has not been fixed -- a pile of branches now blocks the hole -- and the dog owner has another pit bull that he worries could get loose and hurt someone.

"Every day little kids from Orem Elementary walk right past the house. It could've been one of the little kids, it could've been my wife who got home two minutes before me," he said.

Lyn Erickson said she plans to talk to police about the hole in the neighbor's fence.

Los Angeles, California

From the Boston Globe of April 25, 2007

Cops: USC students hold off gunman

Students wrested a gun away from a University of Southern California student who had been asked to leave an off-campus party after threatening a young woman, police said Tuesday.

Zao Xing Yang, 19, was arrested early Sunday and is being held without bail, Chief William Bratton said at a news conference.

Some students at the party, held at a student's home, overheard Yang making intimidating statements to the woman and threatening her with violence about 3 a.m. Sunday, Bratton said.

Yang began arguing with the host, who noticed Yang was holding a gun, he said.

"Several students wrestled the gun away from Yang and held him until campus security and then LAPD officers arrived," Bratton said.

Detectives searched Yang's off-campus room Monday and found a safe containing methamphetamine packaged for sale, a .44-caliber Magnum revolver and several hundred dollars in cash, Bratton said.

Yang is charged with making criminal threats, assault with a firearm and personal use of a handgun. If convicted, he faces up to 18 years in prison.

Akron, Ohio

From the University of Akron‘sThe Buchtelite of April 24, 2007

Student fires gun near campus

APD and UAPD seek help finding suspect after late-night altercation on Cross Street on Thursday

Two men fired shots at each other Thursday morning near campus. Andre Darnell Smith, a 30-year-old part-time University of Akron student, allegedly fired at 23-year-old Terrell Garr at Garr's apartment on Cross Street, according to police reports.

The incident occurred at approximately 1 a.m. after Smith approached Garr's apartment and knocked on the door asking for the location of a fraternity while allegedly brandishing a gun. Garr told Akron police he ran upstairs to retrieve his roommate's gun and when he returned, Smith was in the middle of the road and fired at him. Garr returned fire, claiming it was self-defense.

No one was hit.

Following the incident UA released a special edition Zipmail requesting students' help.

"The City of Akron Police Department and the university are requesting your help in locating a suspect involved in an off-campus incident," the Zipmail said. "If you know about the location of the suspect or have any information about him, please contact APD or UAPD."

Smith is described as black, approximately six feet tall and weighing about 250 pounds. APD and UAPD are looking for Smith, who faces charges of aggravated burglary and felonious assault. There are warrants for his arrest.

Lubbock, Texas

From Lubbock’s KLBK13.tv of January 25, 2007

Tech Students Get Their Guns Up to Stop Burglars

For the second time in less than 48 hours, a Texas Tech student is forced to put two would-be burglars on the other end of the gun barrel. But these Tech students are finished being targets and are fighting back by turning the trigger on the crooks. Around 8:30 Tuesday night, Ron Harmon was at his home at 5705 Grinnell studying, when he heard someone rattling his front door knob. Relying on instinct, Harmon grabbed his gun and hid.

“So I waited and acted like I wasn`t home and they broke in the back door” says Harmon.

Two Hispanic men busted down his back door. When one of the men entered his roommate’s bedroom, Harmon made his move.

“I told him I`d kill him if he didn`t stop” he says.

One suspect escaped by running out of the back door, but 17-year old Thomas Jeremy Martinez wasn`t so lucky.

Harmon forced Martinez to get on his knees and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

Martinez had only one thing to say, “Don’t kill me.”

Lubbock police officers arrested Martinez, but this is the second time this week that a Tech student`s house has been burglarized. And this is the second time a Tech student has put the bad guy on the other end of the barrel.

“I came home and there was a car parked in an unusual spot. My door was open and I walked inside. The gun was by the door and there were some guys in the back. I yelled and fired two shots into the ground to scare them off” says Matt Hoskinson.

On Monday, Hoskinson came home from class to find three men raiding his home and he too grabbed a gun.

“They took the T.V. off the wall and PS2, but dropped it when I shot at them” says Hoskinson.

“I think it`s a shame they’re targeting college students. There have been several cases of it” he says.

Harmon and his roommate just moved into this house on January 1st. Since then, they say they have seen the guys who broke in scoping out the house. Despite this, Harmon says they have no plans of moving out. But they say they will keep that gun.

Both Harmon and Hoskinson had concealed handgun licenses.

Gainesville, Florida

From the University of Florida’s Aligator.org of September 8, 2006

Attack leads to gunfire

Two SFCC students were attacked outside their southwest Gainesville apartment early Thursday morning, according to a police report.

One student, Clinton Howard, used a .45 handgun to thwart the two attackers, shooting one in the chest.

Two men were charged with burglary and battery, and one was taken to the hospital after receiving "nonlife-threatening injuries," according to the report.

Colin Douglas Williams Jr., who lives in Alachua, was arrested not far from the crime scene, near the intersection of Southwest 13th Street and Southwest 16th Avenue, at 9:14 a.m.

Patrick Jensen Fort, who was shot in the attack, was also arrested.

(More detail)

Richmond, Virginia

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch of February 18, 2006

Self-defense ruled in fatal shooting

Charges against VCU student are dropped in the Dec. 10 death

A murder charge against a Virginia Commonwealth University student in the shooting death of a 19-year-old Richmond man was withdrawn after authorities determined the student acted in self-defense.

The Richmond commonwealth's attorney's office confirmed yesterday that Omari Al-Qadaffi, a VCU senior majoring in computer science, has been cleared in the Dec. 10 shooting death of Lawarren Arkeis Williams on Mosby Street. At the time, Al-Qadaffi's father insisted his son had shot Williams in self-defense after being confronted outside a coin laundry by Williams and another man, one of whom had a gun.

Wajid Al-Qadaffi had said the confrontation was the culmination of a long-running conflict with his family initiated by a group known as the "700 Boys," a reference to the block on which they live in Mosby Court.

Omari Al-Qadaffi did not admit his involvement in the shooting until a police canvass of the area brought investigators to his door. He was charged after he declined to provide police with additional information about his involvement.

After Al-Qadaffi's arrest, however, authorities were able to obtain crucial information from the student after working with his lawyer, defense attorney Christopher Jones.

"He was initially uncooperative, but once he talked with us and gave us all the information, everything he said was forensically correct," said Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Learned D. Barry. "All the information was verified, and we determined that he fired in self-defense."

Murder and gun charges were officially withdrawn in Circuit Court on Jan. 12.

Macon, Georgia

From Macon.com of September 19, 2005

Mercer student shoots, kills man who broke into home

A Mercer University law student shot and killed a man who broke into his home, police said.

Frederick Taylor, 21, and his companion, Adrienne Warren, 22, were in the upstairs bedroom early Sunday morning when they heard glass break, police said.

Warren stayed upstairs and called 911, while Taylor went downstairs. He saw the intruder at the bottom of the steps, said Macon police Sgt. Cornelius Pendleton.

Taylor shot and killed the intruder about four minutes after the initial 911 call was made, police spokeswoman Melanie Hofmann said. The intruder was shot in the upper torso and pronounced dead at the scene, she said.

The burglar had no identification on him and has not been identified, officials said.

The Bibb County District Attorney's office will determine whether Taylor will face charges, Hofmann said.

Lexington, Kentucky

From Louisville’s WAVE3.com of June 23, 2005

No Indictment In Fatal Shooting

A grand jury has dismissed murder charges against a University of Kentucky student who shot a Louisville man in a struggle outside a Lexington apartment complex.

Twenty-year-old UK junior Brian Briggs said in an interview that he told a grand jury Tuesday that he shot 22-year-old Cory Harris in self defense. He says Harris threatened to kill him during a May 2nd robbery. Harris died a day later.

Grand juries meet in secret to decide if prosecutors have sufficient evidence to make a suspect stand trial. Authorities must prove only they have probable cause to proceed.

It was the second time in four months that a Lexington grand jury has dismissed murder charges against a suspect. Charges against Lucian Anderson, who shot a man in his driveway on Christmas Day, were dismissed by a grand jury in March.

Missoula, Montana



From MSNBC March 9, 2004:

Authorities in Missoula say a 21-year-old University of Montana student grabbed her attacker's gun, and jumped from a moving truck, after being kidnapped and raped by a man on Saturday.



...



MISSOULA (AP) - Sheriff's Lieutenant Rich Maricelli says the woman parked her pickup truck in a lot on campus, and a man asked if she could give him a lift to his vehicle and maybe jump-start it for him. She agreed. But the man pulled a handgun out of his jacket and told her to drive up Deer Creek. [too graphic description of the rape deleted] He set the gun down between the seats; and she managed to free her hands, get the gun, leap from the truck and roll down an embankment. She later told detectives she was prepared to use the gun if the man came back for her.

This is only marginally a gun self-defense use, because she didn't actually threaten or shoot the guy (although she should have).