Monday, March 28, 2016

Los Angeles: CA

2/26/16 KABC Los Angeles:

A taco stand employee fatally shot one of three suspects in a botched robbery attempt in South Los Angeles Friday night.

Authorities received a call around 11:49 p.m. about a shooting at East Century Boulevard and South San Pedro Street.

Three suspects tried to rob the taco stand, authorities said, and an employee ended up shooting one of the men who was 19-years-old.

The suspect was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where he later died. His name was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The other two suspects fled on foot and remain at large, police said.

The employee was taken into custody and cooperated with officers in the investigation. No further information was immediately available.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Mobile, AL

1/19/16 Al.com:
According to police, a 28-year-old man who was robbed at gunpoint as he unloaded groceries from his car was able to shoot the robber with a handgun he had concealed in his jacket pocket.

"Everyone has a fundamental right to protect themselves from serious injury or death," Barber said. "When threatened, you can protect yourself."

Barber said police are continuing to investigate the shooting and will likely release more information later in the afternoon.

Police identified the robber as 18-year-old Michael L. Clark, who was found dead in the breezeway of one of the apartment buildings.

Clark was struck once in the center of the chest and once to the right side of his chest. He was not carrying identification at the time.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Confronting End of Life

Death is not a medical condition.  It is inevitable and often a blessing as it brings an end to suffering.  My mother is in the hospital, mostly asleep, in some pain, with a failing liver.  Her life since my father died in 1976 has been a continuous series of struggles, many self-imposed.  Death is going to be a release.

We are in Reno visiting a friend in the last stages of colon cancer.  He is taking lots of morphine and Captain Morgan for pain, and even compared to December, he has declined dramatically in mental sharpness and ability to speak.  Tragic, but in another month or two, the misery will be over.

C.S. Lewis once observed that pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world.  Some people remain deaf to the end.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Orlando,FL

3/9/16 WOFL:
- A man is due in court Wednesday morning accused of breaking into a home in Orlando.  The suspect quickly learned he had picked the wrong house when the homeowner pulled out a gun, all while hooked up to a dialysis machine.

The incident occurred Tuesday morning at the Cumberland Apartments in Orange County.  Deputies say the suspect cut open a screen door and entered the victim's patio.  That's when the 64-year-old homeowner grabbed his dialysis machine and his gun.

White Center, WA: Never Bring A Hatchet to a Gunfight

3/13/16 Fox Channel 13:
WHITE CENTER, Wash. -- A  customer with a concealed carry permit shot and killed a masked man wielding a hatchet inside a convenience store Sunday morning, according to investigators.

On Monday, the King County Medical Examiner's Office identified the suspect as Steven Blacktongue, 43.

The King County Sheriff's Office was called to a 7-Eleven on 8th Avenue South, near White Center, at 5:45 a.m.

The store clerk says the masked man entered the store and immediately started swinging a hatchet toward a customer -- then he turned his sights on the clerk.

Witnesses told deputies the attacker remained silent during the entire ordeal.

The clerk suffered minor injuries to his stomach, but before more damage could be done, the customer fired his pistol and hit the suspect.

Medics arrived shortly after and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

King County Sheriff's investigators say the customer who shot the man appears to have done nothing wrong, and they are happy he was there to intervene.

Jacksonville, FL: Massacre Averted?

3/10/16 CBS Jacksonville:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —
A man was arrested and charged with one count of murder after officers said he shot and killed his former supervisor at a landscaping business near The Avenues Mall on Wednesday....

Little was a supervisor and 20-year employee at the landscaping business. Officers said Lopez shot Little once in the back.

A bullet also grazed Little's cheek. There was a struggle, then Lopez's gun malfunctioned. 

Little died at the scene.

Lopez heard sirens and tried to run.

Joshua Curry worked with Lopez and said he grabbed his gun from his car after he heard his co-workers yell "active shooter!" He said he held Lopez at gunpoint until police arrived.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Canyon Country, CA

Even in gun control heaven, breaking & entering can be fatal.  From 3/12/16 NBC Los Angeles:
A homeowner in Santa Clarita fatally shot a man who allegedly tried to break into his apartment, authorities said.

The shooting was reported around 9:10 p.m. in the 26000 block of Isabella Parkway in the Canyon Country area, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

When deputies arrived, they found a man in his 40s suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The man was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the news release.
The homeowner and witnesses told deputies that the man was trying to enter the homeowner's apartment after he was told several times to leave and did not comply, according to the news release.

More from 3/12/16 ABC Los Angeles:
According to witnesses, the apartment resident told the suspect several times to leave because he did not live there, but the suspect ignored him. The intruder then allegedly broke out the window and started to climb inside the apartment when the apartment resident opened fire.

Witnesses told ABC7 they heard between five and seven gunshots. A handgun was recovered at the scene. 

Friday, March 11, 2016

Vicksburg, MS: Trespassers Will Be Shot, Survivors Will Be Shot Again

3/10/16 Vicksburg Post:
Eight days after he escaped from the Warren County Jail, Rafael McCloud’s luck ran out.
McCloud, 34, was found dead about 7 a.m. Thursday in the tub of a bathroom of a home he broke into, shot by the residents.
According to Vicksburg police, McCloud was holding the couple and their 5-year-old son in the bathroom, when he allowed the wife to leave. She returned with a handgun and  fired one shot, which she believed to hit McCloud. After she freed her husband, he took the gun and fired additional shots at McCloud. The family left the house and ran outside, where they flagged down a passing motorist and asked them to call 911
- See more at: http://m.vicksburgpost.com/2016/03/10/man-killed-following-home-invasion-believed-to-be-mccloud/#sthash.uUNGnhH0.dpuf


Eight days after he escaped from the Warren County Jail, Rafael McCloud’s luck ran out.

McCloud, 34, was found dead about 7 a.m. Thursday in the tub of a bathroom of a home he broke into, shot by the residents.

According to Vicksburg police, McCloud was holding the couple and their 5-year-old son in the bathroom, when he allowed the wife to leave. She returned with a handgun and  fired one shot, which she believed to hit McCloud. After she freed her husband, he took the gun and fired additional shots at McCloud. The family left the house and ran outside, where they flagged down a passing motorist and asked them to call 911.

- See more at: http://m.vicksburgpost.com/2016/03/10/man-killed-following-home-invasion-believed-to-be-mccloud/#sthash.uUNGnhH0.dpuf
 
Eight days after he escaped from the Warren County Jail, Rafael McCloud’s luck ran out.
McCloud, 34, was found dead about 7 a.m. Thursday in the tub of a bathroom of a home he broke into, shot by the residents.
According to Vicksburg police, McCloud was holding the couple and their 5-year-old son in the bathroom, when he allowed the wife to leave. She returned with a handgun and  fired one shot, which she believed to hit McCloud. After she freed her husband, he took the gun and fired additional shots at McCloud. The family left the house and ran outside, where they flagged down a passing motorist and asked them to call 911.
- See more at: http://m.vicksburgpost.com/2016/03/10/man-killed-following-home-invasion-believed-to-be-mccloud/#sthash.uUNGnhH0.dpuf
Eight days after he escaped from the Warren County Jail, Rafael McCloud’s luck ran out.
McCloud, 34, was found dead about 7 a.m. Thursday in the tub of a bathroom of a home he broke into, shot by the residents.
According to Vicksburg police, McCloud was holding the couple and their 5-year-old son in the bathroom, when he allowed the wife to leave. She returned with a handgun and  fired one shot, which she believed to hit McCloud. After she freed her husband, he took the gun and fired additional shots at McCloud. The family left the house and ran outside, where they flagged down a passing motorist and asked them to call 911
- See more at: http://m.vicksburgpost.com/2016/03/10/man-killed-following-home-invasion-believed-to-be-mccloud/#sthash.uUNGnhH0.dpuf
Eight days after he escaped from the Warren County Jail, Rafael McCloud’s luck ran out.
McCloud, 34, was found dead about 7 a.m. Thursday in the tub of a bathroom of a home he broke into, shot by the residents.
According to Vicksburg police, McCloud was holding the couple and their 5-year-old son in the bathroom, when he allowed the wife to leave. She returned with a handgun and  fired one shot, which she believed to hit McCloud. After she freed her husband, he took the gun and fired additional shots at McCloud. The family left the house and ran outside, where they flagged down a passing motorist and asked them to call 911
- See more at: http://m.vicksburgpost.com/2016/03/10/man-killed-following-home-invasion-believed-to-be-mccloud/#sthash.uUNGnhH0.dpuf
Eight days after he escaped from the Warren County Jail, Rafael McCloud’s luck ran out.
McCloud, 34, was found dead about 7 a.m. Thursday in the tub of a bathroom of a home he broke into, shot by the residents.
According to Vicksburg police, McCloud was holding the couple and their 5-year-old son in the bathroom, when he allowed the wife to leave. She returned with a handgun and  fired one shot, which she believed to hit McCloud. After she freed her husband, he took the gun and fired additional shots at McCloud. The family left the house and ran outside, where they flagged down a passing motorist and asked them to call 911
- See more at: http://m.vicksburgpost.com/2016/03/10/man-killed-following-home-invasion-believed-to-be-mccloud/#sthash.uUNGnhH0.dpuf
Eight days after he escaped from the Warren County Jail, Rafael McCloud’s luck ran out.
McCloud, 34, was found dead about 7 a.m. Thursday in the tub of a bathroom of a home he broke into, shot by the residents.
According to Vicksburg police, McCloud was holding the couple and their 5-year-old son in the bathroom, when he allowed the wife to leave. She returned with a handgun and  fired one shot, which she believed to hit McCloud. After she freed her husband, he took the gun and fired additional shots at McCloud. The family left the house and ran outside, where they flagged down a passing motorist and asked them to call 911
- See more at: http://m.vicksburgpost.com/2016/03/10/man-killed-following-home-invasion-believed-to-be-mccloud/#sthash.uUNGnhH0.dpuf

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Memphis, TN: Robbing Armed Victims Not Wise

3/2/16 WREG:
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A 16-year-old suspect in an attempted robbery and shooting is dead after being shot by one of his alleged victims.

Police say two people were sitting in a car outside a house in the 1700 block of Denison St. around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, when three men came up and tried to rob them.

The suspects fired shots into the car hitting the male victim in the side.

Police say he was able to return fire hitting the 16-year-old suspect in the chest.

The suspect was taken to his mother's house by the two other suspects.
How long before Everytown for Gun Safety features the robber's mother in its calls for fewer guns?

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Philadelphia, PA

From NBC Philadelphia:
The man was with his wife on the 700 block of S. 2nd Street shortly after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when they walked past a 21-year-old man and a 20-year-old man. The wife told police one of the men asked her husband, "What are you looking at?" to which her husband replied, "What are you looking at?" The wife said both men then punched her husband and threw him to the ground and continued to beat him.

Two other witnesses also told police they heard the commotion, looked out their window and saw the two men beating the 65-year-old. Another witness who was walking by at the time told police the two men were standing over the 65-year-old and repeatedly kicking him.
The 65-year-old man took out a .45 caliber pistol and opened fire striking the 21-year-old in the shoulder and the 20-year-old in the stomach. The two men were taken to Jefferson Hospital where they are both in stable condition.

The answer to the question turned out to be, "Someone too thuggish and stupid to stay out of the hospital."