Jonesboro, Arkansas

From the Jonesboro Sun of March 3, 2007

Victim, robber both armed

A Craighead County man got more than he bargained for early Friday morning after apparently choosing the wrong resident to rob.

The early-morning alleged attempted robbery ended in a shoot-out, though no one was injured, police said.

Walter D. Hatton, 22, 820 West Huntington Ave., Jonesboro, was arrested around 4 a.m. Friday after he allegedly forced his way inside a Jonesboro home and fired a shot at the 64-year-old man inside.

Detective Chad Hogard wrote in his probable cause affidavit that officers were dispatched to 211 Maple St. around 3:45 a.m.

He wrote that patrol officers "had picked Dale Hatton up just down the street with blood coming from his head. The victim was in bed and heard someone trying to kick in his front door."

The victim, Ray Horton, told police the suspect entered his home and fired a 9mm bullet at him during a struggle and missed.

But Horton had a weapon of his own -- a shotgun.

"During the struggle the victim struck Hatton in the head with the barrel of a shotgun," Hogard wrote. "The two then wrestled onto the bed leaving blood evidence on the bed sheets."

Horton then attempted to shoot Hatton, but the suspect managed to grab the barrel of the shotgun, forcing it toward the ceiling where the blast struck.

"Hatton then grabbed the shotgun away from the victim and ran out the door," Hogard added. "Both guns were recovered."

The shotgun was recovered in a tree line near Parker Park and the 9mm on a lawn across the street from the park.

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Huntington, West Virginia

From the Huntington Herald-Dispatch of March 3, 2007

Charges dismissed in nightclub shooting

Charges were dismissed Friday morning against a man who police say shot three people outside the Chickadee's nightclub in February.

The Cabell County Prosecutor's Office agreed to dismiss three felony counts of unlawful wounding that faced Harold Radford Porter, according to defense attorney David Perry and Magistrate Darrell Black.

Porter, 26, of Huntington had claimed he shot two men and a woman Feb. 3 because he was being targeted by several people from Detroit. He contends he fired in self defense.

Black said prosecutors dismissed the charges with a desire to present evidence to a future grand jury.

Porter had been free on a $30,000 bond.

San Antonio, Texas

From San Antonio’s KSAT.com of March 2, 2007

Home Invasion Leaves Neighborhood On Edge

Residents in a Northwest Side neighborhood are on edge and said they are being extra careful following a daytime home invasion earlier this week.

On Tuesday, three people broke into a home in the 100 block of Sunnycrest and shot Eugene Mazzurana, who tried to scare off the trio with an unloaded shotgun.

Mazzurana was shot in the arm and the hand. He lost a finger and remains in stable condition at a local hospital.

Neighbors told KSAT 12 News that up until the home invasion, crime was limited to graffiti.

But residents said they're taking extra precautions. They're locking doors, closing garages and looking out for suspicious activity.

"There will be more people, I guess, looking out for each other," said Kina Aldrige, a neighbor.

Aldrige said she hopes the home invaders are brought to justice.

"We most of all hope they get caught and they get punished for this," Aldrige said.

Don’t take an unloaded gun to a gunfight.

Miami-Dade County, Florida

From Miami’s Local10.com of March 2, 2007

Police: Man Shoots, Kills Would-Be Robber

Police said a man shot and killed a would-be robber Thursday night in north Miami-Dade County.

It happened at about 9:45 p.m. outside 752 N.W. 102nd St.

Miami-Dade police said a man was approached by two other men who tried to rob him, but the intended victim instead pulled out a gun and fatally shot one of them. The other would-be robber got away.

Police said it was unlikely the man who shot his alleged attacker would be charged, as it appeared to be an act of self-defense.

From the Miami Herald of March 2, 2007

Attorney shoots first in alleged robbery

A prominent Miami-Dade traffic-ticket lawyer, facing an armed robber, pulled a gun from his glove compartment and stopped his attacker with volley of fatal gunfire.

Driving his black Mercedes, Traffic Ticket Office's Scott Hidnert was backing out of his north-central Dade office Thursday night when the robber rushed him.

Handcuffs stuffed in his pocket and a ski mask pulled over his head, the attacker pointed his weapon at the attorney.

''I'm lucky to be alive,'' the attorney said.

Hidnert has been called the ''granddaddy'' of ticket defenders. He founded a firm called Ticket Busters in 1992, one of the first to focus on misdemeanors such as speeding and running red lights.

The firm's name changed to Traffic Ticket Office three years later. Today, the firm offers legal help in Miami-Dade for $69 and up.

The incident is one of three recent high-profile self-defense shootings, all fatal, none resulting in criminal charges.

Last year, a new Florida law was enacted that loosened the standard for self-defense, allowing threatened citizens to shoot first even if their attacker doesn't show a gun.

''I don't expect any charges. He had a gun and was aiming at me,'' Hidnert said. ``If his gun didn't jam, he would have shot me.''

Miami-Dade police spokesman detective Roy Rutland declined to discuss charges. ``The entire case is still under investigation.''

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Asheville, North Carolina

From the March 2, 2007 Asheville Citizen-Times:

ASHEVILLE — An attempted robbery turned into an exchange of gunfire Wednesday night, police said, ending with the would-be robber dead and the victim wounded.

Ahmad Qushawn Shivers, 17, was wanted in another shooting in August and on four other charges. Police believe he started the shooting that broke out in front of an Erskine Street apartment building that led to his death.

Frederick Martin, 20, was shot in the arm, an injury that police said wasn’t life-threatening.

No charges had been filed Thursday morning.

Cedar Lake, Indiana

From the Merrillville Post-Tribune of March 2, 2007

Cedar Lake homicide case closed
Next stop: Grand Jury

The investigation is closed on Ronald Thomas's shooting death, which stunned Cedar Lake Jan. 31.

Charges will not be filed against Gerald Burkland, the man who pulled the trigger, although the case will be sent to a grand jury.

"I'll accept it as the way the judicial system works," Burkland said at his home. "That's fine with me."

He declined to comment further.

Cedar Lake Police Chief Roger Patz said charges have not been filed because he believes Burkland killed Thomas in self-defense. Patz said the decision not to file charges was made after consultation with the Lake County Prosecutor's Office.

Patz said Thomas broke into Burkland's residence before 8 a.m. Jan. 31 after he pried open a screen. Burkland was inside the residence, as was Susie Buck, Thomas' girlfriend and mother of their two children.

Burkland told police the two men started arguing, then Thomas lunged at him with a knife. Burkland maintains he fired at Thomas in self-defense.

The blast struck Thomas at close range, piercing his abdomen, Patz said. Thomas was pronounced dead later that morning at St. Anthony Medical Center in Crown Point.

Burkland fled the scene. He was found in a Merrillville hotel four days later, and Cedar Lake detectives interviewed him the following day.

After Thom-as was shot, Buck stayed behind and called 911. She could not be reached for comment.

Patz said they suspected self-defense all along, observing the pried-open window and a knife in close proximity to Thomas' body when they arrived at the crime scene. Evidence from the Lake County Crime Lab confirmed their beliefs, he said.

Nevertheless, Patz says, because the case is so serious, it's only appropriate it be referred to a grand jury.

"We don't want to leave any stone unturned here," Patz said.

Diane Poulton, spokeswoman for the Lake County Prosecutor's Office, said the jury, comprised of six people, will determine whether to indict Burkland. No date has been set for the grand jury to deliberate this case, Poulton said.

Marco Manzie, Thomas' uncle, said the decision to present the issue to a grand jury "doesn't sound right."

"We're hoping we'll get down to the truth," Manzie said. "We're uncomfortable that the police are taking Jerry Burkland's side of the story."

Dallas, Texas

From DallasNews.com of March 1, 2007

Suspect shot during burglary

Police said a suspect was shot in the leg during an attempted burglary at a West Dallas fabricating business early Thursday morning.

Police were investigating reports that the owner of the business caught two men attempting to break in and shot, wounding one suspect in the leg. A second suspect ran from the scene of the burglary in the 3100 block of Sylvan Avenue, just west of downtown, police said.

There was no indication that the suspect who fled was shot and the condition of the suspect who was wounded was not known.