US: 'Pregnant' intruder shot dead by home owner
Discussion
http://news.sky.com/story/1307003/pregnant-burglar...
No one has been arrested.
Sky News said:
Mr Greer told NBC Los Angeles: "I come back and they see me with a gun, and they run."
While the man managed to escape, Mr Greer said he caught up with the woman in the alley behind his house.
"She says, 'Don't shoot me, I'm pregnant! I'm going to have a baby!' And I shot her anyway," he told NBC.
"She was dead. I shot her twice, she best be dead. He had run off and left her. I shot her so that's going to leave a message on his mind for the rest of his life."
Not just in his home, but chased her out and shot her off his property.While the man managed to escape, Mr Greer said he caught up with the woman in the alley behind his house.
"She says, 'Don't shoot me, I'm pregnant! I'm going to have a baby!' And I shot her anyway," he told NBC.
"She was dead. I shot her twice, she best be dead. He had run off and left her. I shot her so that's going to leave a message on his mind for the rest of his life."
No one has been arrested.
Once they were out of the house, they were no longer a threat so it looks more like murder to me. Saying that, knocking an 80 year old man to the floor could have quite easily killed him. I don't have much sympathy for criminals ransacking someone else's home but once they were out, he should have just called the police. Like someone has said, this is a country where your average home owner has a gun. You make you choices and take the risks.
The problem in America is that juries are reluctant to convict in such cases in certain areas. Despite the fact that it, apparently, fulfills all the requirement for 1st degree homicide, and a particularly callous one at that, there's no point in prosecuting if there's no likelihood of a conviction.
I feel sorry for the bloke suffering a series of burglaries, but this is cold-blooded execution.
I feel sorry for the bloke suffering a series of burglaries, but this is cold-blooded execution.
toon10 said:
Once they were out of the house, they were no longer a threat so it looks more like murder to me. Saying that, knocking an 80 year old man to the floor could have quite easily killed him. I don't have much sympathy for criminals ransacking someone else's home but once they were out, he should have just called the police. Like someone has said, this is a country where your average home owner has a gun. You make you choices and take the risks.
I'd agree with most of this, but for two points:1. The couple had burgled him TWICE before. They had injured him. The fact that they ran out of his house on this occasion sort of becomes irrelevant under those considerations. They had a track record of coming back, and that means that they still posed a threat (possibly?)
2. This is America. EVERYONE knows the risks involved in entering someone else's property in this way. The couple appear to be serial criminals with a string of burglaries behind them, and a clear propensity to violence (the 80 year old was injured) Whilst we may struggle with the thought of shooting someone in our green and pleasant land, in the USA the right to defend your home is enshrined in law. It's a different society. Not better or worse, just different. The criminals would have understood the risks they were running in pursuit of their chosen "career"
Prawnboy said:
andymadmak said:
1. The couple had burgled him TWICE before.
the article says he has been burgled before, but not that it was by the same people.article said:
Mr Greer, who required hospital treatment for injuries to his shoulder, told NBC that the same couple had robbed him on two previous occasions.
andymadmak said:
toon10 said:
Once they were out of the house, they were no longer a threat so it looks more like murder to me. Saying that, knocking an 80 year old man to the floor could have quite easily killed him. I don't have much sympathy for criminals ransacking someone else's home but once they were out, he should have just called the police. Like someone has said, this is a country where your average home owner has a gun. You make you choices and take the risks.
I'd agree with most of this, but for two points:1. The couple had burgled him TWICE before. They had injured him. The fact that they ran out of his house on this occasion sort of becomes irrelevant under those considerations. They had a track record of coming back, and that means that they still posed a threat (possibly?)
2. This is America. EVERYONE knows the risks involved in entering someone else's property in this way. The couple appear to be serial criminals with a string of burglaries behind them, and a clear propensity to violence (the 80 year old was injured) Whilst we may struggle with the thought of shooting someone in our green and pleasant land, in the USA the right to defend your home is enshrined in law. It's a different society. Not better or worse, just different. The criminals would have understood the risks they were running in pursuit of their chosen "career"
andymadmak said:
I'd agree with most of this, but:
This is America. EVERYONE knows the risks involved in entering someone else's property in this way. The couple appear to be serial criminals with a string of burglaries behind them, and a clear propensity to violence (the 80 year old was injured) Whilst we may struggle with the thought of shooting someone in our green and pleasant land, in the USA the right to defend your home is enshrined in law. It's a different society. Not better or worse, just different. The criminals would have understood the risks they were running in pursuit of their chosen "career"
The discussion is about the bloke's actions. This is America. EVERYONE knows the risks involved in entering someone else's property in this way. The couple appear to be serial criminals with a string of burglaries behind them, and a clear propensity to violence (the 80 year old was injured) Whilst we may struggle with the thought of shooting someone in our green and pleasant land, in the USA the right to defend your home is enshrined in law. It's a different society. Not better or worse, just different. The criminals would have understood the risks they were running in pursuit of their chosen "career"
The law in the USA allows the police to kill a fleeing felon and in some cases civilians. From what was in the report, this woman was not fleeing.
To casually execute a person is not just different. The woman pleaded for her life. I'd suggest you'd have to be sick to pull the trigger, let alone twice, in such circumstances. Whilst the world would probably be better off without the burglars free to commit further offences, I'd trade them for someone who would kill in such a situation.
Photo of 80 yr old shooter on here - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/24/tom-green...
Burglars on here - http://www.presstelegram.com/general-news/20140724...
Burglars on here - http://www.presstelegram.com/general-news/20140724...
Derek Smith said:
The woman pleaded for her life. I'd suggest you'd have to be sick to pull the trigger, let alone twice, in such circumstances. Whilst the world would probably be better off without the burglars free to commit further offences, I'd trade them for someone who would kill in such a situation.
I don't think you'd have to be sick at all. They've already robbed him twice, and injured him. Maybe next time he'll not be so lucky and he'd have been the one that ended up dead. Its not like it would take much to kill an old bloke his age. Perhaps he did go a bit far, but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt here.
Didnt work this time though.onyx39 said:
I find that quite scary.
Why? The scumbags have robbed him multiple times, and injured him at least once. Maybe he feared for his life, maybe he just decided f
k it I'll take this little bh out while I have the chance. Who knows? Its impossible to say.... in situations like that I'd rather just give the benefit of doubt to the 80 year old home owner than the scumbag career burglar.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff