It's a human thing to read a shooting story in the newspaper, assume you have all the information necessary, and proclaim innocence or guilt from your comfortable chair. Everyone on all sides suffers from the guilt of this affliction, mind you. It's not particular to any one view.
One of the latest occurrences of this is the Erik Scott case. Sebastian has more data, including a blurb from a toxicology report that shows Scott's bloodstream contained a practically lethal dose of morphine and Xanax, which clearly could have had some effect on his judgment and mannerisms and thus possibly making the shooting justified. Now, the whole "Every video is corrupted" thing stinks to high heaven, and I admit I am skeptical that is the real case. However, I cannot clearly state that the cops shot for no reason as plenty of witnesses claim Erik made a move toward his pistol.
Until all the details are out, we cannot truly say what happened, and a reflexive defense to all CCW carriers does us no good.
Now, onto tale number two. My friend Stacy sent me this news article about a fatal shooting down the road from me (she had, for a moment, thought the deceased resembled me and startled her).
Meanwhile a few teenagers were skateboarding nearby. Investigators say at some point a neighbor came out of his house and engaged in a verbal altercation with the teens. Officials say James went over to see what was happening and defended the teens. A short time later, the neighbor pulled out a gun and the two men tussled over the weapon. In the midst of their altercation, James was shot and killed right before his daughter's eyes, according to deputies.
Meanwhile a few teenagers were skateboarding nearby. Investigators say at some point a neighbor came out of his house and engaged in a verbal altercation with the teens.
Officials say James went over to see what was happening and defended the teens.
A short time later, the neighbor pulled out a gun and the two men tussled over the weapon. In the midst of their altercation, James was shot and killed right before his daughter's eyes, according to deputies.
My oldest daughter is 8 years old and I cannot imagine the horror that would befall her should she see me shot and killed. That part alone is simply depressing to even think about.
However, pay attention to the comments. They have already condemned the shooter or praised him for his ridding the world of someone who was probably a criminal anyway. Haven't got through 'em all (and don't plan on it) but I'd be willing to bet there's blame placed upon the heads of either Obama or Bush at some point.
From what the article states (and we all know how accurate news reports aren't), Mr. James was defending the teens and his neighbor found some reason to grab a gun. Why Mr. James decided to wrestle for the firearm is unknown. Without being there, we cannot say that Mr. James didn't threaten his neighbor, nor can we assume his neighbor did not have a valid reason to retrieve his weapon.
You can rest assured there will be an investigation. Even being a state with a strong Stand Your Ground law, each shooting is investigated to ensure it meets the criteria required to fall within the limits of Stand Your Ground.
You can also rest assured there will be plenty of people jumping to conclusions.