Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Accidental Shooting by Seattle Vigilante - No Charges for Him


A man in his 20s was shot in the buttocks by a neighbor after a dispute over squatting in a vacant home. The neighbor, 66, heard noises next door in the vacant house and went to investigate.

“One of the doors looked like it was forced open,” Sgt. Cindi West said. “He found a guy in his 20s.”

That man refused to leave and the neighbor went back to his house and armed himself with a shotgun, then returned to again tell the younger man to leave, according to investigators. The younger man is not believed to have lived there.

There was a struggle, and “apparently during the struggle the suspect decided to take off running,”  West said. “The homeowner tripped and shot him in the butt.

“That’s what he said, he had an accidental discharge.”

The man in his 20s was taken to Harborview Medical Center where they treated the birdshot wound. His injuries were not life-threatening.

Detectives from the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit arrived at the scene just before 7 p.m. Neither the man in his 20s or the 66-year-old were arrested, though West said the younger man may be arrested for trespassing after he was treated at Harborview. Detectives were investigating the older man’s story.
The vigilante, policing-the-neighborhood attitude of some gun owners needs to be discouraged, but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be happening in Washington. In fact, in this case it's the young squatter who will likely be charged.

Another fascinating aspect of this story is the similarity between the way this shooter claimed it was an accident and the way many shooters claim theirs was defensive.

Whenever the target of the shooting is a criminal, the so-called responsible gun owner can just about say anything he wants to get away with his own crimes. Naturally the pro-gun crowd denies this ever happens.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

9 comments:

  1. How often do the police respond to a call from a good citizen who reports someone squatting in vacant property? How often, instead, do they tell the good citizen thank you and then do nothing about it? Vigilanties arise when the police can't or won't do their job.

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    1. No, vigilantes arise when armed men think they can take charge of that which they have no business taking charge of, like in this case.

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    2. So your solution is to keep my head down, don't get involved in anything that isn't my direct business, and run for cover? No thanks. Besides, my statement is correct. Vigilantes arise when the police can't maintain law and order. Look at the L.A. riots. Korean storeowners had to defend their property with firearms because the police abandoned the area.

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  2. MikeB: “Whenever the target of the shooting is a criminal, the so-called responsible gun owner can just about say anything he wants to get away with his own crimes. Naturally the pro-gun crowd denies this ever happens.”

    There is probably a grain of truth to that. Committing a crime or having a criminal past hurts one’s credibility. Likewise being an upstanding citizen lends one the benefit of the doubt. Seems natural to me.

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    1. Why, yes, we should believe criminals and doubt good citizens. That makes complete sense--actually, Mikeb, what are you smoking?

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    2. A good citizen does not go back in the house for his shotgun in order to threaten.

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    3. A good citizen does not break into an unoccupied property in the first place.

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    4. So, neither one of them was a "good citizen" then. I say squatting in a vacant property is the lesser crime compared to shooting an unarmed man in the ass.

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