Detroit Mom Thwarts Three Home Invaders

via ssgmarkcr

   Just saw this out there and thought I'd pass it on to you.  I understand it might not be proper fare for your blog.  It caught my eye because it was actually picked up by the major media outlets, though that might be more due to the video footage available than anything else. 

    Another thing I noticed was that we had just been discussing the situation in Detroit and the reported long response times.  Yet, in this case it sounds like they were not only able to quickly respond, but had the three misguided urchins in custody in a day. 

Recalling the panic she felt, the mom says "I let them know I had a gun once they were in the house. They said no you don't so I shot off the first round. I wasn't feeling anything at the moment, I got scared afterwards."

We still don't know what they came to steal, but the mother was committed to protecting her two small kids at any cost with her loaded rifle.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/mom-opens-fire-on-home-invaders-in-detroit-to-defend-children

The Gun Debate Misses the Mark in Detroit

The Detroit News

On the one hand, guns exacerbate a culture in which human life is treated as valueless and disposable.

There’s the 12-gauge shotgun that was used to kill Renisha McBride. McBride crossed city lines from Detroit to Dearborn Heights, apparently searching for help after her car crashed. The 19-year-old ended up on the porch of Theodore Wafer, who is charged with fatally shooting her in the face.

Then there are the guns used in 333 of Detroit’s 386 homicides in 2012. And there’s a stark racial bias to these deaths: In Michigan, African-American men are 41 times more likely to die of homicide than white men.

This is further reinforced by the woefully understaffed and overstretched Detroit Police Department. While police use of force against African-Americans in Detroit has a long, gnarly history, the most immediate issue with today’s police isn’t abuse, it’s their striking absence and negligence: a 50-plus minute wait after dialing 911; less than 10 percent of cases solved; over 10,000 untested rape kits forgotten over the course of two decades.

On the other hand, guns provide a way to address a context saturated with violent crime and police inefficacy.

In this vacuum of social disorder, Detroiters — known for their grit and perspicacity — have doubled-down on the problem of crime. For some, this has taken the form of organized citizen patrol groups, such as the Detroit 300, which uses Michigan’s combination of citizen arrest and concealed carry laws to apprehend criminals the police are unable (or unwilling) to arrest themselves.

Theodore Wafer Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of Renisha McBride - Finally

Gun Advocate Arrested During Protest at Detroit Gun Buyback Event

M Live

As many as 40 protestors held signs and wads of cash outside New St. Paul Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Detroit Saturday protesting a Wayne County gun buyback event.

Jerry Acker, a partner in Goodman Acker, P.C law firm, fronted $50 Meijer gift cards for each of the 200 guns collected, a cost of $10,000.

Meanwhile, gun advocates waited outside offering cash for guns the government hoped to take off the streets and out of homes.

"In many cases, they'll end up circulating back in the communities we're trying to take them out of," said Wayne County Chief of Police Operations Rafael Washington said.

One pro-gun protester was detained temporarily and cited for disorderly conduct.

Washington said he was "impeding the walkway," "becoming very vocal," and "interfering with the process."

Need I say anything about that shining example of gun rights in the video?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Detroit Medical Center Destroyed by Fire - Two Shot Dead

Local news reports

A man identified by employees as a former maintenance worker opened fire inside a Detroit medical facility, sending screaming workers and visitors rushing for the doors just moments before the building erupted in flames.

Crews digging through the gutted Park Medical Centers building recovered the remains of a man and woman hours after the Tuesday morning blaze, Detroit police said in a statement.

Authorities did not release the identities of the dead, pending autopsies, but police had been searching for 35-year-old medical assistant Sharita Williams and the fired maintenance worker, who relatives said was her ex-boyfriend.

Williams' mother, Antha Williams-Hill, told The Associated Press that one of her daughter's co-workers told her that the man threatened her daughter inside.

"He said, 'You think I'm playing with you?'" Williams-Hill said. "He told the other girl, 'I think you better get out of here.' The girl left and said she then heard two shots."

Last week, Sharita Williams was granted a personal protection order against the man, according to Wayne County Court records.

She said her daughter had been dating the married maintenance man for more than a year, but their relationship was rocky and Sharita eventually began seeing someone else. She even moved out of the city and into a Detroit suburb to get away from him. He refused to leave her alone, Williams-Hill said.

Sandra Layne Sentenced to the Maximum

Detroit Free Press

A sometimes sobbing West Bloomfield grandmother told a packed courtroom she was sorry she had shot her teenage grandson to death, begging the judge not to give her a long prison sentence. “I don’t want to die in jail or prison,” 75-year-old Sandra Layne cried Thursday in Oakland County Circuit Court. “Oh, God! Oh, God! I don’t know what to say. I am so sorry.” 

Sandra Layne, 75, listens to Oakland County Circuit Judge Denis Langford Morris during her sentencing today. / Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press

But Judge Denise Langford Morris exceeded sentencing guidelines and ordered Layne, who had no criminal history, to spend 20-40 years in prison. She was convicted of second-degree murder last month for fatally shooting her grandson Jonathan Hoffman, 17, in Layne’s West Bloomfield condominium on May 18. Guidelines called for 12-20 years in prison. 

The sentencing brought to a close a case that shocked metro Detroit, garnered national attention and tore apart a family already teetering on the edge. “This is a tragic case for everyone involved,” 

Langford Morris said before announcing the sentence. “This is a tragedy for the community. Grandmothers are supposed to be protected, and grandmothers are supposed to protect.” As the sentence was read, Layne turned to look at her daughter Jennifer Hoffman, Jonathan’s mother. Hoffman, who called her mother “pure evil,” smiled broadly and gave her mother a thumbs-up sign.

I guess the judge didn't believe her that she acted out of fear for herself.

What do you think?

Police Station Shooting

CBS Detroit reports

Investigators say the gunman who opened fire inside the Inskter Police Station late Friday night was found dead just moments after the shooting.

Police say the incident happened around 11:50 p.m., when several individuals walked into the station to file a police report. Lt. Jeffery Smith said the residents were reporting that their dog had been stolen by a man who tried to run them off the road.

As police were collecting details, the man who allegedly stole the victims’ dog entered the station and fired two rounds in the lobby before fleeing the scene. No one was injured.

Smith said the suspect was found a short time later in a neighboring city.

“Garden City police ended up spotting a vehicle that matched the description and attempted to stop that vehicle for investigative purposes. The vehicle came to a slow, rolling stop and officers discovered when they approached that the driver was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound, self-inflicted,” Smith said

Pretty wild story. What do you make of it?

Please leave a comment.

Detroit Gun Shop Robbed - Thieves Arrested

The Detroit Free Press reports

Five young men from Detroit are now facing criminal charges, and a juvenile suspect was placed in a youth home.

According to Livonia police, an officer was on patrol at 2:50 a.m. Oct. 4 — just a few hundred feet away from Shooters Service gun store at 29502 Six Mile Road — when the suspects crashed the van through the shop’s window. Once inside, they smashed display cases and began stealing long and short guns.

"Through the shop's window?" What kind of security is that? Shouldn't gun shops have better protection than that?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Detroit Mass Shooting Suspect Surrenders Twice

Local news reports

The incident relates to a quadruple shooting that happened around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning on Inverness on the city's west side. Two men were killed and two others were injured.

Police say that at around 3:20 a.m. Saturday a 36-year-old man went to a Detroit Fire Engine Station near the scene of the shootings. He reportedly told the fire fighters that he was connected to the shootings.

However, when Detroit Police were called, they said the patrol units for the area were busy handling high priority runs and no one was dispatched to the fire house.

Firefighters say they kept the man at the fire station for almost four hours waiting for a police patrol car to pick him up. Eventually they put the suspect in a taxi and sent him to the 10th Precinct where he was taken into custody.

The poor Detroit cops are really being ridiculed for this one. But, it seems to me the obvious explanation is that the shooter only told the firemen he was "involved" in the shooting, like a witness maybe, not that he was the author of it.

In any case, people love to blame the cops whenever possible. And goodness knows they deserve it many times, but not in this case.

What the story does show, though, is another mass shooting that took place in a non-gun-free zone.  I guess the pro-gun crowd is just going to have to shut up about that one.  Every day we find examples which put the lie to their oft-repeated nonsense that mass shootings usually happen in gun free zones.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Brother Arrested in Detroit Shooting of 15-Year-old Girl - May Not Have Been an Accident

The victim, 15-year-old Kadijah James The Detroit News reports on the latest developments in this sad story.

Police have arrested a 17-year-old in connection with the fatal shooting of his 15-year-old sister Saturday on the city's east side.

Police arrived to find a victim had been struck and killed.

The brother was being questioned by Detroit police homicide investigators. The weapon has been recovered.

Police have sent the case to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for review and determination of charges, Stephens said Sunday. She declined to discuss whether the shooting was deliberate or accidental.

Maybe these cops are turning accidents into murders like McNulty did to get better funding from the bosses. What do you think? Everybody else seems to think it was an "accident."

Accidental Shooting of Detroit 15-Year-old by her Brother - No Charges

Local ABC News reports

 

Black or white, rural or urban, it's the same story all over the country every single day. Kids are being killed due to negligent use of guns, guns that shouldn't even be there. And no one is being held accountable.

Recently one of our gun-loving commenters quoted the statistics about how many of the "accidental" killings each year are actually children. 80 something out of 600 he said.  I found that hard to believe, but now I'm convinced something is wrong with that number. 

In today's news alone there are THREE.  Now, that's a far cry from the ONE every four or five days that 80 would give us.  There seems to be some kind of disconnect between the supposedly bona fide statistics and the daily reports.

What's your opinion? Is this something that needs to be taken more seriously, or not?

Please leave a comment.

White Affluent Detroit Grandma Shoots and Kills Grandson

Local news reports including a video 

Police in West Bloomfield said a 74-year-old woman shot and killed her 17-year-old grandson Friday at her home.

Jonathon Hoffman, 17, had been living with his grandmother and 86-year-old grandfather for the past six months to finish high school.

According to police, Jon and his grandmother were the only ones home and got into an argument late yesterday. The grandmother shot Jon several times with a handgun, which was recovered at the home.

Perhaps Granny has been reading The Truth About Guns where they often counsel murderers.Those guys are experts in how to change a murder into a legitimate DGU, especially when the shooter is the only one left standing. 

In the video, you can see the smirking lawyer acting anything but professional in the wake of this devastating tragedy.  He knows the tricks too.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Detroit, Cesspool of Gun Violence

The Detroit News

Police have made three arrests, identified a fourth suspect and believe they have closed five of the seven homicides that happened last weekend in Detroit. 

The shootings between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday included the deaths of 14- and 16-year-old boys in separate incidents.

The last time I referred to The Motor City that way, I was taken to task by an irate Detroiter who was quite offended at my characterization of his fair city. I'd like to know what else you can call it when the police and the city are happy to report solving most of the murders that take place over the weekend, most of the SEVEN murders.

And who do you suppose is responsible for this miserable situation? Well, let's see, there's plenty of blame to go around. There are the former crooked mayors who robbed the city blind for generations, there are the socio-economic difficulties that afflict Detroit more than many other places, to name just two.

I suppose some would say you must blame only the criminals. They are responsible for their actions. But, I'm afraid it's not that simple.

Two other sources of blame, which for me are important, are the gun manufacturers who produce and sell as many weapons as possible, like any other business, to make a profit. They do this well aware of the fact that a certain portion of their production ends up in the hands of criminals. In fact they pay lobbyists in Washington to make that as easy as possible by blocking the universal background check law, for example.

The other blameworthy group is the gun-rights advocates, who along with the gun manufacturers, fight for the most lax gun control laws possible, always under the pretext of freedom and rights, but really for a much simpler reason, so they won't be inconvenienced themselves.

That's what I call a pathetic, nearly-criminal self-centeredness. But I'd like to know what you think.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Those Detroit Strip Clubs

The Detroit News reports on the second incident this week at a strip club. This one's got an interesting angle.

"According to our preliminary investigation, a man refused to be searched and was escorted out of the club by security," Stephens said. "Shots were fired, and the club manager, age 36, was killed. A second man, age 36, was wounded. He also worked at the club."

Police are looking for the shooter who is described as a male, 5-foot-5 and 150 pounds.

Now, did you ever see the guys who work at strip clubs? They're big, right, to say the least. But this shooter wasn't afraid of them.

Isn't that what it's all about, not having to be afraid any more. Responsible people don't pick fights with 300-pound bouncers and therefore don't need guns. But that fear is still there, isn't it? "What if" this happens and "what if" that happens. So the fearful and insecure carry guns, more and more of them with the blessing of the State.

The result: more of these incidents than we would otherwise have.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Detroit Police Commander Brian Davis Goes Back to Work

via The Detroit News

When this story first broke, I didn't know the story of Detroit Police Commander Brian Davis which has now appeared in the Detroit papers with his return to duty. I consider him a great hero, although I'm afraid Ann Barnhardt would not approve of all that scrambling and cowering for his lives.

If I EVER encounter a gunman or gunmen situation as we saw yesterday in Norway, or as in the Giffords shooter in Arizona, or as in musloid Mumbai-syle attacks I will NOT seek cover.

My first impressions still work for me. Crazy killers don't particularly select gun-free zones. And the gun rich environment is not what prevented this from being a mass murder. The shooter was simply a lousy shot. What do you think?

Please leave a comment.

The Detroit Video

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What's your opinion. I thought the video shows extremely graphically what gun control folks have been saying all along, that being armed during one of these attacks is of little or no use. You'd have to be positioned just right in order to stop the attack. The most heroic cop there got shot in the head for his trouble.

Another thing is the shooter's hesitation at the end. It's as if he'd shot enough people and stood there waiting for the "suicide by cop" part. If he'd continued attacking, the innocent victims would have been more, further proving the first point.

Please leave a comment.

The Temptations and Much Much More