Georgia: A pistol-packing Granny wins the day

It was supposed to be one of those quick and easy armed robberies. Quick, because the robber was alone and on foot. Easy, because of the victim he singled out for the crime. But it didn't turn out that way. Instead, a grandmother was able to turn the tables on a man with a gun...with her 13-month-old grandbaby in her arms!

Deputies say Lawrence Woolfolk went into Paulos Cleaners on Peach Orchard Road a little after 10 o'clock this morning. 68-year-old Janis Butler, the assistant manager, was busy pressing clothes and trying to calm down a fussy baby. So she wasn't in the mood to put up with a thief. "And then he put the pistol--cocked the pistol and put it in the child's face," Janis told News 12. "Then he put it in my face and said he wanted the money." Janis told him to go ahead and take the money while she got the baby to calm down.

But when he went for the money, she went for something else. ""I said, 'The money's under the desk; let me get this baby calm.' And he went to get the money out from under the counter," Janis said. "And then I pulled out my .38 revolver and cocked it, and I was going to shoot...but I happened to think that it will devastate the baby, because she was already crying and hollering and carrying on."

The gunman was devastated enough. Without managing to grab a cent, he hit the door running, and Janis called 911. Police made a quick arrest, because the suspect and his pistol both fit the description Janis gave them. He is 21-year-old Lawrence Woolfolk.

Janis was carrying that gun legally. Granny's got a gun, and she's not afraid to use it. The suspect's lucky she was babysitting at the time and didn't want to upset the child.

Source




Georgia man shot by intruder posing as FBI agent : "A south Fulton County homeowner was shot early Monday by a masked intruder claiming to be an FBI agent, police said. The suspect kicked in the back door of the home on Hidden Court, in a subdivision off Welcome All Road, about 4 a.m., setting off the home's burglar alarm, Fulton police Cpl. Gary Syblis said. The 53-year-old victim told police he got out of bed and heard the suspect coming up the stairs, yelling, "FBI, FBI, FBI," Syblis said. Syblis said the homeowner confronted the suspect, who was wearing a ski mask and dark clothing. The suspect fired four times, striking the victim once in the stomach. The victim returned fire, but apparently did not hit the suspect, who fled the home after the shooting. The victim, whose name has not been released, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. His condition was not immediately available.

MS: Man shot after breaking into house: "A teen that allegedly broke out a window in an occupied home got more than he bargained for Wednesday morning. Charles Edward Noble, 18, was later arrested on charges of robbery with a deadly weapon, but not before a visit to the hospital. "The complainant was laying in bed," Police Chief Mike Mullins said. "An unknown subject knocked out the window near his bed and yelled at him to lay on the floor."The resident of the house at 10B Shaw St., then reached for a handgun and fired three shots, Mullins said."He heard a scream in pain and called the police," Mullins said. The resident later found the front door to the house partially open, and officers found a tennis shoe outside the window."


City carves out an exception to State law: "Columbus. The Public Property, Safety and Works Committee voted to keep an ordinance banning concealed weapons within city limits during its meeting Monday. The committee also discussed the state's new Concealed Handgun Permit Act, but voted to hold the issue in committee. The act, LB 454, passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Dave Heineman will allow people to carry concealed handguns in Nebraska beginning Jan. 1, 2007. They would first have to qualify for a concealed-carry permit, which includes passing a background check and completing a firearms training and safety course approved by the Nebraska State Patrol. Police Chief William Gumm encouraged the committee to keep the ordinance in place without amendment. “The act does not supersede a city's current ordinance,” Gumm said. “The city of Columbus has had an ordinance prohibiting (concealed weapons) since at least 1963, and I am presented with no compelling reason to amend or change the ordinance.”

OH: Deadly force vs. self-defense: "Cincinnati Police are investigating another case of a property owner using a gun to protect themselves during a robbery. This latest incident involved the owner of a Winton Place convenience store, who fired on an alleged thief after he was attacked. ... This incident came on the heels of a fatal shooting of a 14 year old boy who was trying to steal a car in Kennedy Heights on Monday. The prosecutor will have to decide if these two property owners were justified in using force. One legal expert believes a jury would have hard time convicting either one. The latest shooting took place at S&S Deli on Winton Road in Winton Place. A male suspect struck the owner with a soda can, wounding his head. Police said the owner then shot the suspect. ... Under Ohio law, the defendant must prove self defense. ... There is currently a proposal in the Ohio legislature to change the current law so that the crime victim doesn't have a duty to retreat."


Is it gun control or evil? "The conventional wisdom on the 'Amish shootings' by Charles Carl Roberts Roberts and other recent school violence maintains that the 'real' problem is just too many guns. Many believe that this horrible crime could have been prevented by stricter gun-control laws. One hundred big-city mayors, including New York's Michael Bloomberg and Boston's Thomas Menino, have formed a coalition to get illegal guns off the streets of their cities where violent crime is on the rise. The mayors want to increase gun control and impose stiffer penalties on illegal weapons traffickers. Students of gun-control's effect on violent crime differ with the mayors' premise, however."

PA: Clerk opens fire on hooded intruder: "A would-be burglar learned a valuable lesson this morning at the S&R Market in Hazelwood. Don't bring a rock to a gunfight. A 54-year-old clerk opened fire on a hooded intruder who threw a rock through the window as she slept in a back room at the Second Avenue convenience store. 'It was just reflex,' said the clerk, a Vietnamese immigrant who gave her name only as 'Tina.' 'I really was not aiming at him. Just scaring him.' The three bullets Tina fired from her 'Lady Smith' .357 revolver apparently did not hit the burglar, who ran from the store. Police said Tina will not likely face criminal charges for the 2 a.m. incident, since she is licensed to carry the gun."


More guns, safer schools: "Should teachers and administrators legally be allowed to carry guns to school? This must be seriously discussed in the United States. It seems like the tragedy that struck Columbine High School in 1999 has become more common since then. In light of recent events, President Bush organized a summit on school safety. Of course, the reason these events make the news is because they are in actuality not that common once you consider how many shootings have taken place relative to the number of schools there are in this country."

OH: Clerk, robber shot: "Convenience store clerk Murad Abdel Shahid, 20, survived a shoot-out with two robbers Thursday evening and put one of the hooded gunmen in the hospital. Shahid returned fire as two assailants tried to rob the store at 6909 Clark Avenue about 9 a.m., officials said.The second robber ran from the store as a woman called 911 to report the gunfire. The woman told dispatchers she had locked herself in the store's basement as she described what was going on upstairs."


TX: Armed robber shot where it hurts: "An armed man attempting to rob a local car lot ... Ends up being shot himself that's according to Amarillo Police. Officers tell us shortly after 1:30 this morning the owner of Jimbat Autos confronted an armed man breaking into one of his cars. Police say the suspect started assaulting the owner and that's when he shot the suspect in the groin area. The suspect was taken to the hospital after being apprehended."

OH: Store Clerk Shoots Man In Apparent Robbery Try: "A Winton Place store clerk has minor injuries, and his alleged assailant has significant gunshot wounds after an attempted robbery Monday night. The struggle happened at the S&S Deli on Winton Road in Winton Place. A police sergeant on the scene said a man came into the store around 8:30 p.m., and started wrestling with the clerk during a robbery attempt. Police didn't know if this was an attempted holdup or a theft that turned into robbery, but the pair ended up fighting in the store. At some point the store clerk received a head injury from a fall, and at another point he was able to get a gun from behind the counter and shoot the suspect. Both were taken to the hospital, the store owner with minor injuries. Police heard the robbery suspect was "not in very good shape" from the shooting, but an official condition from the hospital was not available."


Florida tough guy takes on two armed robbers: It has been a week since police say Christopher Welker, 26, caught two robbery suspects outside his Hollywood, Fla., home, trying to steal the new chrome rims off his truck in the middle of the night. During a scuffle for one suspect's gun, Welker shot one dead and wounded the other. Police agree that Welker acted in self-defense... "The kid," the one killed in the robbery, was Ronald Magano. Welker said he lived only two blocks away, that he had seen him around the neighborhood but didn't know him. Magano and the other man police say was involved, Jason Robert Melendez, 23, also of Hollywood, had long criminal histories, records show.Welker says he knew none of that when he and his girlfriend heard a noise outside their home at about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 7. Welker thought it might just be his neighbor, but went to check. Outside, he found a strange car. Through the windshield, he saw two men, one who quickly pulled a ski mask over his face. The next moment, Welker recalls, the second man was out of the car, putting the barrel of a gun to his neck.... Welker grabbed the barrel of the revolver and two shots went off, he said. Soon, all three struggled for the gun. It went off again. The man in front of Welker fell to the ground. The taller one kept struggling. As they wrestled, Welker pulled the trigger again. "There ain't no more bullets!" Welker said the thief cried. The thief rushed him into the vehicle, he says. Welker pistol-whipped him in the head. The thief grabbed the gun and took off down the street."

IA: Officials cool toward guns-in-school idea: "A Wisconsin lawmaker's call to arm teachers and other school administrators in the wake of school shootings across the nation has incited criticism from local education officials, who insisted such a measure would not succeed here. ... But local and state school officials find the idea of guns in schools alarming. 'I think it would be absurd to [arm teachers to] stave violence at school,' said Jerry Arganbright, the principal of West High. ... Kathi Slaughter, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Education, said school violence prevention starts at a young age, with children being taught to respect each other using classroom exercises, guest speakers, and role playing."


OH: Illegal to shoot car thief?: "Bennie D. Hall Jr. legally owned the gun that police say he used Monday to shoot a teenager who tried to steal his car. Hall also had a permit to carry the gun as a concealed weapon. But Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said neither of those facts might matter when he decides whether to pursue criminal charges against Hall. Deters said Tuesday his office could prosecute Hall if the police investigation finds his life was not in danger when he pulled the trigger. “I don’t want to live in a community where we’re opening fire on shoplifters,” Deters said. Police say Hall fired on 14-year-old Quavale Finnell as he attempted to drive off in Hall’s 1994 Ford Taurus, which had been parked and running in front of Hall’s Kennedy Heights home. They say the car was taken around 6 a.m., after Hall, 61, went outside to warm up his car and then returned to his house. As the teen drove off, police say, Hall went back outside, saw someone driving off in his car and opened fire. Ohio law allows people to protect themselves and their property, but the use of deadly force is permitted only when someone is defending his home or business, or he believes he is about to be killed or seriously hurt. Because the shooting Monday occurred in the street – not inside Hall’s home – the legal standard for self defense requires that he feared for his life."

Australian gun buyback has no effect on murder rate: "Half a billion dollars spent buying back hundreds of thousands of guns after the Port Arthur massacre had no effect on the homicide rate, says a study published in an influential British journal. The report by two Australian academics, published in the British Journal of Criminology, said statistics gathered in the decade since Port Arthur showed gun deaths had been declining well before 1996 and the buyback of more than 600,000 mainly semi-automatic rifles and pump-action shotguns had made no difference in the rate of decline. The only area where the package of Commonwealth and State laws, known as the National Firearms Agreement (NFA) may have had some impact was on the rate of suicide, but the study said the evidence was not clear and any reductions attributable to the new gun rules were slight. "Homicide patterns (firearm and non-firearm) were not influenced by the NFA, the conclusion being that the gun buyback and restrictive legislative changes had no influence on firearm homicide in Australia," the study says."


MI: Store manager cleared in shooting : "No charges will be brought against a Grand Rapids store manager who fatally shot a man during an attempted robbery. Around 10 p.m. Friday, three men walked into Alger Heights Foods at Alger Street and Eastern Avenue and attempted to rob the business. The suspects tied up employees and put them in a back room. The store manager pulled out his gun and shot one of the robbers, Michael Sams of Chicago, who had a gun. The other two men fled the scene and are still on the run. Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth says he reviewed the police report and surveillance video taken inside the store during the incident and made his decision relatively quickly. He told 24 Hour News 8 the store manager was protecting his own life and the lives of his coworkers."

TX: Burglar suspect shot to death: "A man suspected of burglarizing Toyota of Lewisville, at 1547 S. I-35E in Lewisville, was found shot to death in the parking lot of the business shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday. Police said a preliminary investigation indicates the person had been shot by an employee of the dealership when discovered inside burglarizing the business."


Children, guns go together with proper lessons: "The mental image of my 2-year-old niece hefting a gun in her cute little hands almost brings a smile to my face. No, not because she's a crack shot and I taught her everything she knows. She's not, and I didn't -- yet. That scenario makes me happy in a way because of the rest of the picture: Her parents with her, carefully showing her proper use of and respect for a gun. I wasn't there, so I don't know how accurate that image might be -- maybe she never even touched the guns -- but I'm glad my sisters and brothers-in-law recently took their kids out to learn gun safety and do some harmless target shooting under close supervision."

Firing BIG guns

There is an amusing British video here that indulges every gun-lover's fantasy -- ending up with firing a Carl Gustaf antitank weapon.




MI: This time, manager came up firing: "A year ago, almost to the day, armed robbers stormed the Alger Heights Foods store. That time, the manager could do nothing to stop it, as he lay on the floor with co-workers and shoppers. This time, he was ready. ... Late Friday, about closing time, the manager broke free from the tape that bound his hands, reached for the handgun tucked in the waistband of his pants. He fired at one of the three armed robbers, killing him, police said. Police said the manager fired more than one shot inside the store, at 2420 Eastern Ave. SE. The other robbers escaped. Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth was expected to review police reports today to determine whether the manager should face charges."

MN: Potential victim turns tables on assailant: "St. Paul police say a potential shooting victim turned the tables on his assailant Monday during an attempted robbery at an East Side convenience store. ... Just after 4 p.m., police reported, the suspect pulled a gun on the clerk at the Blue Neighborhood Store on the northeast corner of Mendota and Fremont Streets. 'The clerk heard the gun go click and then pulled out his own firearm and fired two or three shots at the suspect,' said Tom Walsh, a St. Paul police spokesman."


The deadly lie of pacifism: "The recent spate of horrifying and highly publicized attacks in schools has once again brought attention to a longstanding problem. Unfortunately none of the 'solutions' being suggested touch on one of the real core issues of the matter. The inalienable human right to self-defense and the just and righteous use of violence in exercising that right -- even for children. For decades the teacher unions, national PTA, and a variety of other educational/behavioral 'experts' have actively worked to instill the notion ... that, 'violence never solves anything.' They have instituted 'Zero Tolerance' policies for violence in schools, which mandate suspension or expulsion for anyone participating in any violent behavior such as fighting."

RSS

One reader has been having trouble getting an RSS feed of this blog. It seems to have come good, however. He writes:

I FINALLY got your feed to appear on my google page... If anyone contacts you in the future about this problem, tell them to use: http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/rss.xml




CLASS

CLASS, an Australian gun-owners' group, has some background articles up that should be of interest to gun owners generally.




Masked Mississippi gunman killed: "A gun battle in Saucier ended with an armed robbery suspect dead and an elderly couple lucky to be alive. Beth Greer, 73, and her husband Tommy Greer, 60, say they returned home from work shortly before 11pm Monday night. Within minutes, they were staring down the barrel of a gun... She says one moment she was unloading her car, the next she was asking a gunman to spare her life. "Out of nowhere to my right there was this voice that said "Hey." So I turned around and looked and it was this masked man. He had a mask on and a jacket that all seemed like it blended together and he had a gun in his hand pointed at me," Beth Greer said. Greer screamed for her husband who was inside. That's when she says the gunman walked past her and into the house to confront Tommy Greer. "He had the gun pointed at me," said Tommy Greer. "I figured he was going to shoot me anyway so why not try to whip him, take him down. So me and him went 20 feet over there. He shot and hit me up through the head and it [the bullet] went up the wall into the ceiling. "Still outside, Beth Greer had grabbed a gun from her car. "I heard a shot go off and, of course, I just knew he had killed Tommy. In an instant, he stepped back into the garage. One step in the garage, still with his gun pointed at me, and I just opened fire on him. I just shot, shot, shot, shot," Beth Greer remembered. At the Harrison County Sheriff's Department on Tuesday, the Greers finally got to see the face behind the mask. To their surprise it was Bobby Hardy, a regular customer at their store in Gulfport. The Sheriff says Hardy, whose criminal history included aggravated assault and armed robbery, probably followed the couple home.

FL: Man shot, wife questioned: "A 51-year-old Fleming Island man was killed early Saturday, and Clay County Sheriff's Office detectives suspect he was shot in self defense by his wife. ... Detectives believe that the shooting happened following an altercation between Hampton and his wife, Debra. Authorities said the wife called 911 to report the shooting and she and her teenage daughter exited the home peacefully once deputies arrived. Debra Hampton, 50, was questioned by detectives but was not arrested or detained."


Gun-wielding granny to get medal: "A 67-year-old Brazilian grandmother who shot and wounded a bag-snatcher in Rio de Janeiro will get a medal from the crime-ridden city's legislators even though she faces trial for illegal gun possession. A spokeswoman for the municipal legislative chamber said today that MPs had voted unanimously to award pensioner Maria Dora dos Santos Arbex with the Pedro Ernesto Merit medal, for exceptional service to the city of Rio de Janeiro. On October 8, the retired nurse was walking her poodle in the middle-class neighbourhood of Flamengo when a thief tried to take her mobile phone and purse. Dos Santos Arbex, who said it was the fourth such assault she had faced, took out a revolver and shot the thief in the hand. The man tried to flee but was caught by police, who also charged Ms Arbex with illegal gun possession. She has been released on parole but is awaiting trial. Her case has caused a barrage of criticism against the authorities for doing nothing to contain street crime. Police argue the award sets a bad example, especially since the gun had not been legally registered."

LA: Homeowner shoots burglar during break-in: "A break-in burglary was thwarted this morning when the homeowner shot the intruder in the leg, according to Cpl. L'Jean McKneely Jr. of the Baton Rouge Police Department. Dorielle Brumfield, 19, 2808 West Amite, was arrested and charged with simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. He allegedly kicked in the door of a residence, and as he entered the house, he was shot in the leg by the homeowner, McKneely said. Brumfield ran from the scene and was later caught by authorities. He was taken to local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries."



The real world of "gun free" Britain: "A [black?] girl of 14 has been charged with conspiring to supply machineguns to London crime gangs. The girl, who cannot be named because of her age, was one of four people arrested by detectives from Operation Trident which specialises in black on black gun crime. She is being held in juvenile custody today. The arrests came after a weekend of gun violence across London in which two men were shot dead and four others were injured. One man was shot in the face at close range in Harlesden and another died after a shoot-out at an illegal gambling club frequented by Albanians in Park Royal. A third man, described as an innocent passer-by, is critically ill after another nightclub shooting. The 14-year-old, from Colindale, was charged along with two youths and a 31-year-old woman. She is accused of conspiring to supply two revolvers and two machineguns - including a Mach 10 known as "spray and pray" which is a favourite weapon of Yardiestyle [Jamaican] gangsters. The girl is also accused of three charges of possession of prohibited weapons and three counts of possessing ammunition. A 16-year-old youth was charged with possession of a revolver with intent to endanger life, as well as possessing crack cocaine, cannabis and five CS sprays. Korrey Johnson-Bell, 18, was charged with possessing a Mach 10. The 31-year-old woman, Genevieve Shah, was also charged with conspiring to supply two revolvers, a Mach 10 and another unidentified machine pistol, as well as possession of three prohibited weapons and ammunition".

California dreaming: "When it comes to political flips, it would be tough to beat the acrobatics of Assemblyman Leland Yee. In the final 48 hours of the Legislature's 2006 session, the San Francisco Democrat managed to both brag about co-authoring a landmark gun control bill and then, at the urging of Republican gun fans, turn around and help kill the very same bill. The measure, AB352 by Democratic Assemblyman Paul Koretz of West Hollywood, would have required new semiautomatic handguns sold in California to leave a microscopic number on the back of shell casings, to make it easier to identify the offending weapon in a crime. Yee was so tickled at being one of the bill's co-authors that he put out a news release listing it as one of the reasons he was named to an honor roll by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. But when the bill came up for a final vote, Yee apparently had a change of heart, thanks to Republican Assemblyman Jay LaSuer of La Mesa (San Diego County), who argued that the technology for the shell-casing stamps was faulty. The argument wasn't new -- and it hadn't stopped Yee from voting for the bill in the past. Nonetheless, Yee told us that "out of courtesy'' to LaSuer, he had agreed to hold off on his "yes" vote "until something was worked out." Yee, however, didn't bother to tell Koretz of his plans. "And nothing was ever going to be worked out,'' Koretz said. So it came as a surprise when the bill came back to the floor for what everyone figured would be a close vote -- and Yee abstained, beaching the measure."


The concealed carry lie: "Rights are defined by Black's Law: 'A right of ... free action.' Rights are 'inherent' and cannot be extracted from a person. A right is something that you can do without permission. A privilege is something that cannot be done without permission. Rights are granted to me by my creator. Rights and privilege are opposite. Rights and responsibilities are inseparable. Every right implies responsibilities and the only limitation on those rights, is the equal rights of others."


MI: One robber dead: "Grand Rapids police are still looking for two suspects in connection with a robbery that turned deadly. Around 10 p.m. Friday, Alger Heights Foods at Alger Street and Eastern Avenue was robbed for the second time in two years. In the latest incident, police say the employees were directed to the back of the store and tied up by the three suspects. One of the employees broke free, pulled out a gun, and shot Michael Sams of Chicago, one of the armed robbers. Sams, who also had a gun, did not survive. Lt. Paul Warwick of the Grand Rapids Police Department tells 24 Hour News 8 the store manager was legally carrying the gun, as it was registered to him. We spoke with Rick DeYoung who is the owner of the store. He said during the previous crime, in October 2005, masked thieves stole some money and were later arrested. After that incident, DeYoung says his manager started carrying a gun and the store installed a more sophisticated surveillance system. DeYoung says he completely supports his manager's decision to carry a gun."

Anti-Gun Mayoral Coalition: "New York City Mayor Bloomberg recently formed an anti-gun coalition similar to the Brady Campaign, entitled 'Mayors Against Illegal Guns.' This group is comprised of 109 mayors from all over the country including notoriously anti-gun cities like Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Boston. ... Your job is to form an informal coalition of your own entitled, 'Citizens Against Anti-Gun Mayors.' If your mayor is a member of the anti-gun coalition you need to expose him or her by calling into your local talk radio station, writing letters to the editor, and telling all of your friends. Then you should try to get 20 or more people together and schedule a group appointment with the mayor."


ID: Babysitter kills bear to protect children: "A northern Idaho baby sitter shot and killed a 422-pound black bear that broke into a backyard where three toddlers were playing. The bear was likely drawn to the yard by the scent of food from a barbecue, said Idaho Department of Fish and Game Conservation Officer Greg Johnson. ... Henslee said her 3-year-old daughter Brooklyn and twin 2-year-old sons Cleo and Charles were playing in the backyard of their home on the Canadian border early last week when Brooklyn alerted their aunt by shouting 'Bear! Bear!' Henslee said her sister looked up and saw the bear running out of the woods toward the backyard. She grabbed the three children from the yard and ran inside the house, shutting the door. After taking the children into a bedroom, the woman loaded a 7mm hunting rifle and returned to the back door, where the bear had pawed the screen door and broken the door frame. When the bear looked away from the door, Henslee said her sister opened the door slightly and shot twice, killing the bear instantly."

TN: Woman shoots and kills intruder: "A Frayser woman shot and killed an intruder who kicked in her apartment door and tried to rob her around midnight Sunday. Tameca Drummer, a resident at Carriage House apartments at 1115 Frayser Blvd., told police the man, along with two others, forced their way into her home demanding money. The people in her apartment, including her two children, were forced into the living room, while one of the intruders forced her into the bedroom looking for money, police spokesman Sgt. Vince Higgins said. When that man struck her on the head with his handgun, she wrestled the gun away from him and shot and killed him, according to a police incident report."


Victim disarming mayors "coalition" passes 100 "Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York are pleased to announce the expansion of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition to more than 100 members. Mayors from 44 states and the District of Columbia have pledged to join forces to combat the flow of illegal guns."


TX: Two shot during robbery: "Two people were shot during an attempted robbery at a game room in east Harris County Monday, KPRC Local 2 reported. Deputies said two men tried to rob the Eight Liner Video Game store, located in the 500 block of North Main at East Wallisville at about 5 a.m. The manager pulled out a gun and shot one of the robbers who then fired back, officials said. The second man escaped. The robbery suspect who was shot is expected to survive. The manager, who was shot in the arm, is also expected to be OK."

ARMING TEACHERS CAN BE DONE

Like many states, Utah enacted a concealed-handgun licensing law in 1995. Unlike most states, Utah did not make schools an exclusion zone for lawful carrying. Not only a teacher on duty, but also a parent coming to pick up a child from school, can lawfully carry a concealed handgun in a Utah school building - after, of course, passing a background check and safety training. (See Utah Code sect. 76-10-505.5. In 2003, the legislature expanded the law, by allowing principals to authorize firearms possession by individuals who did not have a concealed-handgun carry permit.)

After eleven years of experience in Utah, we now have exactly zero reported problems of concealed handgun licensees misusing guns at school, or students stealing guns from teachers, or teachers using their licensed firearms to shoot or threaten students. During this same period, we also have had exactly zero mass murders in Utah schools.

My proposal, however, is not that other states go as far as Utah. Rather, I simply suggest that teachers and other school employees be allowed to carry if they obtain a handgun carry permit. If a school wants to require special additional training for school carry, that's fine.

Some people who do not like the idea of teachers being armed to protect students simply get indignant, or declare that armed teachers are inconsistent with a learning environment. I suggest that dead students - and the traumatic aftermath of a school attack - are far more inconsistent with a learning environment than is a math teacher having a concealed handgun.

"Teachers don't want to carry guns!" some people exclaim. True enough, for most teachers. But there are about six million teachers in the United States, and it would be foolish to make claims about what every teacher thinks. The one thing that almost all teachers have in common is that they have passed a fingerprint-based background check, meaning that they are significantly less likely than the general population to have a criminal history. or the police, or who have otherwise acquired familiarity with firearms. And there will be other teachers who would willingly undergo the training necessary to learn how to use a firearm to protect themselves and their students. After all, almost all the teachers in southern Thailand are Buddhists, and if some Buddhist teachers will choose to carry handguns, it would be ridiculous to claim that American teachers, as a universal category, would never exercise the choice to carry.

We know that school shootings have been stopped by armed citizens with guns. In 1997, a Mississippi attack was thwarted after vice principal Joel Myrick retrieved a handgun from his trunk. The killer had already shot several people at Pearl High School, and was leaving that school to attack Pearl Junior High, when Myrick pointed his .45 pistol at the killer's head and apprehended him. A few days later, an armed adult stopped a school rampage in Edinboro, Pennsylvania.

It is commonly, but incorrectly, believed that the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act creates an insurmountable barrier to arming teachers. Not so. The GFSZA has a specific exemption for persons who have a concealed handgun carry permit from the state where the school is located, if the state requires a background check before issuance of a permit. It is state laws, not the federal GFSZ Act, which are in need of reform to allow schools to be protected.

More here




AND ANOTHER GOOD IDEA

Youngsters in a suburban Fort Worth school district are being taught not to sit there like good boys and girls with their hands folded if a gunman invades the classroom, but to rush him and hit him with everything they got - books, pencils, legs and arms.

"Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success," said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools.

That kind of fight-back advice is all but unheard of among schools, and some fear it will get children killed. But school officials in Burleson said they are drawing on the lessons learned from a string of disasters such as Columbine in 1999 and the Amish schoolhouse attack in Pennsylvania last week

The school system in this working-class suburb of about 26,000 is believed to be the first in the nation to train all its teachers and students to fight back, Browne said. At Burleson - which has 10 schools and about 8,500 students - the training covers various emergencies, such as tornadoes, fires and situations where first aid is required. Among the lessons: Use a belt as a sling for broken bones, and shoelaces make good tourniquets.

Students are also instructed not to comply with a gunman's orders, and to take him down. Browne recommends students and teachers "react immediately to the sight of a gun by picking up anything and everything and throwing it at the head and body of the attacker and making as much noise as possible. Go toward him as fast as we can and bring them down." Response Options trains students and teachers to "lock onto the attacker's limbs and use their body weight," Browne said. Everyday classroom objects, such as paperbacks and pencils, can become weapons. "We show them they can win," he said. "The fact that someone walks into a classroom with a gun does not make them a god. Five or six seventh-grade kids and a 95-pound art teacher can basically challenge, bring down and immobilize a 200-pound man with a gun."

The fight-back training parallels the change in thinking that has occurred since Sept. 11, when United Flight 93 made it clear that the usual advice during a hijacking - Don't try to be a hero, and no one will get hurt - no longer holds. Flight attendants and passengers are now encouraged to rush the cockpit. Similarly, women and youngsters are often told by safety experts to kick, scream and claw they way out during a rape attempt or a child-snatching.

In 1998 in Oregon, a 17-year-old high school wrestling star with a bullet in his chest stopped a rampage by tackling a teenager who had opened fire in the cafeteria. The gunman killed two students, as well as his parents, and 22 other were wounded.

Hlda Quiroz of the National School Safety Center, a nonprofit advocacy group in California, said she knows of no other school system in the country that is offering fight-back training, and found the strategy at Burleson troubling. "If kids are saved, then this is the most wonderful thing in the world. If kids are killed, people are going to wonder who's to blame," she said. "How much common sense will a student have in a time of panic?" Terry Grisham, spokesman for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department, said he, too, had concerns, though he had not seen details of the program. "You're telling kids to do what a tactical officer is trained to do, and they have a lot of guns and ballistic shields," he said. "If my school was teaching that, I'd be upset, frankly."

Some students said they appreciate the training. "It's harder to hit a moving target than a target that is standing still," said 14-year-old Jessica Justice, who received the training over the summer during freshman orientation at Burleson High.

William Lassiter, manager of the North Carolina-based Center for Prevention of School Violence, said past attacks indicate that fighting back, at least by teachers and staff, has its merits. "At Columbine, teachers told students to get down and get on the floors, and gunmen went around and shot people on the floors," Lassiter said. "I know this sounds chaotic and I know it doesn't sound like a great solution, but it's better than leaving them there to get shot."

More here

TX: 14-year-old kills burglar in home: "A 14-year-old boy shot and killed a man who broke into his family's home Monday and threatened to kill him and his mother, Police Chief Bryan Smith said. Smith said the man, whose name was not immediately known, confronted a woman as she was carrying groceries into her home shortly before 1 p.m. The man forced her inside and tied her and her son up. Smith said the woman was able to loosen the binding and free her son, who got his father's revolver from a security box beneath a bed. As the man tried to break into the room where the two were and threatened to kill them both, the teen fired a shot through the door and hit the intruder in the head, Smith said."


Stop school shootings: Let teachers carry guns: "Is it just me or does anybody else see the obvious connection between 'gun-free zones' and murder? Harris and Klebold at Columbine High School ... John Lee Malvo in Baltimore ... Charles McCoy in Columbus, Ohio ... United 93 ... Washington, D.C. -- the city with the highest murder rate in the country and the strictest gun control laws. Hmmm ... 'Gun-free zones' and cold-blooded mass murder -- any connection? When Ohio passed legislation allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons in 2004, a colleague asked me, 'Dr. Johnston, aren't you going to put up the placard to keep concealed weapons out of your office?' A physician wouldn't want guns in his office, right? I walked into the hospital when I saw one of the placards: 'No weapons of any kind are allowed inside this building.' Buses and public schools also have them posted. At least now, if there are mass shootings, there's little doubt as to where they will occur."

WI: Pistol-packing teachers advocated: "The recent string of school shootings has prompted a Wisconsin lawmaker to propose arming teachers with guns. Republican state Rep. Frank Lasee said it's a concept that's worked in Israel and Thailand, so why not Wisconsin? Lasee said if teachers had guns, students or others would think twice about committing acts of violence in schools. Lasee is from Bellevue, near Green Bay, where an attack on a school was recently prevented. Under his proposal, no teacher would be required to carry a weapon, but those who want to would get extensive training. He plans to introduce the bill at the start of next year's legislative session."


Citizens committee lauds NJ judge's "epiphany": "Last week's decision by an Essex County, N.J. judge to scrap Newark's crack-down on gun offenders because there's no evidence that the 'Gun Strategy' program has done anything to curb crime was likened to an 'epiphany' by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA). According to the Newark Star-Ledger, State Superior Court Assignment Judge Patricia Costello reportedly saw no benefit from the four-year-old program. She was quoted as sating, 'It didn't work the way it was intended.'"


Mayors vow more victim disarmament: "New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said Thursday the mayors of more than 100 U.S. cities have joined their effort to get illegal guns off America's streets after a spike in violent crime. They pledged to increase gun control and impose stiffer penalties on illegal weapons traffickers. They also announced plans for regional intelligence databases to track illegal firearms and a new Web site on gun-trafficking legislation."

CO: Homeowner justified in shooting but faces charge: "A Fort Collins homeowner who shot a man on a stoop outside a side door was justified in doing so, the District Attorney's office decided Wednesday, but the homeowner still will face a misdemeanor charge related to the incident. Steven Ray, 58, faces one count of prohibited use of a weapon stemming from the early-morning shooting .... Ray said barking dogs woke him around 1:30 a.m. and he noticed someone in the backyard when he looked outside. The power was out because of an unrelated outage, and when David Ebner refused to identify himself when asked by Ray, the statement said, Ray retrieved a .45 caliber handgun from his basement. According to the statement, Ebner was reaching for a door handle when Ray returned, a struggle ensued and Ray fired three times. ... the third shot, Abrahamson said in the release, was an un-aimed shot fired several seconds later and Ray had no idea as to where the bullet was going. This shot, Abrahamson said in the statement, placed all those within range at risk and warranted the misdemeanor charge."




Can Bloomberg's firearms initiatives hit target?: "Mayor Bloomberg's high-profile campaign to keep illegal guns out of the city is drawing return fire. Earlier this year, he dispatched teams of private eyes to collect evidence against what he called 'the worst of the worst' of small-time gun dealers in states like Georgia, South Carolina, and Ohio. In the process, he has set off a turf war with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which normally handles the interstate gun beat. And some criminal charges Bloomberg initiated against New York gun dealers are mired in the courts. Joe Green, a senior special agent and the New York spokesman for the ATF, questions the initiatives' effectiveness. 'It was useless,' he says. 'We didn't even know they were doing this until the day of the press conference' in May, when the mayor announced his sweeping civil lawsuit against fifteen out-of-state gun dealers he claims sold guns that were traced to New York crimes. 'They never told us at all.' Green says that federal authorities subsequently had to sort out whether their own undercover investigations may have been jeopardized. Then again, the ATF might just be angry at Bloomberg for calling it 'asleep at the switch' in a news conference."


AL: Elderly man kills attacker: "Police say a 34-year-old Montgomery man was shot and killed when he allegedly attacked a 72-year-old man Friday night in west Montgomery. Captain Huey Thornton, a police spokesman, said Jack Sanchez was pronounced dead around 10 p-m. Thornton said the shooting occurred after Sanchez kicked the man's truck as he drove by. He said when the older man got out to inspect his vehicle, Sanchez attacked him."

TX: Man fights back against would-be thieves: "Police say several men went on a violent crime spree overnight, but it came to an abrupt end when their last victim stopped them in the driveway of his southwest Houston home. Several suspects were seen driving around Monday night in a light colored Dodge Durango. Police believe they robbed at least four people beginning around 11pm Monday night. But when they allegedly tried holding up a man on Prudence, the homeowner pulled out his own gun and shot one of the suspects in the leg. That wounded suspect left the scene with the others, but later called police himself and told them he'd been injured."


CA: Politicos back gun control, constituents load up: "Mill Valley mom Joan Rodriguez decided she needed an outlet to release the frustrations that come with running a real estate business with her husband and guiding a teenage son through middle school. So she went back to school. Pistol school. Rodriguez, 47, didn't tell anyone -- not even her husband -- when she signed up for the entry pistol-shooting class at Bullseye Shooting Range in San Rafael. The stigma attached to guns in Marin County made that unthinkable at first, she said. She finally broke the silence several months ago by confiding in one of her son's friends after hearing he had a family member who liked to shoot guns. 'It's fun,' she said. 'It's not a bad thing.' She is not alone. Despite a drop in Marin gun sales over the past five years, sales last year were on par with the rest of the state, and business is brisk at Marin's lone indoor shooting range. The county may have a liberal political bent and a low rate of violent crime -- half that of San Francisco and a third of Sonoma County. But law enforcement officials and gun owners say they would not be surprised if more than half of Marin's residents own guns."


Anti-gunners fabricate studies: "There is an old saying that 'figures don't lie, but liars can figure.' No better proofs of this saying can be found than the literature conjured up in what purport to be anti-gun think tanks or among academics who share the anti-gunners philosophy. The Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center are always touting studies or reports, usually funded by those groups or the same foundations that underwrite most of the anti-gun camp."

AL: Taxi driver kills robber: "A Yellow Cab Co. driver told police he shot and killed a man Saturday night who had robbed him and then had tried to put him in the trunk of his cab. ... [T]he driver picked up a man in East Lake who instructed him to drive down an alley and stop. The man pulled a gun and demanded that the driver give him money, which the driver did. Then the man told the driver to get out of the car because he was going to put him in the trunk. At that point, the driver pulled his own gun and shot the man."


Councilman to Idaho town: Get your guns: "The Town Council in Greenleaf, Idaho, is considering a recommendation that all households keep and maintain guns because of the crime that might come with the encroaching growth from nearby Boise. To date, violent crime is nearly unheard of in Greenleaf, population 890, admits City Councilman Steve Jett, who proposed the ordinance the council will take up Tuesday. Even so, Jett says it's only a matter of time. 'The biggest thing I was looking at is preparation,' Jeff says."


CA: Stupidity gets its reward: "A California Highway Patrol officer shot and killed a man who charged at him with a crowbar in the bushes near a Sun Valley freeway offramp, authorities said. The man's identity was not immediately released. The officer was exiting an Interstate 5 offramp at about 3:30 p.m. when a woman flagged him down and said she had been assaulted by a man who fled into the bushes, CHP Officer Patrick Kimball said. "She told the officer she was slapped," CHP Officer Rick Quintero told KCAL-TV. The officer got out of his car, spotted the man and spoke to him, Quintero said in a written CHP report. The man picked up a crowbar from the ground, "advanced at the officer in a threatening manner and ignored repeated commands from the officer to stop," the report said. "The officer, in fear of his life, fired" and wounded the man, who was pronounced dead at a hospital, Kimball said. The officer was not hurt. Local merchants told KCAL-TV that the man and woman were both homeless people who often were seen picking up cans and other recyclables by the freeway. "From what I understand they're always on the freeway. Other couples told me they're always fighting," said Tarek Hillo, a gas station owner."

NC: Gun owners graying: "With five guns inside his house, 68-year-old Jess O'Strander feels pretty safe. Not that he would worry without them. 'I live in Fletcher,' he said. 'The only crime is if you're going six miles over the speed limit.' For rougher areas, like those along the 16-hour drive to Michigan he makes four times a year to see his children and grandchildren, he keeps a .22-caliber pistol in his car's console. Americans 65 and older now make up the age group most likely to own guns. ... Throughout the 1980s, more than half of survey respondents in their 40s consistently reported living in households with guns. That has sunk to an average of 38 percent this decade while seniors dropped less, to 42 percent."


NC: Homeowner shoots intruders: "The Orange County Sheriff's Office said a homeowner shot and killed an intruder on Cedar Valley Road near Hillsborough shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday. Authorities said the shooting happened after the homeowner returned to his house and found intruders inside. According to investigators, the homeowner got a gun and a fight broke out. Authorities said one of the intruders was shot to death."

It takes a police state to raise a child: "I have some news for police state groupies: disarming students did not stop Columbine and it did not stop Wednesday's bloodshed 38 miles southwest of Columbine. Duane Morrison, 53 -- totally undeterred by everyone's stupid gun laws -- entered a classroom, fired a warning shot and ordered all the students out of the room, except for six girls. Over the next four hours he sexually assaulted several of the girls and killed one -- 16-year-old junior Emily Keyes -- before killing himself. I can hear people saying: I basically support the Second Amendment, but do we really neeeeed guns in schools? Let me give you a little thought experiment. Let's say that one of the students ordered to leave the room on Wednesday at Platte Canyon High had a gun in his book bag."


Shooting blanks: "In recent weeks, I've been urged to get behind a couple of bills in the House of Representatives. These bills, which are supported by the National Rifle Association, would be good for gun owners, I'm told. According to the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action: H.R. 5092 - the "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) Modernization and Reform Act of 2006," by Reps. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) - will curb the agency's efforts to revoke dealers' licenses for minor paperwork errors, improve the appeals process for dealers, and establish new guidelines for BATFE investigations. ..... But whatever good H.R. 5092 and H.R. 5005 might conceivably do -- and I suppose each might do a little good -- the real question might be to ask ourselves if these laws even matter. Why would I say such a thing? That's simple enough. To matter, they'd have to be obeyed by the law enforcement officials they're primarily aimed at."

An Armed Teacher In Every School Room - A Dead Child Killer Every Time

Cops don’t prevent crime unless they’re miraculously at the right place, at the right time. Unless there’s an armed cop, 24/7, in every home and every schoolroom in America, the only function they perform is to investigate your death, or your child’s death, after some reprobate molests and blows holes in all of them. Wake up you yellow-bellied, do-gooder, pacifists. If you don’t carry a self-defense weapon, and if the teachers/administrators in your kids’ schools are unarmed and untrained in the use of powerful self-defense weapons, there is no way to deter killers who will stalk your schoolchildren or your families.

I am appalled by FoxNews’ Greta Van Susteren’s stupidity tonight on the subject of protecting the Amish school girls who were killed by a demented sexual predator. Greta said tonight that she "hated" the killer of those Amish schoolgirls. Wow, Greta, you’re talking so tough on a crime of such immensity. You just don’t get it, because you can’t recommend to your huge audience that you, and they, need to protect yourselves. The only good thing that can be said for the impact of this horrendous crime on the parents of those five dead girls is that their killer didn’t have time to carry out his planned sexual molestation of those innocent children before he blew them to pieces.

Someone needs to be armed and ready to kill anyone who threatens our children in their schools. Someone needs to be armed and ready to kill anyone who would harm our families in our homes. Someone needs to be armed and ready to kill anyone who would attack our peaceful communities or our peace-loving organizations.

If you are stupid enough to think that the cops are going to protect you or your loved ones from reprobate sexual criminals or opportunistic attackers, you probably deserve wh... y... ge..... I have a really tough time saying those words. But America has become the land of the armed brave and the land of armed free. Kill the bastards before they can carry out their demented plots to molest, rape, and murder your loved ones.

Arm-up. And I don’t mean some puny little .22 or .25 caliber toy gun. At the very least, you need a .40 or .45 ACP Auto Glock. You need some killing power. Then, if you’re confronted by one of the really bad guys in a justifiable self-defense situation and you don’t have the guts to kill them, at the very least you should blow their private parts all over the classroom before they can do the same thing to your children or grandchildren.

Source

Is that an ATF cap below?






IN: 76-year-old store owner kills robbery suspect: "A 76-year-old Eastside jewelry store owner opened fired on two suspected robbers Wednesday morning, killing one and trapping the second upstairs until police arrived. ... Roscoe Parmley shot and killed Corey Artry, 18, at Rosco Jewelry, 5416 E. Washington St. Police captured Artry's brother, Nicholas Artry, 20, in a second-floor room. He was arrested on preliminary charges of robbery and felony murder. The murder charge arises from the allegation that he was involved in a crime that led to a death. Dozens of officers were on the scene minutes after the shooting was reported at 10:56 a.m., but Indianapolis Police Department Chief Michael Spears said officers could do little to prevent this kind of 'brazen' attack. 'Two apparently able-bodied young men decided they would try to victimize an honest store owner,' Spears said. 'Now we have one man dead and another who is probably going to spend a significant amount of his life in prison.'"


PA: Woman fights off masked robbers: "Dan Brown said he's not too surprised his 110-pound wife, Sheri, held her own Friday when two masked men attempted to rob the family's Fayette County auto repair shop. The couple, both in their 30s and married 17 years, opened DSB Auto Service four years ago on Three Mile Hill, Bullskin Township, not far from Mt. Pleasant. ... 'There was a big guy and a small guy. She was alone when they came up to her and told her to give them all the money. She grabbed a pole we use to prop up a car hood and smacked the big one. He then hit her in the head, but she was able to get away'" Brown said. 'She started throwing chairs and stuff in front of her to keep them away from her while she tried to get to the office. She got there and pulled out the gun we keep in the drawer for protection.' As soon as the mother of two pulled out the family's .357-caliber Magnum, the thieves fled."

PA: 82-year-old bar owner chases off robber: "So this guy with a sawed-off shotgun walks into Josephine's Bar in Midland around 9 p.m. Thursday. But the punchline is: What the guy apparently wasn't expecting was that 82-year-old owner Josephine Slater had a gun of her own, and ordered him to beat feet out of the bar with less than $10 in hand. To make things even worse: Slater, 82, said that about two hours later, the gunman came back to the bar to have a beer. 'I don't take anything from anybody,' Slater, 82, of Ohioville, said Thursday afternoon, seemingly proud and embarrassed at the same time about all the attention she's getting. 'I'm not taking anything from these druggies. I was just standing up for my rights.'"


Not too bright: "Vancouver’s top cop said the homeless man shot and killed by police Sunday made a “poor choice” when he aimed a replica handgun at a police officer. Detective Greg Raquer, 42, shot Douglas Damon, 64, once in the head, according to Vancouver Acting Police Chief Mitch Barker. According to Barker, when Raquer asked to see Damon’s hands, Damon pointed a replica of a semi-automatic handgun at the officer. That’s when the detective fired the single shot. Barker said he’d be surprised if Raquer faces criminal charges for the shooting. “Looking at the replica, I’d consider it a deadly threat," he said."

Uninformed opinions: "Concerning the Herald-Journal's Newspapers in Education article 'The Constitution' in the Sept. 18 edition, it pretends to educate on gun ownership rights but misleads toward preordained conclusions. The example illustrating 'violence involving guns' is the 16-year-old who killed 10 people at a high school. The weapons he used were stolen from his grandfather, a police officer. How would gun control have changed that? He opened fire as he entered the school, killing an unarmed security guard. If that security guard had possessed a gun, there might be only two people dead. How could metal detectors, security guards and drills protect anyone if no one has the means of stopping a gun? (Use the detector as a club?)"


AZ: Court rejects self-defense cases: "The Arizona Supreme Court turned away two appeals of lower court rulings that a new state law on self defense did not apply retroactively to cases pending when the law took effect earlier this year. The justices have yet to decide whether to rule in a different case that produced a contrary ruling on the law. The Supreme Court's orders in the two cases, issued without comment, left the reach of the law still in question, attorneys said. The justices turned away petitions filed on behalf of men who argued that their defenses should be permitted to cite the new law, which is considered more favorable to defendants than the law it replaced. One of those two cases involved the since-concluded murder trial in Coconino County of Harold Arthur Fish."

LA: Cab driver shoots would-be robber: "A Shreveport teenager remains hospitalized after police say he was shot several times by a Casino Cab driver Saturday night. 'With one of them not having a mask on at all, having his face completely exposed, I felt as they were going to get my money and kill me,' said the cab driver who asked not to be identified. Detectives say the cab driver was called to the 3500 block of Ninock Street to pick up a fare. They say Arthur Joseph, 20, got into the back driver-side seat. Seconds later, another man wearing a mask over his face got into the back passanger-side seat, pointed a gun at the driver and demanded money. The driver pulled out his handgun and opened fire. 'I came up with my 9mm and started shooting. I shot him five times,' he said."


Australia: Have-a-go couple shoots intruder: "A man and woman have struggled with a gunman who broke into their Queensland home, shooting the intruder with his own shotgun. The couple managed to disarm the man, but also suffered injuries themselves, police said today. The drama began about 11pm (AEST) last night, when the shotgun-wielding offender forced his way into the home at Stratford near Cairns. The man and woman were attempting to disarm him when the gun went off. The couple suffered hand and heel injuries, while the intruder was shot in the knee. The couple was then able to restrain the man until police arrived".

IN: Store owner shoots robber: "A robbery ended in gunfire at an east side jewelry store, in the 5400 block of East Washington. It happened around 10:30 this morning at the Rosco Jewelry Store. In the process of the attempted robbery the owner took out a handgun and shots were exchanged. One of the suspects was hit and died at the scene. Police say the second suspect tried to escape by running upstairs in the building, but is now in police custody. "


GA: Store owner fights back against burglar: "A close call with a burglar's bullet a few months ago prepared Jimmy Washington to defend himself and his Southside Foods store in Thomasville. Over the weekend, a burglar struck again, but this time he didn't get away. ... Washington who spoke with us off camera said he was watching TV inside his home, which is connected to the store, around 3:00AM Sunday, when he heard a noise. Washington called police then decided to check his store. 'He actually heard something happening, like glass breaking, so he goes to investigate. He had his gun [a pistol] with him and he goes to the store,' said Thomasville Police Sgt. Ricky Singletary. It was in the tiny area near the store's front door that the intruder brushed Washington's right leg that's when he fired. 'He was shot in the leg, the liver, and one of the bullets is in his lung,' said Singletary. ... Georgia law allows you to defend your property, so Singletary said that no charges will be levied against Washington."