La: Killings Were Self-Defense, Police Say: "Two brothers who were shot and stabbed to death in a Carondelet Street apartment late Sunday night were killed in apparent self-defense, New Orleans police said. Carlos Calderon, 39, and Luis Calderon, 26, were found dead around 11:15 p.m. Sunday in an apartment at 1132 Carondelet Street. Two other men, a 38-year-old and a 31-year-old, were found in the apartment with multiple stab wounds. The Calderon brothers lived in the same building and had been involved in an argument with the two survivors earlier Sunday, police said. Later that night, the brothers -- armed with knives -- forced their way into the other men's apartment, police said. The roommates also armed themselves with knives and a handgun, and they managed to defend themselves by stabbing and shooting the men, police said. Homicide detectives and representatives from the District Attorney's Office met Monday and determined that the men's actions were justified."


MO: Shoplifter shot: "Did an Independence man go too far in shooting a suspected shoplifter? The store manager of a Sun Fresh grocery store in Independence was trying to stop a suspected female shoplifter when a bystander intervened and shot her. You won't hear Bill Miller apologizing. The 37-year-old is on crutches because of a broken foot, but he still sprang to action when he saw the store manager at Sun Fresh chase a female shoplifter into the parking lot. "The customer service girl coming out screaming, 'Help, help, my manager's on the hood,'" Miller said. Armed with a 9 millimeter and a conceal carry permit, Miller left his crutches behind and hopped on one foot toward the suspected shoplifter's car. "I had it pointed downward on her, I told her stop, she looked at me smiled, turned the wheel at me, acted like she was going to run me over," MIller said. "I fired one round, I thought she was going to kill me and the manager." Miller hit the suspect in the arm and fired another round at her tire. "He was legal to carry it, he was protecting somebody's life or livelihood and he did the right thing," customer Leslie Reid said. Miller said that police said they would not charge him and that what he did was justifiable. Police and prosecutors haven't confirmed that to FOX 4, but Miller hasn't been charged so far. The shoplifter has, though. Loucinda Carroll, 41, faces one count of robbery. Police said she was stealing meat."




FL: Man killed in Springfield bar was threatening patrons with nailer: "The man fatally shot by a Springfield bartender this morning was threatening people inside with a nailer that closely resembled a firearm, police said this afternoon. Police said John L. Lee, 20, [above] walked into the Shantytown Pub shortly before 12:30 a.m. wearing black clothing and waving what appeared to be a firearm at a bartender and patrons. The unidentified bartender, who police also said was the manager, thought the bar was being robbed, pulled out a handgun and shot Lee repeatedly. Lee, of the 1400 block of Cleveland Street, was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital and pronounced dead. Investigators later determined Lee was carrying a .22-caliber shot tool/nail driver "which clearly resembles a firearm," a Sheriff's Office news release said. Neither the bartender nor a handful of patrons at the bar at 22 W. Sixth St. were injured. No charges have been filed against the bartender, who has been identified by a co-worker and patrons as Tex. Ian Ranne, co-owner of the bar, declined to comment. Court records show that Lee pleaded guilty to dealing in stolen property last month and was sentenced to 12 months of probation. He also was convicted of trespassing earlier this year and received nine months of probation in a domestic battery case in 2008."


More British insanity: "A couple who bought guns to protect themselves from thugs in Bulgaria were last night facing criminal charges back home in the UK. … pensioners Alan and Sylvia Cantwell could be jailed for at least five years if convicted, the manadatory minimum term for possessing an illegal firearm in the UK. ‘The shock threat emerged after the terrified pair contacted Tayside Police to hand in three self-defence weapons, which fire gas pellets, not bullets’ …. The couple had fled Bulgaria after a particularly violent attack in their new home in the countryside near Pleven. The gang battered and robbed them in their new home then returned to try to kill them.”