IA: Group attacks pawnshop employee; One shot: "Geromy Gilliand, 20, of Dubuque, is recovering at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics from a gunshot wound while Dubuque police investigate the incident outside a pawnshop Monday afternoon. Gilliand suffered what police called non-life-threatening injuries to his lower torso when he was shot at Dubuque Pawn, 2175 Central Ave., about 3:20 p.m. Monday, Assistant Police Chief Terry Tobin said. Police haven’t identified who shot Gilliand. According to Tobin, the shooter wasn’t the pawnshop’s owner, “but someone otherwise associated with the pawnshop.” The shooting grew out of a dispute between Gilliand and someone at the shop. Gilliand and three others went to the shop and became involved in a physical confrontation that ensued, ending with the shooting. Officers called to the scene found Gilliand at a convenience store across the street from the pawnshop. The weapon has been recovered, and the shooter is cooperating with police, according to Tobin. No charges have been filed."


MI: Shooting inside home was self-defense, homeowner says: "Ernestine Jones was at a friend's house, a block away, when she got word that someone had been shot in her home. Once she reached her house, she collapsed. Police told her one of the two men who allegedly were robbing her son, Billy Wayne Welch Jr., 18, was shot and killed Monday night while the victim and Welch struggled to gain control of a handgun. The injured man ran across 33rd Street SE, and asked for help at a neighbor's house before he died, around 9:30 p.m. The other alleged robber was arrested while hiding in a garage. Police said he had a handgun in his possession. Investigators said a 911 caller, who lived at 1015 33rd St., said two men had tried to rob him. They struggled over a handgun before it discharged, and the suspects fled, police said. Jones said her son had been robbed of about $50 at another location when he was led into his house at gunpoint. "They figured he had more money at the house," she said. Jones said she felt badly for the man who died, but insisted her son acted in self-defense. She said Welch isn't prone to fighting, but would protect himself."


North Carolina: Woman turns tables on rape suspect: "A Charlotte woman managed to get a gun from her attacker and held him until authorities arrived, the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office reported. O.C. Billings of Harmony faces seven charges, ranging from first-degree rape to possession of drug paraphernalia, and is in the Iredell County Detention Center in lieu of a $225,000 bond. Billings has an extensive criminal history, dating back 20 years, and many of the offenses involved sexual conduct with children. The victim in this case, said Capt. Darren Campbell, is an adult. She called the sheriff’s office early Thursday morning from Billings’ home on East Memorial Highway and said she’d been raped and was holding her attacker at gunpoint, Campbell. Deputies arrived and took Billings into custody. The woman told authorities she was able to free herself during the assault and grab the gun, which Billings earlier held on her, and strike him in the head, Campbell said."


WA sheriff says gun laws can't stop killers: "Maurice Clemmons, who gunned down four Lakewood police officers Nov. 29, was an evil man and no changes in gun laws are going to prevent murders like he committed. That is a conclusion that Chelan County Sheriff Mike Harum said he came to while serving on a panel of law enforcement officers looking into the shootings. He was appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire to a panel that was asked to determine if changes in state laws might have prevented the murders, or if any changes could prevent similar murders in the future. "Our fear was that if a legislator has a knee-jerk reaction to this whole incident, he might come up with something that we would not be able to work with as a community," Harum said. Harum said he has heard rumors that some legislators want to ban assault weapons and others want to require that all guns be registered. "Maurice Clemmons violated many firearms laws before he murdered the officers, so it seems rather dubious to argue additional laws might have prevented this tragedy," Harum said. He noted that the gun Clemmons used in the murder was stolen, and that he stole a gun from a police officer during the shooting rampage. "If people talk about registering every firearm in the state of Washington, that's going to put a tremendous burden on law enforcement, and won't do anything to solve the problem," Harum said, noting criminals will continue to get their weapons illegally."