At 1:15 a.m. on a cold December night, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, most people are not prowling other people's back yards, looking for trouble. But 32 year old Perry Wallace seems to have been doing exactly that. He jumped a fence to get into the back yard of a homeowner. The homeowner and his family (a girlfriend and four children) were at home.
Then Perry made a big mistake. He tried to break into the home through the bedroom door, which led to the backyard. The homeowner opened fire with his girlfriend's pistol, wounding Perry several times.
Just another night in Tulsa, you might think. There is nothing too remarkable about the events described, except the part about the borrowed gun. Most men in Oklahoma have their own guns. Maybe the homeowner has his as well, but the girlfriend's pistol was handier.
The interesting part is the police response. It is given by Sgt. Shane Tuell. Sgt. Tuell is the Tulsa Police Department Public Information Officer. Remarks by him can be taken as official. From newson6.com:
The homeowner's four children, ages four through 12 and his girlfriend were in the home at the time.For five decades the most predictable police response to a self defense shooting seemed to be to advise citizens "not to take the law into their own hands". That response is in the process of changing. Street police know they are the clean-up crew. They are there after the fact. The rare instance where the police interupt a crime in progress is a cause for celebration.
Police say they believe it was a matter of self-defense and that Wallace made a bad decision.
"If you're going to try to get into someone's house that's not your own, you're rolling the dice, especially here in Oklahoma. A lot of people exercise their Second Amendment, which is fantastic," said Sgt. Shane Tuell.
Sgt. Tuell should be applauded for his direct support for the exercise of the Second Amendment. It is a building trend.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch
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