Homeowner Shoots two Invaders, 1 Killed, 1 Wounded, Son Wounded

Early Saturday morning, at 4:51 a.m., in Raleigh, NC, a suspected home invasion was met with gunfire by the homeowner. In the gun fight, one home invader was killed, another seriously wounded, and the homeowner's son, 11, was seriously wounded.  From abc11.com:

According to Raleigh police, the homeowner fired at two intruders during an armed robbery.

The shooting happened in the 4200 block of Brintons Cottage Street around 4:51 a.m.

Deandre Carney, 19, died from his injuries.

Willie Richardson, 22, was also injured in the shooting.

He is still in the hospital with gunshot wounds but is charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, first-degree burglary, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The homeowner's 11-year-old son was also injured and is in the hospital with serious injuries.

Gunfights are dangerous affairs. You may control your shots, but you do not control the shots of your opponent(s). In this case, the responding defender prevailed. He killed one opponent and seriously wounding the other. He was not wounded. The cost was high. His eleven year old son was wounded.

Defensive firearms instructors recommend that gunfights be avoided if at all possible.  Avoidance is the best strategy. Sun Tsu's remark about war applies to personal combat. "It is best to win without fighting". Most defensive uses of firearms are against assailants armed with other weapons. Even when the aggressor has a gun, most criminals back off rather than risk a gunfight.

Sometimes, a defender has no real choice. Sometimes the fight comes to you. Sometimes the cost of avoidance is too high.

We do not know what the cost would have been if the father of the eleven year old boy had not fought. It might have been higher. He or a member of his family might have been killed. Once human predators have been successful, they tend to return.

Deandre Carney paid the ultimate price for his association with Willie Richardson.  It appears Richardson was a convicted felon, as he was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Two months previously he was arrested for robbery with a dangerous weapon. There are other charges in his history. Photos of Deandre show him flashing a hand signal. Others can interpret what that might mean.

Many countries in the world have more violent crime that the United States. The list includes Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Jamaica, Venezuela, Honduras, South Africa, and many others.

Others, such as Switzerland, England, and Japan, have less.

In Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out, the point was made that in England, there are many burglaries, and the percentage of home invasions is higher than in the United States. A case was made that burglars avoid robbing an occupied house, because of the risk of getting shot. In Panama, I recall asking how a business owner, who had a considerable scrap yard, stayed in business in an area known for its thieves. I was told: "The thieves learn which houses have guns, very quickly.

Deandre Carney and Willie Richardson are examples of the risks of home invasion. Perhaps others will learn from their example.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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