KY: Domestic Defense? Resident Shoots Back, Kills man Attempting Break-in

A 24-year-old man died after police said he was shot after breaking into a home in north Lexington late Friday night.

Lexington police said a woman called them to report that a man she had been dating had broken into her home on the 1900 block of Alice Drive and begun shooting.

“Another resident fired back, striking the intruder,” police said in a news release.

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article242295726.html#storylink=cpy

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TX: Homeowner Shoots, Kills Burglary Suspect

DALLAS – A burglar ended up dead after trying to rob a homeowner ready to defend his property.

Police were called to the 2900-block of Villa Sur Trail on the Northeast Side of Dallas just after 11 p.m. Friday. Police tell us the homeowner came outside and discovered a burglar breaking into his shed. He drew his weapon and shot the burglar.
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KY: Son Shoots Man Attacking his Mother

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ)- Lexington Police say the son of a woman shot a man they say was strangling the woman early Friday morning.

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FL: Domestic Defense, 76-year-old Mother Shoots Daughter

A 76-year-old woman shot her daughter Thursday afternoon while trying to defend herself in a domestic violence incident.

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OK: Homeowner uses Shotgun to Stop Intruders from Breaking In

The caller said two men tried entering his home by breaking a window. The man said the intruders broke into the back door of the residence.

The homeowner was armed with a shotgun and confronted the suspects. The homeowner fired the gun at the men and they fled.
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CA: Intruder Shot and Killed, Police are Investigating

A man suspected of breaking into a San Bernardino residence early Wednesday was shot and killed, the San Bernardino Police Department said.

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TX: Intruder Shot by Husband was State Hospital Escapee

Duke said the woman called 9-1-1, and that’s when Reyes noticed her looking at him out the back window and tried to get into the house.

Duke said by that time, the woman’s husband arrived home and grabbed a shotgun.

The 42-year-old homeowner said he confronted Reyes who got on the ground before then charging him.

Reyes was shot once in the right leg, and that’s when deputies arrived followed by EMS.
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IL: Chicago Woman Shoots Home Invader

CHICAGO – A woman shot a man who forced his way into her residence Wednesday night, Chicago police said.

Just after 6:15 p.m., police were dispatched to the 8300 block of South Kerfoot on the report of a shooting.
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NV: Armed Property Owner and Neighbor hold Suspects at Gunpoint

Elko County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a property on West Bullion Road on a report of firearms being pointed at a woman for possible trespassing. They found the property owner, along with a neighbor, holding two people at gunpoint.
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WA: Armed Victim Shoots Assailant, is Wounded

Two men were shot in University Place early Tuesday after one allegedly attacked the other as he was walking with his girlfriend.

The confrontation occurred about 5:35 a.m. at 40th Street West and Sunset Drive West.

Read more here: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/crime/article242177341.html#storylink=cpy

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Appeals Court upholds Right of Armed Citizen to Shoot a Police Officer

On 20 August, 2015, in Brevard County, Florida, John DeRossett, 65, shot and severely wounded a Brevard County sheriff's deputy.

The agent was part of a sting operation, who were attempting to arrest DeRossett's niece, Mary Ellis, for prostitution.  They had set up a controlled environment at a motel, but Mary Ellis did not show up.   From floridatoday.com:

Brevard County agents set up a prostitution sting on Aug. 20, 2015, arranging to meet DeRossett's niece, Mary Ellis, at a motel where a controlled environment had been set up to conduct an arrest.

When she didn't show, the three deputies in plain clothes went to her Covina Street home in Port St. John, where Agent Peter Stead grabbed Ellis from the doorway while John "Casey" Smith and Jason Roberts hid in the darkened yard.

During their testimony at the immunity hearing, the deputies said it was unusual to go to a suspect's home for a sting operation when a controlled environment had already been established.

When she was grabbed, Ellis began screaming for help from her uncle, who was in a back room eating at the time, according to court records.

There was strong evidence DeRossett did not know the men accosting his niece were deputies. None of the deputies were in uniform.  His statements, immediately after the event, and in the hospital, were all consistent with the belief that unknown men were attempting to kidnap his niece. He knew his niece had problems with drugs and prostitution.

DeRossett was retired. He had a concealed carry permit. He had no criminal record. He had taken his niece into his home as a favor to his sister. From the petition to the Florida Fifth District  Court of Appeal:

Petitioner, John Derossett, a sixty-five-year-old retired General Motors autoworker, owned a home in Brevard County, Florida. Derossett’s adult niece, Mary Ellis, lived with him in this home. Derossett had no criminal record, worked part-time as a security guard at Port Canaveral, and lawfully possessed a concealed weapons permit. He had also apparently taken a firearms training course. 

On August 20, 2015, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Ellis answered a knock on the front door. As she opened the door, a man reached inside the threshold of the house, grabbed her arm, and began pulling Ellis out of the home and onto the covered front porch. Ellis struggled to resist her apparent abduction and screamed to her uncle (Derossett) that she needed help. At this point, two other men approached to physically assist the first man in pulling Ellis off the porch of the home and into the front yard.

John DeRossett was in a back room, eating, when he heard her screams. It was dark outside the home.

The first shot occurred when DeRossett fired a "warning shot" into the air. The men who had accosted his niece (the deputies) then fired at him, without identifying themselves. A firefight ensued. One deputy, John "Casey" Smith, was severely wounded.  More than 40 shots were fired. Both John DeRossett and his Niece were wounded, but less severely.

The homeowner, DeRossett, was charged with three counts of attempted murder of a police officer.

Police claimed the undercover deputy at the door told the Mary Ellis they were police officers as he grabbed her, and showed her a badge. She called 911 during or immediately after the firefight, and told the dispatcher she did not know who the men who grabbed her were.

The deputies had no warrant to arrest Mary Ellis.

Criminals often claim to be police to attempt to get compliance. The deputies never told DeRossett they were police.

Why would he be under obligation to believe them, unless they presented credentials or other convincing proof they were operating under lawful authority?

DeRossett was held in jail for nearly five years.

In August of 2018, at trial, his lawyer presented the defense that he was protected by the "Stand Your Ground" law.  The trial court found against him, saying that he knew, or should have known, the people he was shooting at were law enforcement officers.

He appealed to the Florida Fifth District  Court of Appeal in 2019.

The appeals court found the trial court had incorrectly made the determination DeRossett should have known the men attacking his niece, and him, were police officers.  The Fifth Circuit sent the case back to the trial court, to determine if a different exception to Stand your Ground applied. The Stand Your Ground law would not apply if he was "furthering criminal activities" when the action took place.

The trial court found against him again. This time, the court claimed the Stand Your Ground law did not apply, because he knew his niece had used her bedroom to conduct prostitution.

DeRossett appealed to the Florida Fifth District  Court of Appeal again. 

He stayed in jail until March of 2020, when he was allowed to bond out.

On 15 April, the Florida Fifth District  Court of Appeal dismissed the charges against him. They ruled mere knowledge that criminal activities, such as prostitution, had occurred, is not "furthering criminal activities".  From clickorlando.com: 

VIERA, Fla. – Citing the Stand Your Ground law, the Fifth District Court of Appeals dismissed the longstanding charges against a Port St. John man accused of shooting a Brevard County Sheriff’s deputy during a botched arrest in front of his home in 2015.

John DeRossett spent nearly five years in jail, for defending his niece against attackers who did not identify themselves as police.

John DeRossett is a free man today. He is alive. There was a time, when many assumed anyone, justified or not, who shot a police officer, would be killed by police.  That is not true. It is less true today than it used to be.

In Houston, police officers have been charged with felony murder in the deaths of an innocent couple. The husband dared to protect his wife and dog against an unannounced home invasion. The couple were killed, but the officers are being held accountable. 

Mistakes occur. Error is piled onto error. The world is not perfect.

Why, with the evidence, which was plain from the start, was John DeRossett locked up for nearly five years, when he was a homeowner, retired, who had no previous criminal record?

Will there be a civil suit against Brevard County?

The agents of the government are not supposed to be our masters. They are supposed to be our servants.

When agents of the government act as criminals, they should not be surprised when citizens treat them as criminals. When they disregard due process, they should lose immunity for their actions. 

The case shows why the Stand Your Ground law was needed. Warrants are not only to protect the accused. Properly used, they also protect police.  If the officer had a warrant, had knocked on the door and presented it, it is highly likely he would not have been shot.


©2020 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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FL: Armed Homeowner Shoots, Wounds, Car Burglar During Scuffle

DELTONA, Fla. — An armed homeowner shot and wounded a car burglar early Tuesday, launching an investigation that led to the arrests of the suspect and his alleged accomplice, Seminole County Sheriff's Office deputies said.

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AZ: Husband Shoots Coatimundi who Injured Dog, Wife

Mark Hart, a spokesperson with the department, said the attack happened on April 18 at a home on Montezuma Pass Road. The long-tailed creature was in a carport on the woman’s property, when her dog went after the coati first. The woman tried to stop the squabble and was injured.


The woman’s husband, who was armed at the time, shot and killed the coati. The woman went to the hospital for a rabies shot and the dog was taken to the vet, Hart said.
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OH: Toledo Intruder Shot by Apartment Resident

Police responded to a person shot early around 1 a.m. in the 400 block of 4th St. When they arrived, they learned Darnell Jones, 28, entered the residence of James Hardwick, 29, without his knowledge or invitation. Jones has a listed address next door to Hardwick.
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FL: Domestic Defense? Manager of Jacksonville Group Home Shoots Resident

The Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that a manager of the group home, a woman, may have been trying to defend herself from an “imminent attack" when she shot the resident.
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TX: Armed Homeowner Fatally Shoots Intruder in Grand Saline

GRAND SALINE, Texas (KETK) – A home invasion turned fatal Tuesday morning after the homeowner shot the man.

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CA; Fugitive Pursued by Multiple Officers, Shot by Armed Homeowner

CHP and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the chase, which ended near the I-80 Auburn exit when the suspect got out of his black SUV and ran into a residential neighborhood.

Deputies say a homeowner on the 4400 block of Belmont Place Lane shot the suspect. The suspect was transported to the hospital with unknown injuries.
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OH: Domestic Defense Gunfight, Man Arrested

In an affidavit supporting charges against Hammers, Columbia police officer Joshua Popielarz wrote the incident happened about 11:15 p.m. Friday in the 5400 block of Baseline Place.

The victim told police Hammers knocked on the door and wanted to fight. She had a gun and he left, but fired several shots at her residence from the street. Three children were inside at the time. The victim fired back and then called 911.
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AZ: Car Thief attempts Break-in, is Shot

Police said Davis drove to the neighborhood of 53rd Street and Indian School Road, ditched the stolen vehicle and tried to break into a house. That’s when the homeowner shot him.

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Fire Tower Bear Attack, 1958

 image public domain from forest service, cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten


It was dark outside the little cabin near the fire tower in the Oregon mountains in 1958. Eight year old David Conner and his two younger sisters had gone to bed. He had not yet fallen asleep. It was quiet.

His mother's screams sundered the peaceful night.  Time and memories would be divided into two parts. Before the night of the bear, and after.

He jumped from bed and scrambled toward the kitchen. The kitchen light was on. On his left was his mother. On the right was the kitchen window over the sink, with a black bear pushing its head through the window screen.

David's father had been in the army in World War II. In 1958 he took a job working fire watch in the mountains near the Rock Creek area, outside of Baker City, Oregon. The Forest Service supplied a surplus WWII Dodge Power Wagon, which was used to get in and out from the fire tower. The previous day, David's father had spotted smoke, probably from a lightning strike the night before. Triangulation with other towers had pinpointed the location. It was closest to their tower, so David's father and older brother had left the cabin, in the Power Wagon, to put out the fire. 

 

David's Father going to a fire, 1958. Photo courtesy David Conner, cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten

There was electricity at the cabin. Water had to be hauled up to it. Indoor plumbing was limited to the sink. There were two outhouses, and a woodshed. The fire tower was about 50 yards away from the cabin.

David loved living there. His father allowed him to help watch for fires from the fire tower, and feed the half tamed chipmunks that shared the tower. A couple of mule deer does hung around the cabin, and sometimes clattered on the porch.

In the cabin, there was a gun rack. David's father left four guns hanging on it when he went to fight the fire. There was a double barreled LC Smith 12 gauge shotgun; a surplus O3-A3 Springfield .30-06, sporterized by Sedgely; a Remington model 721 .300 H&H Magnum; and a Winchester model 61 pump action .22 rifle. David's father kept the .22 loaded for when it was necessary to dispatch a porcupine (porcupines do enormous damage to timber) or to harvest a grouse for the pot.

Fire Tower guns in Pendleton, Oregon. The 61 Winchester is the lowest long gun. David did not remember the Remington bolt action .22 or the H&R revolver at the cabin the night of the bear. All of the guns, except the Remington .22 bolt action, are still owned by family members.

David's mother had put the children to bed when she heard a noise outside the cabin. She was a petite woman about five feet tall. She was in the master bedroom of the two bedrooms in the cabin. She thought one of the mule deer does was responsible for the noise. 

She took a look into the kitchen.  A bear was trying to get in through the window over the sink!

She screamed at the bear, Get Out!, and grabbed the little Winchester .22 pump from the gun rack. She knew it was loaded.

David looked at his mother. She had the .22 rifle in her hands. She screamed at the bear again. Get Out!

The bear ignored the screams and started working its way in through the window. 

David's mother stopped screaming. She brought the rifle to her shoulder and started shooting. 

Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!

The little rifle was unusually loud inside the kitchen. The shots only took a couple of seconds. The bear dropped back out the window. David's little sisters had joined David at the doorway. 

Eventually, David and his sisters went back to bed. Somehow, they went back to sleep. 

David's mother stayed up the rest of the night. She kept the rifle handy. 

In July, near Baker City, it starts getting light by 5 a.m. David and his mother looked out the window to see if the bear was nearby. There was blood on the sink, on the window sill, and on the porch outside. 

After a careful visual search, David and his mother went out onto the porch. The blood trail lead toward the woodshed. 

David's Mother made an executive decision. They would wait inside, until David's father and brother returned. 

Two hours later, the older men in the family returned in the Dodge Power Wagon. 

David's mother explained what had happened. The two men loaded the .30-06 and the .300 H&H Magnum, and followed the blood trail. 

There, behind the woodshed, was the bear, dead, only 30 yards from the kitchen window.

David watched his father and brother skin out the bear. As he watched, his father pointed to the wounds his mother had inflicted on the bear with the .22 Winchester model 61 pump-gun. 

One shot went into the upper left jaw. Another shot went through the left eye. A third shot was just above the left eye. A fourth shot was in the nose, and a fifth shot was just below the right side of the jaw, in the neck, cutting the carotid artery on the right side. That shot was fatal. Blood had squirted from the artery, spraying the kitchen sink, the window frame, and on to the porch. The blood trail was heavy, and lead to the dead bear behind the woodshed. 

A bear's brain is located low, between and behind the eyes. A shot to or above the eye will often miss the brain. 

David's mother had gathered four empty .22 cartridges off the kitchen floor and put them on the table. David's father went to the Winchester model 61. He worked the slide. Out popped another empty .22 cartridge. David's mother had shot five shots. She had hit the bear five times.

David's father and brother tacked the hide to the side of the wood shed and put the skull inside.  Word spread around the mountains. A couple of days later, a ranger showed up to visit. David's father explained what had happened. They examined the bear hide and the bear skull. David's father went inside and retrieved the .22 Winchester. 

He and the ranger expended a couple of boxes of .22 cartridges plinking near the cabin. 

There never was a newspaper article or an official report. David's father and the ranger agreed the bear was a young male. 

David's account fits the profile of a predatory attack. Most predatory attacks are by young male black bears. The bear was persistent, and would not leave. 

Bears have extraordinary noses. Its nose told the bear the big males of the strange animal group were not present. Only the small female and her young were in the nest with the delicious odors coming out the window. Small females and young of prey species are often eaten by black bears.

Once wounded, the young male bear realized the strange animals were too dangerous to be prey. It was too late. 

There were only two fatal black bear attacks in the 1940s and 1950s in the lower 48 states. Carol Ann Poveranky, 3 years old, was taken in Michigan, in 1948, outside her home. A bear was implicated in the death of a hunter, Carl Herrick, 37, in Vermont, in 1943.

Bears were considered pests. Bear populations were low. People tended to be armed in the woods, and bears were shot on sight. 

How many predatory attacks simply ended as did the one at the Oregon fire tower? The bear underestimated its unfamiliar prey, and was killed before any person was injured. It might have been different without the little .22 rifle.

David's family talked about the attack and the bear for years. 

David says he must have heard it or told it hundreds of times. He was there, and he will never forget his mother shooting the black bear with the .22 as it tried to force its way into the little cabin. 

.22 rimfire cartridges are often underestimated. Bella Twin, a small, 63 year old Cree woman, shot and killed a world record grizzly bear with a single  shot .22 rifle, a Cooey Ace 1. 



©2020 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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