ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - A St. Louis woman says she’s grateful to be alive after two teenagers attempted carjacking her at gunpoint. Afraid for her life, she used her own gun against them, wounding one.
The 37-year-old victim says just seconds after she parked outside her apartment Monday night, two young men passed her. She says at first the 13-year-old suspect asked to use her cell phone. He was with an older teen, about 16 years old.
When officers arrived, they found that the homeowner woke up to someone inside the home. The homeowner began checking the home with a firearm and located the suspect inside.
The homeowner told police he ordered the suspect to leave the home. When the suspect advanced towards him, the homeowner shot the suspect one time.
Patrol officers responding to reports of gunfire arrived to find a 31-year-old suspect mortally wounded in the residence, OPD spokeswoman Jennifer Atenza said. The man, whose name was withheld pending family notification, died at the scene.
Meanwhile, other officers pulled over a suspicious vehicle in the area and detained its five occupants, including a man who had suffered a gunshot wound. Medics took the injured suspect, identified as 29-year-old Deshawn Ingram of Oceanside, to a hospital, where he was admitted in stable condition.
“It is unknown at this time if the (home-invasion victim) shot the… suspect who is currently in the hospital, or if this suspect was shot by one of the other suspects, who were also armed with a gun,” Atenza said late Wednesday afternoon.
On day six of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin, November 8, 2021, the court video captured a particularly dramatic moment. Gaige Grosskreutz has given testimony as a prosecution witness. He is being cross-examined by Corey Chirafisi, a defense attorney. It occurs about 2 hours and 27 minutes into this trial video on November 8, 2021. Over the next few minutes, there is this exchange:
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:So, your hands are up, and at that point he (Rittenhouse) has not fired. Correct?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
No he has not.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
Do you agree at this point, you are dropping your hands, you are loading up your left foot, and you are moving toward Mr. Rittenhouse, at that point, True?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
Yes.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
So, When you were shot; Can you bring up the photo? Do you agree, and now wait, how close were you, in the ? How close were you, from the background.
Gaige Grosskreutz:
Three feet. If I was five feet before, so
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
At this point, you are holding a loaded chambered Glock 27 in your right hand, Yes?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
That is correct, yes.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
You are advancing on Mr. Rittenhouse, who is seated on his butt, right?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
That is correct.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
You are moving forward and your right hand drops down so your gun, your hands are no longer up, your hand has dropped down and now your gun is pointed in the direction, at Mr. Rittenhouse, agreed? I will give you another (exhibit?), and maybe that will help.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
So Mr. Grosskruetz, I am going to show you what has has been marked as exhibit #67.
exhibit #67
That is a photo of you, Yes?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
Yes.Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
That is Mr. Rittenhouse?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
Correct.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
Do you agree your firearm is pointed at Mr. Rittenhouse? Correct?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
Yes.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
Ok. And, Once your firearm is pointed at Mr. Rittenhouse, that's when he fires, Yes?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
Yeah.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
Does this look like right when he was firing the shot? (#67, moment of Rittenhouse's shot)
Gaige Grosskreutz:
That looks like my bicept being vaporized, yes.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
and it was vaporized at the time you are pointing your gun directly at him?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
Yes.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
When you were standing 3-5 feet from him, with your arms up in the air, he never fired? Right?
Gaige Grosskruetz:
Correct.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi:
It wasn't until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him, with your gun, now your hand is down, pointed at him, that he fired? Right?
Gaige Grosskreutz:
Correct.
The camera is pointed at Gaige Grosskreutz, We cannot see the prosecutor's table. The camera then shows Kyle Rittenhouse for a few seconds. Then it shows the prosecutor's table. A dramatic image is captured, which will probably become an iconic graphic of images you do not want to present at court.
Of interest, Gaige Grosskreutz showed significant function in his right arm and hand. He was able to hold and raise a water bottle, and the microphone easily, with considerable fine motor control in his fingers.
Becky Sullivan, National Public Radio (NPR) reporter and producer, who mis-reported information about a critical juncture of the shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum, in the Rittenhouse trial, had this take on the Gaige Grosskreutz testimony. From muckrack.com:
Updated November 8, 2021 at 3:27 PM ET
Gaige Grosskreutz, the only person who survived being shot by Kyle Rittenhouse last year at a chaotic demonstration in Kenosha, Wis., took the stand in a pivotal moment in Rittenhouse's homicide trial. In three hours of dramatic testimony Monday, Grosskreutz, 27, acknowledged that he was armed with a pistol on the evening of Aug. 25, 2020, but said that his hands were raised when Rittenhouse raised his rifle at him and that he feared for his life.
Ms Sullivan failed to mention Gaige Grosskreutz testified he was pointing his pistol at Kyle Rittenhouse when Kyle shot him.
It appears Ms. Sullivan leads the NPR Union bargaining team:
I've spent the last few months leading our union's bargaining team in these contract negotiations, and I am so, so proud of what we were able to accomplish.
The trial has had another day, where the prosecution witnesses appear to be defense witnesses.
©2021 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
“I need the police here, I have just shot the two dogs that were attacking me in my yard," Hermann told the operator. "One of them is in my driveway dead."
Hermann said as soon as he stepped out onto the porch, he had no choice; the dogs were immediately running to him.
In the minutes that followed, both dogs would be shot and eventually die. Animal control has had many complaints about neighbor dogs roaming on to Hermann’s property, and many citations were issued to the dog’s owners. The last two years were a tragedy in the making.
When officers arrived, they found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound lying in front of the residence. Fire department personnel arrived and pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Police investigated the incident and based on their preliminary information, determined the man was involved in a robbery happening at the residence. One resident then pulled out a gun and shot the suspect, say police.
OLUMBUS (WCMH) – A 75-year-old woman has been charged after she told Columbus police she fired a gun at people she said sprayed her with mace and assaulted her.
Peggy Howard, of Columbus, is facing felony assault charges stemming from the incident, which happened Saturday at approximately 7:14 p.m. in the 2100 block of Brentnell Avenue.
Becky Sullivan of NPR makes a startling claim of fact, which is not in evidence from the trial or the criminal complaint. It is especially relevant because it is a claim about a crucial moment in the sequence of events where the first aggressor, Joseph Rosenbaum, attacked Kyle Rittenhouse. Mr Rosenbaum attempted to grab the barrel of the rifle Rittenhouse had pointed toward the ground between him and Rosenbaum. The relevant testimony is at 2:34:40 in the video of the trial.
The rifle is pointed at the ground between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum, as Rosenbaum is first running, then lunging at Rittenhouse, attempting to grab the barrel/muzzle of the rifle. As Rosenbaum is lunging, Rittenhouse moves the barrel of the rifle to prevent Rosenbaum from controlling the rifle, and fires. All of this is happening in a fraction of a second. Rittenhouse has not moved his feet. Rosenbaum continues his movement toward Rittenhouse, falling on his face in front of Rittenhouse.
McGinnis is not sure if it was the shots that caused Rosenbaum to fall, or if Rosenbaum's action of lunging to attempt to grab the rifle would have caused Rosenbaum to fall anyway. There is no testimony that Rosenbaum was on a trajectory to move past Rittenhouse. At 2:40 in the video, witness McGinnis gives this testimony:
It is unclear to me, because the shots were so quick, whether, you know, the shots are the reason why he, because he lunged, and the shots were fired as he was lunging, so it was, like, perhaps it was the shots that caused him to, rather than stopping himself, just fall flat.
Becky Sullivan inserts the allegation of Rosenbaum moving past Rittenhouse into her article. From kgoy.org:
Rosenbaum lunged for the rifle, McGinnis said, and Rittenhouse dodged. As Rosenbaum's momentum was carrying him past Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse fired four times. Afterward, Rittenhouse ran away, leaving Rosenbaum laying face down on the ground, McGinnis said.
When prosecutor Thomas Binger suggested it was impossible for McGinnis to know what Rosenbaum was trying to do as he lunged, McGinnis replied, "Well, he said 'f*** you' and he reached for the weapon."
More testimony is given by Mr. McGinnis is at 4:56 in the questioning by
DA Binger, confirming that Rosenbaum was lunging at Rittenhouse when he was shot.
There is no evidence or indication in the testimony that Rosebaum's momentum was carrying him past Kyle Rittenhouse when he was shot. The testimony is that Rosenbaum's momentum was carrying him toward Kyle Rittenhouse, because Rosenbaum was lunging at Rittenhouse, and Rittenhouse did not move his feet.
Rittenhouse moved the barrel of the rifle to keep Rosenbaum from grabbing it. At the point the shots were fired, Rosenbaum had, a fraction of a second earlier, been within inches, perhaps touched, the barrel of the rifle, while he lunged at the rifle, which was directly between him and Kyle Rittenhouse.
Below is the allegation of fact which was inserted in the narrative, without any foundation in the testimony, by Becky Sullivan:
"As Rosenbaum's momentum was carrying him past Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse fired four times."
If MS Sullivan can back up her statement with evidence, it would be a significant change in the narrative of what happened.
The autopsy of Joseph Rosenbaum has not yet been released to the public, to this correspondent's knowledge. A brief description of the wounds has been released. From cbslocal.com:
Dr. P. Douglas Kelley of the Milwaukee Medical Examiner’s office determined that Rosenbaum suffered one gunshot to the groin that fractured his pelvis, another to the back which perforated his right lung and liver, another to the left hand, a superficial gunshot wound to his lateral left thigh, and a graze wound to the right side his forehead.
Those wounds are consistent with shots being fired at Rosenbaum as he lunged toward Rittenhouse. They are more difficult to explain if Rosenbaum was moving past Rittenhouse when Rittenhouse fired. The full autopsy should show the trajectory of the shots fired. It will likely be introduced as evidence in the trial.
The autopsy is not yet in evidence. What we know of the trajectory of Rosenbaum comes from the video evidence and Mr. McGinnis testimony. Neither the video or the eye-witness testimony indicates Rosenbaum was moving past Rittenhouse when the shots were fired.
The criminal complaint is also consistent with Rosenbaum being in front of Rittenhouse when he was shot. From the criminal complaint WPR:
McGinnis felt something on his leg and his first thought was wondering whether he had gotten shot. McGinnis was behind and slightly to the right of Rosenbaum, in the line of fire, when the defendant shot.
If Rosenbaum was moving "past" Rittenhouse when Rosenbaum was shot, being behind Rosenbaum would have put McGinnis out of the line of fire.
This is how false narratives are started. Watch for other reporters to now claim that Rosenbaum was moving past Rittenhouse when the shots were fired. While this would not remove the danger to Rittenhouse, the narrative may be used to claim that Rosenbaum was not a danger to Rittenhouse when he was shot.
©2021 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
According to police, an adult male and female were arguing in the parking lot of the Waffle House when another adult male, who was not involved in the dispute, tried to get into his car nearby.
Police said the male from the argument attacked the other man, who then fired one shot, striking the first male in the leg.
It happened just after 9 p.m. Saturday, in the Victory Manor Mobile Park in Hinesville. According to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, the homeowner shot and killed the suspected burglar as he was trying to get inside.
A 77-year-old concealed-carry license holder fatally shot a would-be robber Saturday afternoon in Burnside on the South Side.
About 12:20 p.m., the man was in an open garage in the 500 block of East 89th Street when a vehicle pulled up in the alley and an armed male exited and demanded his belongings, Chicago police said.
Multiple sources tell ABC7 News Anchor Dion Lim the man who was shot and
killed is 21-year old Samuel Jessop-Burciaga and known by his friends
and family as "Sammy." Sources say he and another man tried to rob
someone else.
A struggle ensued and that would-be robbery victim
was able to wrangle a gun from Jessop-Burciaga and shoot him in the
face. Jessop-Burciaga fell on top of the man, as another person fired
shots. The person who was being robbed was injured, Jessop -Burciaga was
pronounced dead.
WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Police are investigating after two people were killed in a shooting in Woodbridge Friday, now identified as 20-year-old Joseph Harden and 20-year-old Zhabriell Perkins, both of Woodbridge.
According to a press release from Prince William Police, the shooting happened after two men forced their way into a home in the 14100 block of Renegade Court just before 11:30 a.m.
On November 9, 2012, Cook County Illinois created a special tax on guns. On November 18, 2015, the County board added a tax on ammunition. At the time, this correspondent believed the tax to be unconstitutional on its face. So did the Illinois Advocacy Group for Second Amendment rights, Guns Save Lives. They filed a lawsuit, challenging the tax law, on December 17, 2015.
The lower courts in Illinois did not agree. They did not find a problem with the taxes. Guns Save Lives appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. The case was decided on October 21, 2021. The decision was unanimous, 6-0. Chief Justice Anne M. Burke did not take part in the decision. The judges ruled the taxes to be unconstitutional, but the majority decision was a narrow ruling based on tax law instead of the Second Amendment or the Illinois State Constitution. From sj-r.com:
The Cook County gun tax, which took effect in April 2013, imposed a $25 fee for retail gun purchases in the county, as well as a 5 cent fee per cartridge of centerfire ammunition and 1 cent per cartridge fee for rimfire ammunition.
The taxes were challenged by the trade group Guns Save Life Inc. in a lawsuit against the county.
The Supreme Court’s Thursday opinion, written by Justice Mary Jane Theis, stated that, “While the taxes do not directly burden a law-abiding citizen’s right to use a firearm for self-defense, they do directly burden a law-abiding citizen’s right to acquire a firearm and the necessary ammunition for self-defense.”
The
majority opinion held that under the Illinois Constitution, taxing power
and regulatory power are separate. They held, under Illinois law,
taxing is not regulation. Thus, the strong pre-emption statute passed in
Illinois as part of the weapons law reforms required by the Seventh
Circuit, did not apply to taxes. Then they found the tax did not conform
to the requirements of the Illinois tax code, and thus, was
unconstitutional, because it impacted a fundamental constitutional
right.
Part of their decision is troubling. It accepts a fundamental error in the assumption about the nature of reality. Cook County asserts "gun violence results from guns". From the decision:
Here, the entity responsible for justifying the tax, the County, maintains that the tax classification is justified since a reasonable relationship exists between the special tax and the object of the ordinances. The proffered justification for the taxes is to fund the staggering economic and social cost of gun violence in Cook County. The County asserts that firearms and ammunition are instruments of death and that their harmful effects cost the County immeasurably in terms of public health, safety, and welfare.
This is a straw man argument, because
it only looks at guns, and only at the harm done with guns. It does not
consider the positive uses of guns. Moreover, the inherent assumption
is, if there were no guns, the harm would be eliminated or reduced. From
the evidence, that is false. The harm would continue to be done, simply
with other instruments, and plausibly would be greater than the harm
done with guns.
The majority of justices do not mention these facts. Instead, they accept the false premise:
In applying that standard to the firearm and ammunition taxes, we recognize that the uniformity clause was “not designed as a straitjacket” for the County (Arangold, 204 Ill. 2d at 153) and acknowledge the costs that gun violence imposes on society.
It is not clear the mere presence of guns imposes any net costs on society. The evidence indicates there are no net costs. Net benefits of the presence of firearms in society are likely.
Justice Michael
J. Burke concurred with the rest of justices in a special opinion. His
opinion is particularly convincing. The argument is straight forward.
The Illinois Constitution does not allow taxation of the right to keep
and bear arms. From the decision:
Justice Michael J. Burke, specially concurring:
Moreover, the reason why those statutes preempt handgun regulations, not handgun taxes, is obvious—the Illinois Constitution only allows the legislature to preempt regulations, not taxes. And taxes that infringe the right to keep and bear arms are already precluded by the Illinois Constitution. See Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 22; id. art. VII, § 6. Moreover, even if the statutes mentioned by the County did intend to specifically preserve for home rule units the power to tax handguns in the manner under consideration here, that would not show that the framers of our constitution intended to authorize a home-rule unit’s discriminatory taxation of firearms, where the text of that constitution clearly prohibits taxation that infringes on the right to keep and bear arms.
In
Illinois, the police power and the taxation power are separate. The
Illinois Constitution only places a limitation of the right to arms
subject to the police power. From the Illinois Constitution:
SECTION 22. RIGHT TO ARMS Subject only to the police power, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
The amendment specifically forbids any other power being used to infringe on the right to arms.
The Illinois protection for the right to arms is not very strong. In the case of taxes, it appears to be strong enough.
©2021 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Denmark told the detective that the man turned around, approached the driver’s side of his truck and rested his arms on the driver’s window. Denmark allegedly told the man to back up and get off his truck.
He told officers that the man became angry, said “This is westside mafia” and punched Denmark in the face. Denmark said he backed up, picked up his gun and fired one shot in self-defense. Denmark said he didn’t think the bullet hit the man because the man walked away. Denmark told deputies that he heard someone from the black car yell, “Go. Just go!” and so he drove away.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says two of the victims were transported to Regional One Hospital in critical condition. The Applebee’s general manager was shot in the arm. He is expected to recover.
Witnesses say a patron inside the restaurant got into a shootout with a suspect outside after the suspect shot at the patron’s car.
At least two men broke into a house at 1733/35 Creek Road just before 12:30 a.m. and confronted the resident.
Neighbors said they heard multiple gunshots from within the house, and police have identified Jonathan Winkler, 27, of Monroe, Orange County, as the deceased suspect. The other suspect fled the scene and is being sought by State Police.
The resident of the home was also shot in the altercation and was airlifted to UVM Medical Center in Burlington for treatment. Police said his injuries are not life-threatening.
Surveillance footage captured the Puerto Rican artist smoking outside by himself when a pickup truck pulled up in front of him. An armed man hopped out of the passenger seat and robbed Kerr Yen at gunpoint.
Kerr Yen quickly cooperated and calmly tossed his bag towards the thief. However, as the robber was picking up the bag, Kerr Yen drew his gun and shot at him. The robber was able to take off with the bag before quickly running back to the truck. Kerr Yen fired more shots at the truck as the two men got away.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A jury has found an Albuquerque man not guilty for killing his neighbor. Prosecutors say Christopher Tabor shot and killed his neighbor Daniel Salazar in 2019 after a fight over a barking dog.
When they tried to leave, officials say they were confronted by an off-duty officer. Officials say the off-duty officer used a personal weapon to return fire at the suspects who fled and left the scene. When the suspects fled, the deputy got the license plate number.
“He came upon a situation where there was an armed robbery going on,” said Cabarrus Sheriff Van Shaw. “He discharged his personal weapon in that process and then rendered aid to the store owner who was wounded in that robbery.”
One of the suspects, identified as 21-year-old Sean Christian Parker, was shot and was taken to the hospital in Albemarle. Deputies found the other two suspects in a neighborhood nearby.
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