09 January 2014

Self-Defense: A Case Study in "How Not to Do It"

How did this guy become that guy? Let us count the ways...
An Anchorage man shot in the head early Tuesday outside his Mountain View apartment remains hospitalized and on life support, his mother said Wednesday.

In the meantime, new details emerged in the charges filed Wednesday against Talon Draper, 19, accused of shooting his neighbor, Jermaine Twiley, 22.

According to the charging document, this is what happened: Twiley and his girlfriend were yelling at each other inside an apartment at 3424 Thompson Ave. during the early morning hours Tuesday.

{snip}

About an hour later, neighbors heard the couple yelling again. The girlfriend was screaming for someone to call 911.

This time, Draper dialed 911. He also got a .22-caliber rifle out of his bedroom closet and loaded it. He went to the door of the family's third-floor apartment -- the door appears to open onto a walkway -- and saw Twiley running down the street.

"He yelled for Twiley to stop and fired his gun twice, striking Twiley in the back of the head," the charges say.

Back inside the apartment, Draper asked his family to call 911 because the man he had shot needed help. Draper told his mother "he screwed up," according to the charges.

Officers found Twiley lying facedown in the street with a gunshot wound to the back of his head, according to the charges ... 

Homicide Unit chief Slawomir Markiewicz said Draper told detectives he saw Twiley reach for something while he was in the street and shot in defense of someone else: the girlfriend in the altercation, who was still back at the apartment. Markiewicz said there was no evidence that anyone else was near Twiley, who was unarmed.

You can read the whole story at the link, but ... wow.

So he had time to load his rifle, went outside, and shot the man - who was running away - in the back of the head.

So much fail.

19 comments:

Brock Townsend said...

Fail it is and off to prison we go.

Rev. Paul said...

Yes indeed.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

While not justifying his actions, that was some good shooting. Two to the head, running target, in the dark (or street lights). Wrong action, and he will probably pay for it with hard time.

Rev. Paul said...

I had the same thought - good shot placement. Unfortunately, it was the wrong target & he's going to pay for it with his next couple of decades, if not longer.

Old NFO said...

+1 on WSF and your comment...

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

This young man will be going off to prison. What on earth was he thinking?

Rev. Paul said...

Thanks, NFO.

Rev. Paul said...

I suspect his desire to be "a hero" overloaded his common sense.

Keads said...

That is epic fail right there. I commented last night that it would take some really extenuating circumstances to get involved in a 3rd party self defense scenario.

Rev. Paul said...

You're right, Kelly - and this wasn't the scenario he obviously thought it would be.

PioneerPreppy said...

I have no words.

Yet something doesn't seem right like there is a connection there not being mentioned as well.

Rev. Paul said...

Anything's possible, Preppy. Time will tell.

Teresa said...

I'm with PioneerPreppy. As with most news stories we only get part of whatever happened. Not that I think he was right shooting a man who was running away, but I do wonder what the real story is. It's almost as if he wanted an excuse to shoot the guy and this was it. Weird.

Rev. Paul said...

It's entirely possible, Teresa.

Rev. Paul said...

Rec'd this comment via e-mail from gfa: "Had the shooter been one of the
'authorities' he'd receive a medal. Just fanning the flames."

Murphy's Law said...

I can't help but note that the shooter, at age 19, is "unemployed and supported by disability payments. " that and he looks like Shaggy from the old Scooby Doo cartoon.

That's all.

Rev. Paul said...

I was thinking d'Artagnan, but yeah, you could be right too.

Unknown said...

First degree murder that's what it is. The old double standard. What if the races were reversed. A black man shooting a white man while he is running in the back of the head & see what his charge or bond be. And would the be referred to as good shooting.

Unknown said...

Good shooting if it's not you, huh. Rev.Paul your comment are worse that a Pastor or imitation Pastor s with any sense would make. Such Human tragedy. Your opinion would be different if it were in your household fo sure.