Shooting in Jacksonville, FL (Responsible Firearms Owner?)

[Guest TankerHC]

This shooting in Florida has been all over the news. I originally thought as usual, you cant rush to judgement until the facts are out because the news will always attempt to make the shooter like like the bad guy when they shoot in self defense. Of course they have also been saying Florida's stand your ground law will come into question again and the kid is totally innocent and they are holding a vigil for him, bunch of celebrities came to his Funeral. Well, I just listened to his attorney live on TV, and if what she said is true, then Im thinking maybe this guy deserves to spend some time in prison. She sure isnt helping his defense.

According to the news, he fired 8 or 9 shots. According to his Attorney this is exactly what happened. First he was sitting in his car in the parking lot when this car load of kids (Teenagers) pulled up with music blasting. His wife (or girlfriend) was in the store. It irritated him so he yelled for them to turn it down. They did "something" and he felt threatened (Attorney said once everything came out about the way it went down it will show he acted responsibly and lawfully). So he fires 4 shots from inside his car to their car. But then, he gets out of his car, walks around and fires four more shots into their car, killing a 17 year old. AND THEN, his wife (girlfriend) comes out of the store and asks what happened and he says "I just fired at those kids" and instead of calling the Police, he gets her in the car, leaves the scene and holds up overnight in a hotel, sees on the news the next morning that he killed somone and again instead of calling the Police, they flee. But someone had got his license plate, so he was caught easily.

If they pulled a gun on him (News and family is saying there was no gun), and he fired from his car in response, then I could see self defense. (Dont flame me, this is just an opinion) but the moment he stepped out of the car and moved to fire those second 4 shots, he lost that defense. ANd when he left the scene without calling the police, hid out then attempted to run when he found out he killed someone, well something just isnt right there, even if he did have a permit or in this case, it was in Florida, a permit and the Stand Your Groun law.

To give his family credit, the kid is black, and they are asking the press not to show this like it was a hate crime because she believes the guy just snapped and it could have been anyone.

His attorney (Who isnt doing her client any favors in the press) is holding him up as a long time gun collector, and an example of a responsible firearms owner. I dont know about anyone here, I live 1 mile outside Jackson, MS. Riding around and waiting in the Mall parking lot and hearing music blaring (Not just from black kids cars, white kids do it too) is an everyday thing. And yes it does irritate the hell out of me. But I cannot remember even once when it irritated me to the point of wanting to open fire on someone. I just turn up my SRV to drown it out and go about my business, loud music is no reason to shoot at somebody. Edited November 28, 2012 by TankerHC

[midtennchip]

Yeah, I read the article this morning. This is certainly a textbook case of how NOT to act after a shooting (NOTE: Guys who are planning on coming to my seminar in December, we will discuss this one).

1. Getting into a confrontation was his first mistake. If you carry a gun for self-defense, don't go looking for a confrontation.
2. Even if (and it's a BIG if) the kids had a gun, getting out of the car to keep shooting was both stupid and dangerous.
3. Leaving the scene is, perhaps, his biggest mistake from a criminal standpoint. It will be VERY hard to show a jury that he was in the right after fleeing the scene. If you shoot in self-defense, you need to be the one who calls 911 (or at least have someone call for you).
4. If this was truly a self-defense shooting, any evidence of the kids having a gun (or shooting it) would like be gone. Staying on the scene and directing LEOs to the evidence would have been a MUCH better idea.

Terrible incident for both sides.