Saturday, March 01, 2008
Prince George's County, Maryland
From the The Washington Post of March 1, 2008
Armed Man Fatally Shot by Security Guard
A private security guard shot and killed a 26-year-old man at an apartment complex near Glassmanor Elementary School in Oxon Hill yesterday morning, Prince George's County police said.
About 9 a.m., the guard approached two men in the 1000 block of Marcy Avenue, said Cpl. Arvel Lewis, a police spokesman. One of the men produced a handgun, and the guard opened fire, striking him, Lewis said. The other man fled the complex on foot.
The wounded man, later identified as Dominique Emanuel McFadden, of the 800 block of Marcy Avenue, died at a hospital. Police found a gun in his possession, Lewis said.
Lewis said police are looking for the other man, described as black, 18 to 20 years old, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and a baseball cap.
Police have not identified the security guard.
Glassmanor Elementary School was locked down briefly after the shooting, but it had reopened by midday.
Lewis said it was unclear what caused the confrontation or whether the two men shot at the security guard. Lewis said that it appears that the security guard's action was justifiable but that an investigation of the shooting had to be completed.
"It appears that he was doing his job, which is to check on people within the apartment complex," Lewis said. McFadden "pulled a gun on the guard. . . . You've got to defend yourself, definitely."
Labels: MD, private security
Monday, December 03, 2007
Salisbury, Maryland
From December 2, 2007 WMDT channel 47:
Police say a man attempted to break into a home on Santa Fe drive on Saturday, but was stopped by a gunshot.
The man was shot under the arm by the owner of the home while trying to break into their home.
He was taken to PRMC and treated for minor injuries.
Police are still looking for two more suspects who fled the scene in a white station wagon.
Labels: home invasion, MD
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Pasadena, Maryland
From the Maryland Gazette of October 24, 2007
Investigator shoots pit bull in Pasadena
Ryan Scott knew his dog was going to die when he held him in his arms yesterday morning.
The Pasadena man came home on his lunch break to let his 7 month-old pit bull, Hershey, outside. Within a few moments, the dog would be shot by a man identified as a Social Security investigator after the animal got loose.
"I picked him up and I knew he was going to die," Mr. Scott said.
Cpl. Mark Shawkey, county police spokesman, said officers who arrived at Mr. Scott's home on Colony Road at just after 11 a.m. found a official from the Office of the Inspector General.
He told them he was investigating a Social Security case. They did not release his name last night.
The investigator told police he warned the person who answered the door several times to call the dog and that the animal chased after him.
Police said the animal, which weighed 50 to 60 pounds, was shot at very close range, with the shot fired almost straight down. No charges have been filed.
Dorothy Clark, spokesman for the Social Security Administration, said yesterday afternoon that her office had not been informed of the incident. She was unable to say if anyone from the Office of Inspector General was in Pasadena yesterday. The office investigates cases where a Social Security number is fraudulently used to obtain benefits.
Mr. Scott said he wasn't outside when the dog was shot. Hershey, seeing company coming to call, was excited and jumped up on the inspector playfully, he said.
...
Both Mr. Preissler and Mr. Scott argue that if the inspector had time to call off the dog, there was no need to shoot him.
"Obviously he wasn't in imminent danger," Mr. Preissler said.
Mr. Scott's sister had called the dog, who was running back toward the house with his back to the inspector, Mr. Scott said.
"He definitely made the wrong call. The dog wasn't even doing nothing," he said.
Mr. Scott said that he thought pit bulls get a bad reputation, but he has two others and doesn't worry about the baby his girlfriend is carrying being around the dogs.
"I believe because he was a pit, they shot him," Mr. Scott said.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Baltimore, Maryland
From September 18, 2007 Baltimore Sun:
A 21-year-old man was shot multiple times about 9:30 p.m. Sunday when he attempted to rob another man in the 100 block of N. Howard St. Police said a gunman was in the process of robbing another man when the intended victim, 22, grabbed the handgun, turned it toward the gunman and shot him before dropping the gun to the ground. Police said when the robber charged at the victim, the victim retrieved the gun from the ground and shot the other man two more times. The intended robbery victim fled and was being sought. Police said Calvin Ray was shot in the right side of the chest, a hip and lower back and was in serious condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Charges against Ray were pending.
Labels: criminal's gun taken away and used against him, MD, street robbery
Friday, August 31, 2007
Grantsville, Maryland
From the Cumberland Times-News of August 31, 2007
Man shoots bear in self-defenseFrom the Cumberland Times-News of September 4, 2007
Maryland Natural Resources Police said Friday they will not charge an Amish Road man who shot a bear after it charged him and his wife and then attempted to come through a window after the couple sought refuge inside their home Wednesday evening.
“They had every right to do what they did,” said Clarissa Harris, a biologist with the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service. “It is appropriate to defend yourself or your family or your livestock.”
NRP Sgt. Ken Turner said Friday that the husband and wife heard commotion outside their house and then saw a bear trying to get at two penned goats.
“The man said he shouted at the bear and the bear turned and ran toward the couple. He told the investigating officer that he was glad nobody was seated on the porch because the bear moved so quickly that they would not have had time to get into the house,” Turner said.
The bear then attempted to pull an air conditioning unit out of the window frame as the wife held onto the unit from inside.
The husband grabbed a shotgun, loaded it with No. 4 pellets and shot through the window at the bear, according to Turner.
The couple called Maryland State Police at 7:30 p.m. and at 8 p.m. a NRP officer arrived to find the bear struck in the head and neck area and lying, still alive, in the yard. Turner said the officer then put the bear down.
“We were not dealing with a typical black bear, it seems,” Turner said, referring to the aggressive actions of the animal.
Harris said there is evidence that the bear, a 134-pound lactating female, may have been previously injured by an automobile. “There was a rash, lost hair and scrapes,” Harris said. “We have also sent the head away to be tested for rabies.” Harris said there was no evidence of cubs being nearby.
The location of the incident is described as Amish Road not far south of Intestate 68. Because it has brought no charges in the matter, the NRP would not release the family’s name.
Harris said the family did the correct thing by calling the agency right away. “There is a new law in effect that requires people to report that they have shot a bear,” she said.
Bear tests positive for rabies
The aggressive bear that was killed a week ago by an Amish Road homeowner after the animal charged and then attempted to pull out a window air conditioner has tested positive for rabies, a Garrett County health official said Tuesday.
“We sent the head to our health and mental hygiene lab in Baltimore on Thursday and got the results Friday,” said Steve Sherrard, director of environmental health for the county’s health department.
At 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 29, the homeowners had heard a commotion outside and saw a bear attempting to get at two penned goats. When the husband hollered at the bear, it wheeled and charged the man and his wife, who retreated into their house. At that point, the bear attempted to pull out the air conditioner while the wife held onto it from inside.
The husband then shot the bear through the window, striking it with No. 4 shotgun pellets in the head and neck. The bear was eventually put down by a Natural Resources Police officer.
“After consulting medical personnel at Sacred Heart (Hospital), the family, including two children, will be getting the post-exposure rabies shots,” Sherrard said. “Apparently the exposure to blood came when they were cleaning up the house where the bear had made contact.”
Harry Spiker, who heads the bear management program for the Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service, said that neither the police officer nor a wildlife employee who responded will receive shots.
“Our wildlife staff all have the pre-exposure vaccine,” he said.
NRP said the homeowners were acting in self defense and will not be charged for shooting the bear. They have not been identified.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Hagerstown, Maryland
From the Hagerstown Herald-Mail of July 2, 2007
Inturder shot, killed in apartment
A 32-year-old Hagerstown man is dead and a 21-year-old man faces 18 charges after an apparent attempted robbery early Sunday at Youngstoun Court turned violent, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's deputies were called to an apartment on Youngstoun Court shortly after 3:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of a shooting, according to a news release. Deputies found James Michael Conely, of 329 Central Ave., dead in a bedroom, allegedly shot and stabbed by one of the apartment's residents during a struggle.
Michael John Watkins, of 42 East Ave., has been charged with first-, third- and fourth-degree burglary; first-, third- and fourth-degree conspiracy to commit burglary; and two counts each of attempted armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted theft and conspiracy to commit theft.
According to charging documents, the apartment's occupants - Carri Humphrey, 22, and Michelle Reeder, 24 - were preparing for bed at about 3 a.m. Sunday when someone knocked at their door. Humphrey said she looked through the peephole and saw a man who looked like another resident of their building.
She opened the door, and Conely, carrying a rifle and covering his face with a red bandanna, rushed in to the apartment, documents state. Humphrey said she screamed to Reeder to get her handgun. Conely then pushed Humphrey into a closet door, hit her in the face and head with his fist, and pointed his gun at her, documents state.
Reeder retrieved a handgun she owned, ran into the living room and saw Conely holding his gun to Humphrey's head, documents state. Reeder said she took cover behind a couch and attempted to fire a warning shot, but her gun's safety was still on. As she turned it off, Conely pointed his gun at her and said he was going to kill her, documents state.
Reeder said she fired several shots at him, but couldn't tell whether she hit him because he was still coming toward her. Police said Conely suffered a gunshot wound to the upper torso.
Reeder said Conely struck her on the head with his gun, and she briefly blacked out. Then, she said, he chased her into her bedroom, where they struggled, documents state.
Humphrey said she locked herself in the bathroom to call 911, and, hearing the fighting in the bedroom, ran to that room. Reeder told her to "get me my knife," she said, so Humphrey got the knife and gave it to her roommate. Reeder stabbed Conely in the back, and the women fled to a neighbor's residence, documents state.
A deputy responding to the call spotted a man on Mount Aetna Road who matched the description of the one who allegedly knocked on the women's door. He took the man into custody.
Watkins told police that he had been at Conely's residence Saturday night, and that Conely had said he knew of an apartment where they could find drugs and money, documents state. Watkins said the men then planned a robbery, and Conely directed Watkins to the women's apartment. Watkins said he didn't know Conely had a gun, according to the charging documents.
The women were treated at Washington County Hospital and released, a hospital spokeswoman said Sunday.
Labels: home invasion, MD, residence robbery
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Layhill, Maryland
From Gaithersburg’s Gazette.net of December 14, 2006
Two men, armored guards trade fire outside Layhill bank
A shootout featuring armored truck guards and two men took place Thursday morning in Layhill as a delivery was being made at a bank. One of the guards suffered a gunshot wound and one of the other men may also have been shot, according to Montgomery County Police.
The driver and guard of the Dunbar Armored truck arrived about 11 a.m. at the Bank of America, 2101 Bel Pre Road, when they were approached by two men, one with a gun.
Police said both the guards and the men fired shots. One of the guards was hit, and was treated at an area hospital; the condition of the other man who may have been shot is unknown.
The men fled toward the Sunoco gas station on Bel Pre Road, joined two to four other men, and drove away in a 2003 blue-green Volkswagen Jetta, which police say was carjacked by the men.
A silver Chrysler minivan was also seen leaving the scene.
The original driver of the Jetta was unharmed and the car was found unoccupied a few hours later, but the location of the car was not released, according to Cpl. Sonia Pruitt, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County Police.
Pruitt also said that it did not appear that the armored truck employees and the men knew each other.
Labels: defender shot, MD, street robbery
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Accident, Maryland
From the Cumberland Times-News of December 5, 2006
Fatal domestic incident act of self-defenseFrom the Oakland Republican of December 14, 2006
Police said that the fatal shooting of an Indiana County, Pa., man early Sunday in Accident apparently was the result of self-defense.
Lt. J.D. Murphy of the Garrett Bureau of Investigation said that 29-year-old David Wayne Lancaster of Saltsburg died at Garrett Memorial Hospital in Oakland after he was shot three times with a .22-caliber handgun fired by Norris Rush, 52.
The shooting occurred at 4:31 a.m. in the kitchen of the Rush residence on Friendsville Road after Lancaster grabbed a butcher knife and inflicted a deep wound to Rush’s hand. Rush then discharged the handgun at close range, striking the victim in the stomach and chest.
Rush reportedly declined medical treatment at the scene.
Police said Billie Jo Zimmerman was also present at the time of the shooting and that all three people appeared to be “extremely intoxicated.” Lancaster, Rush and Zimmerman were said to be friends.
Zimmerman was not injured.
Police said there was no record of prior domestic complaints at the Rush residence.
Maryland State Police responded to the scene and following preliminary investigation, the case was forwarded to GBI.
The incident remains under investigation.
Domestic Related Shooting Still Under Investigation By PoliceFrom Baltimore’s WJZ.com of October 12, 2007
The recent shooting death of David Wayne Lancaster, 29, Saltsburg, Pa., is still under investigation, and has not been ruled self-defense as previously reported.
Police responded to a residence on Accident Friendsville Road Dec. 3 for a domestic-related shooting. Further investigation revealed that Lancaster had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body. He was transported by Northern Rescue Squad to Garrett County Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:31 a.m. His body was transported to the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Baltimore for an autopsy.
According to police, witnesses have been interviewed, and the investigation is continuing.
"I am satisfied this investigation is being handled by trained, experienced police officers," said Lisa Thayer Welch, state's attorney for Garrett County. "When all evidence has been collected and reviewed, appropriate action will be taken. The analysis of forensic evidence can take weeks so it is premature for any conclusions to be made."
Man Charged With Murder In Garrett Shooting
Authorities in Garrett County have made an arrest in a fatal shooting they initially considered to be a case of self-defense.
The sheriff's office says 51-year-old Norris Rush of Accident is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting at his home last December that killed 29-year-old David Lancaster.
Rush was arrested Thursday after State's Attorney Lisa Thayer Welch reviewed evidence and filed criminal charges. Bond was set at $50,000.
Police reports soon after the shooting said Rush shot Lancaster with a handgun after Lancaster stabbed Rush's hand with a butcher knife.
Labels: altercation, MD
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Crofton, Maryland
From the November 7, 2006 Washington Post:
One man was killed and another was critically wounded Sunday during a "gun battle" at a Crofton home, Anne Arundel County police said.
Responding after noon to a report of a shooting at 1709 Leisure Way, police found one man dead. He has not been identified. A resident of the house, Christopher Michael Haramis, 25, had been shot multiple times, police said. He was in critical condition yesterday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
Police said the shooting may have been tied to an earlier confrontation during a party at the house.
About 2 a.m., police said, a man and a woman who had stepped outside the house were confronted by two men looking for cash.
"The persons inside the residence came out and basically interrupted the robbery and subsequently fought with the robbers," said Lt. David Waltemeyer, a police spokesman. "The robbers then ran away, making away with money, and no one was injured."
Those robbers may have been the two men who came to the house midday Sunday, Waltemeyer said. Haramis, who was inside the house with three others, was armed and shot the intruder, who died at the house, police said.
It is unclear who shot Haramis, police said, adding that the other intruder fled.
Labels: defender shot, MD, residence robbery
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Baltimore, Maryland
From the Baltimore Sun of June 8, 2006
A rare twist in killing
Grand jury chooses not to indict after abused woman testifies
After hearing from the admitted shooter herself, a Baltimore County grand jury declined yesterday to indict a Randallstown woman who killed her estranged husband in April after, she said, he showed up unexpectedly at her home and threatened her with an ax handle.
The 23 jurors deliberated for less than a half-hour before deciding not to charge Karen L. Foxx, 35, with a crime in the death of her husband, Herman E. Bullock, 45.
In an extremely unusual turn of events, the grand jurors heard about 90 minutes of closed-door testimony from Foxx, and were given the chance to question her about the shooting and her husband's history of abusing her before making their decision.
"It's a very rare thing," said Margaret A. Mead, the criminal defense attorney who sought permission from prosecutors to allow Foxx to testify yesterday. "I always believed that this shooting was very justified - tragic, but justified - and I thought the best way to get that across was to get her in front of a grand jury."
Mead - who was not permitted in the windowless grand jury room on the first floor of the Baltimore County Circuit Courthouse in Towson while her client testified - declined to discuss what Foxx told her of prosecutors' and jurors' questions. She also said that Foxx was not feeling up to being interviewed yesterday.
"She's relieved, but it's still very sad," said Mead, who added that her client wept when informed of the grand jury's decision. "She did love this man, no matter how horrible he was to her. ... She feels responsible, but relieved, that she won't have to compound any of this with having to face a criminal proceeding."
Foxx, an office secretary, had sought court orders to keep her estranged husband away, filed criminal assault charges against him, changed her phone number and bought a gun to protect herself.
She dialed 911 at 4:30 p.m. April 1 to tell police that she had just shot Bullock in the townhouse the couple had shared until June 2005 - a two-story unit to which officers had been dispatched numerous times on domestic calls. Foxx told police she fired the gun after Bullock threatened her with an ax handle - a piece of wood about the length of a baseball bat without the metal ax head attached that she had been using in the tracks of a sliding glass door to secure it.
(Much more)
Labels: domestic abuse, MD
Friday, April 21, 2006
Fort Washington, Maryland
From Washington’s NBC4.com of April 21, 2006
Police Tell More About Fort Washington Killings
Son Allegedly Used Shotgun to Kill Robber
Prince George's County police have released new details about how a double homicide unfolded at the home of a pizza restaurateur in Fort Washington, Md.
Patricia Caniglia, 59, was shot at least once in the head with a .40 caliber handgun, News4 reported. Her son, Antonio Caniglia, was armed with a shotgun, which he fired, killing the gunman.
Police spokesman Lt. Terence Sheppard told News4, "The son was actually in the residence at the time. He called 911 to advise police as to what was going on. The suspect then came downstairs where he was confronted by the son."
Antonio Caniglia was taken to a police station where he was questioned by authorities. He voluntarily gave a statement in the presence of an attorney and after that statement, News4 reported he was released.
All police have released about the alleged robbery suspect is that he was an African-American male. And so far, police have not revealed how the man got to the Fort Washington address. Investigators said so far, no conclusive evidence has been found to prove that a break-in occurred.
Police said cell phone records of everyone connected to the case is being examined to try and establish connections between people and places.
Meanwhile, a wreath, flowers and words of condolence have been left at Mamma Mia's Pizza restaurant in Waldorf, Md., which Patricia Caniglia co-owned with her husband Roscoe. He's said to be receiving a lot of support from the many fans and friends he's made over the 26 years the restaurant has been in Waldorf.
Labels: MD, residence robbery
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Randallstown, Maryland
From Baltimore’s WJZ.com of April 1, 2006
Randallstown Woman Kills Husband In Self-DefenseFrom Baltimore’s WBAL.com of April 10, 2006
Baltimore County police say a woman shot and killed her husband, apparently in self-defense, at their Randallstown-area townhome this afternoon.
Police spokesman Bill Toohey says the woman's husband had been threatening her with a weapon before she shot him.
The 35-year-old woman called 911 around 4:30 this afternoon and calmly told the operator that she had shot her 44-year-old husband. She met police at the door when they arrived at her townhome on Gilly Way.
Let Marylanders Protect Themselves by Ron Smith
I can get quite worked up while reading the morning newspaper. It happened again Saturday when I got to the Sun’s Maryland section and saw a story headlined, “Two killings test right of self-defense.” I knew what was coming.
Here’s Jennifer McMenamin’s lead. “Karen L. Foxx had sought court orders to keep her estranged husband away, had filed criminal charges against him and changed her phone number. She also bought a gun to protect herself, and last Saturday, her lawyer says, Foxx did just that when she fatally shot her husband.”
The story then tells us that her case and that of businessman Mark Beckwith, who fatally shot one of three men who attacked him in the upper parking lot at the Village of Cross Keys in North Baltimore a couple weeks ago, has led to the legal right of self-defense being “under examination.”
Consider the known facts of these cases and then ask what in the world would make these killings criminal. Foxx shot her estranged husband, Herman Bullock, in her home, from which a court order banned him. “In requests for protective orders,” the Sun story says, “she wrote that Bullock had threatened to kill her, slapped her, dragged her down the stairs, threatened her with an ax handle and kicked, punched pushed and choked her.” Also, she wrote that he had killed their Chihuahua by throwing it out the door, breaking its neck.
Furthermore, there are ample court records alleging violence by Bullock, not only in his relationship with Foxx, but also accusations from his first wife who filed for divorce from him in 1999. She alleged that Bullock had abused her in front of their children, dragged her down the stairs by her hair and abused their dog.
So this brute shows up at a home he is legally forbidden from visiting, she shoots him dead and we’re supposed to take seriously the notion that maybe she could have violated the rules governing self-defense? Like how many shots did she fire or where the gun was in the house whether his fingerprints were on the ax handle and whether she could have handled the threat from him by calling the police. Remember, “Call 911 and Die?” Remember the warning, “Call for a cop and call for a pizza and see which one gets there first?”
In the Beckwith case, the gas station owner pulls into the Cross Keys parking lot on St. Patrick’s Day to deposit money from his gas stations, when he’s set upon by three men apparently intent on robbing him. They hit him and try to grab the cash when he pulls away, yanks his Glock from a shoulder holster and opens up. One assailant dies, another is wounded and later arrested while seeking treatment for his wound.
Beckwith, whom I’ve known for thirty years, has been legally carrying a gun for two decades because of the necessity in his business of dealing with substantial amounts of cash. Never had he used it, or even brandished it. But the reason concealed carry permits are issued even in Maryland to people like him is to enable them to protect themselves in pretty much the kind of scenario that unfolded in that parking lot.
Some states give their residents the unquestioned right to protect themselves with force against those who would do them violent harm. Maryland should too, since there should be no question in cases like these that the law sides with the potential victim, not with the attacker.
Labels: domestic dispute, MD
Friday, March 17, 2006
Baltimore, Maryland
From the Baltimore Sun of March 17, 2006
City police say man fatally shoots attacker
A man who was being robbed today in a shopping center parking lot shot and killed one of his attackers, police said.
The incident occurred about 1:50 p.m. outside Cross Keys Village in Baltimore when a man was attacked while getting out of his car, Baltimore Police spokesman Officer Troy Harris said.
The man pulled out a gun and fired several shots, hitting one of the attackers, according to police.
The man, who was described by police as being in his 50s, was registered to carry a concealed weapon, police said.
"He was severely beaten but nothing life-threatening," Harris said.
Crews transported both the wounded suspect and the victim to Sinai Hospital, where police say the wounded suspect died.
Two suspects remain at large, and a white car they were using was found at Cold Spring Lane and Greenspring Avenue, according to police.
A companion story from the WBAL Radio of March 19, 2006
Cross Keys Robbery Victim IdentifiedFrom Baltimore’s WBAL.com of April 10, 2006
The owner of at least one gasoline station has now been identified as the man who turned the tables on a gang of violent bandits Friday in a parking lot at the Village of Cross Keys.
Police confirm that Mark Beckwith of Bel Air was the man being beaten as he left his car, apparently on his way to a Columbia Bank branch in the Cross Keys shopping center off Falls Road in north Baltimore Friday afternoon.
Beckwith was able to get back to his sedan and get his handgun, which he fired. One of the attackers soon died at Sinai Hospital, while another one was wounded in the hand. That man, 29-year-old Corey Mcleaurin, was treated at two hospitals and has been charged by police in connection with the attack on Beckwith, who is 57.
Authorities say that Beckwith has a permit to legally carry a handgun. While the specific reason he was issued such a permit has not yet been released, in Maryland concealed carry permits are given to persons who carry quantities of cash or valuables or who have reason to believe they may be under threat. One police spokesman Friday said that persons "in the public eye" may be issued concealed carry permits.
The man who died at the hospital has been identified as 22-year-old Keith Love of Yale Avenue in Baltimore.
Two other men involved in the attack, including a getaway car driver, are still being sought by police. The car was found soon after the incident, abandoned at Cold Spring Lane and Greenspring Avenue.
The exact location of Beckwith's gasoline station or stations remained unconfirmed early Sunday morning. A Baltimore Sun article in 1997 said that Beckwith quit a banking job to join partners in running a gas station in Timonium, and the newspaper story said that he also owned stations in East Baltimore at the time. Some neighborhood residents said that Beckwith owns one of the gasoline stations at Cold Spring Lane and Falls Road, but that information has not been confirmed. The intersection is a few blocks from the entrances to the Village of Cross Keys, an upscale and gated community not far from Roland Park and Hampden.
No charges have been field against Beckwith.
Let Marylanders Protect Themselves by Ron Smith
I can get quite worked up while reading the morning newspaper. It happened again Saturday when I got to the Sun’s Maryland section and saw a story headlined, “Two killings test right of self-defense.” I knew what was coming.
Here’s Jennifer McMenamin’s lead. “Karen L. Foxx had sought court orders to keep her estranged husband away, had filed criminal charges against him and changed her phone number. She also bought a gun to protect herself, and last Saturday, her lawyer says, Foxx did just that when she fatally shot her husband.”
The story then tells us that her case and that of businessman Mark Beckwith, who fatally shot one of three men who attacked him in the upper parking lot at the Village of Cross Keys in North Baltimore a couple weeks ago, has led to the legal right of self-defense being “under examination.”
Consider the known facts of these cases and then ask what in the world would make these killings criminal. Foxx shot her estranged husband, Herman Bullock, in her home, from which a court order banned him. “In requests for protective orders,” the Sun story says, “she wrote that Bullock had threatened to kill her, slapped her, dragged her down the stairs, threatened her with an ax handle and kicked, punched pushed and choked her.” Also, she wrote that he had killed their Chihuahua by throwing it out the door, breaking its neck.
Furthermore, there are ample court records alleging violence by Bullock, not only in his relationship with Foxx, but also accusations from his first wife who filed for divorce from him in 1999. She alleged that Bullock had abused her in front of their children, dragged her down the stairs by her hair and abused their dog.
So this brute shows up at a home he is legally forbidden from visiting, she shoots him dead and we’re supposed to take seriously the notion that maybe she could have violated the rules governing self-defense? Like how many shots did she fire or where the gun was in the house whether his fingerprints were on the ax handle and whether she could have handled the threat from him by calling the police. Remember, “Call 911 and Die?” Remember the warning, “Call for a cop and call for a pizza and see which one gets there first?”
In the Beckwith case, the gas station owner pulls into the Cross Keys parking lot on St. Patrick’s Day to deposit money from his gas stations, when he’s set upon by three men apparently intent on robbing him. They hit him and try to grab the cash when he pulls away, yanks his Glock from a shoulder holster and opens up. One assailant dies, another is wounded and later arrested while seeking treatment for his wound.
Beckwith, whom I’ve known for thirty years, has been legally carrying a gun for two decades because of the necessity in his business of dealing with substantial amounts of cash. Never had he used it, or even brandished it. But the reason concealed carry permits are issued even in Maryland to people like him is to enable them to protect themselves in pretty much the kind of scenario that unfolded in that parking lot.
Some states give their residents the unquestioned right to protect themselves with force against those who would do them violent harm. Maryland should too, since there should be no question in cases like these that the law sides with the potential victim, not with the attacker.
Labels: concealed carry permit, MD, street robbery
Monday, February 27, 2006
Salisbury, Maryland
From Salisbury’s DelMarVaNow.com of February 27, 2006
Suspected robber injured
A man shot and seriously injured an intruder looking to rob his home in a quiet neighborhood on Old Ocean City Road early Sunday morning, police said.
John Steve Collian, 48, underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition at Peninsula Regional Medical Center, according to state police from the Salisbury barrack. They said Collian was shot in the abdomen after he allegedly broke into and tried to burglarize a home on the 3300 block of Old Ocean City Road just before 1 a.m., but was interrupted by the homeowner.
The victim, James Joseph Rozaieski, 36, shot Collian one time before calling 911, police said in a news release that did not disclose additional details.
"A lot of it depends on exactly what the suspect has to say about all this and he's in the hospital right now," said Sgt. Daugherty with the state police. "We don't want to jump to any conclusions."
The home, a neat, single-story brick house with a "No Trespassing" sign in its front window, sits at the front of a gravel driveway leading to the Salisbury Church of Christ, about 200 yards west of the Route 13 Bypass. Church officials said the home is unrelated to the organization.
Employees at PRMC said they have no record on Collian, who has no fixed address, and could not indicate his condition late Sunday afternoon.
State police said members of the Wicomico County Sheriff were first to arrive on the scene and said the case has been turned over to the Wicomico Bureau of Investigation.
Labels: MD, residence burglary
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Baltimore, Maryland
From TheBalChannel.com of January 4, 2006
Police: Store Robbery Leads To Shoot-Out
Three People Shot At Northeast Baltimore Market
Two juveniles and a storeowner remain hospitalized Wednesday evening after an apparent robbery and shoot-out.
Baltimore police responded at about 2 p.m. to Keeper's Market, located at the intersection of Brehms Lane and Brendan Avenue.
WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Lowell Melser reported the convenience store was filled with students and other customers when three boys under the age of 18 began robbing the store.
Police said they first received notification from a holdup alarm inside the store before a flood of 911 calls came in reporting shots fired.
"The storeowner was able to get to a weapon and gunfire was exchanged. Two of the suspects were struck, as well as the owner; the third suspect got away," Baltimore police spokesman Donny Moses said.
Melser reported the two boys' injuries were not life-threatening, but the condition of the storeowner was unknown. The third boy remains at large.
Melser said the store has been under new ownership over past seven months. Neighbors said Wednesday's incident marks a second robbery in recent weeks.
Labels: business robbery, defender shot, MD
Monday, October 03, 2005
Bowie, Maryland
From Maryland’s Gazette.net of October 3, 2005
Father shot in Bowie, police say likely self-defense
A man with history of domestic violence was killed in Bowie Oct. 2 when his son returned fire after he shot at the son and his daughter-in-law.
The son and daughter-in-law were admitted to Med Star hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The man, Michael Snoots Sr., was pronounced dead at the scene.
At 10:39 p.m., police believe the man, who traveled from Tennessee, entered his son’s house, on the 8000 block of Chestnut Avenue by breaking out a rear window glass door.
A witness said he saw Snoots walking up the stairs in the house with a shotgun, according to police reports.
Then Snoots fired a gun in the bedroom where his son and daughter-in-law were located.
The witness told Snoots, ‘‘Don’t do this” and Snoots pulled a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the witness and said ‘‘do you want to get shot?”
The witness said he believes it was at this point that Michael Snoots Jr. fired a gun of his own and struck his father.
The father has a history of domestic violence said, Lt. John Hipps of District 2 Police Station.
At first, police were worried that his wife was already killed in Tennessee. Hipps said that she has since been reported to be in West Virginia.
The case is being investigated by the county’s homicide unit. Lt. Hipps said that the case will probably be categorized as self-defense.
‘‘I personally don’t think they will be charged,” Hipps said.
Labels: domestic abuse, MD
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Laurel, Maryland
From the Laurel Leader of September 29, 2005
Armed carjacking
Sept. 22: 14800 block of Baltimore Ave. - A retired county police officer, who lives in Beltsville, told police he was approached by a man who asked him for change for a $20 bill.When the victim said he did not have the change, the man said he had run out of gas and asked if he could use the victim's cell phone. The victim told police that when he went to get his cell phone from his truck, the robber pulled out a handgun and demanded the keys to the victim's truck and his cell phone. According to the police report, as the robber got in the truck to drive away, the retired officer fired his handgun at the carjacker. The armed robber fled, with another truck following him, which police suspect may have been an accomplice. No one was injured.
Labels: carjacking, MD
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Bryans Road, Maryland
From the April 24, 2005 Washington Post:
No criminal charges will be filed against a Bryans Road woman who fatally shot a man who broke into her home and attacked her boyfriend this month, Charles County authorities said.
The Charles County state's attorney's office made the decision after reviewing the Charles County Sheriff's Office's investigation of the shooting.
Authorities said Clayton Maurice Smith, 43, broke into the woman's home on Heather Drive early on April 6 by throwing a cinder block through the front window. Smith, of Bryans Road, and the woman had been involved in a relationship that ended in December.
Once Smith was inside, the sheriff's office said, he began assaulting the woman's boyfriend, a 54-year-old Washington man. Smith struck him several times in the head with a metal steering-wheel locking device that Smith had tied to his hand, investigators said.
When Smith would not stop hitting the man, the woman got a handgun and fired one shot. Smith died at the scene. Police were called to the residence just before 4 a.m. Authorities said the woman lawfully owned the handgun and kept it at her home.
Labels: assault, domestic dispute, home invasion, MD
Silver Spring, Maryland
From May 16, 2005 WJLA channel 7:
Layhill, Md. (AP) - Police say the Silver Spring homeowner who shot a suspected burglar used a properly registered gun.
The investigation is continuing, but authorities in Montgomery County (website - news) say the unidentified suspect apparently robbed another house 15 minutes earlier.
In that case, another homeowner found a man in front of his house on Eastway Drive. The man claimed to be looking for someone, then drove off in a red Geo. The homeowner soon realized someone broke in through an open window and ransacked a room.
Police moments later answered a call on Whitehaven Drive, where they say the suspect broke down the front door and came face to face with a gun-toting homeowner - who shot him in the hand and side.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Prince George's County, Maryland
From Washington’s WTOPnews.com of March 31, 2005
Police Look for Victim Turned Shooter in NortheastNo subsequent stories about this incident were found.
A would-be carjacking victim in Maryland turned the tables on his alleged attackers by pulling out a gun and shooting them.
The driver shot one teenager in the stomach, and had a bullet graze the face of the other.
Police in Prince George's County believe the carjacking attempt and shooting took place on Route 450. They believe the teens then drove to a Northeast D.C. housing project, where they claimed to have been shot during a robbery.
But investigators soon learned the truth.
Police spokesman Corporal Joe Merkel says both suspects are believed to be 16. A lot less is known about the shooter.
Among the things they want to know is exactly what happened -- and whether the gun is legal.
Labels: carjacking, MD
Friday, November 19, 2004
Bel Air, Maryland
From the Baltimore Sun of November 19, 2004
Suspect arrested in attempted holdup outside Harford Mall
An attempted holdup of an armored truck ended amid gunfire yesterday afternoon outside an entrance to Harford Mall, and a suspect -- found hiding in a food court employee break room -- was arrested, Bel Air police said.
Shortly before 3 p.m., police received a 911 call reporting a gunshot near the east side food court entrance to Harford Mall. The shot had been fired by a Brinks armored carrier employee at a would-be robber outside the mall along U.S. 1, where the truck had arrived moments earlier for a pickup at a Liberty Federal Savings & Loan branch, police said.
The shot shattered an entrance door to the mall, and the fleeing suspect ran into the door and fell before recovering and running inside, police said.
During a search of the food court, after officers received a description of the suspect, a 27-year-old man hiding in the break room was arrested without incident, police said.
Labels: MD, street robbery
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Crofton, Maryland
From the Baltimore Sun of July 15, 2004
Shooting victim may have been a burglar
The victim of a shooting Tuesday afternoon in Crofton apparently was shot multiple times after he was caught burglarizing a home by one of its occupants, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday.
Police had not released the name of the victim, whom they described as a 40-year-old white male. He was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center and was in serious but stable condition yesterday morning, police said in a news release. An updated condition was unavailable yesterday evening.
Police said the man was suspected in several other burglaries in the immediate area but that he had not been charged.
Sgt. Jim Cifala, the on-call public information officer, said last night that victims' names are not released if they are suspected of a crime. He said he had no additional details on the shooting.
Police officials were unavailable yesterday afternoon to discuss the incident.
Officers who responded to the incident about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday found the shooting victim in the parking lot of a nearby medical building, where he had collapsed.
The shooting occurred in the 1400 block of Defense Highway. Police declined to identify the occupant of the home in the news release, saying he had not been charged with a crime.
At the conclusion of the investigation, the state's attorney's office will determine if the shootings were justified, police said in a news release.
Labels: MD, residence burglary
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Adelphi, Maryland
From Washington's WTOPNews.com of January 20, 2004
Homeowner Shoots, Kills Intruder in Maryland
A would-be burglar is dead after the owner of the home he was trying to break into shot him. Police say at this point no charges have been filed against the homeowner, but police will be consulting with the Maryland state attorney.
Police in Prince George's County got a 911 call Tuesday morning from a man who lives in the 1900 block of Ruatan Street in Adelphi.
He allegedly got out a ladder and tried to get into an upstairs window.
"He advised us that someone was trying to break into his home," said Corporal Fred Merkle. "The suspect placed the ladder against the side of the victim's home and we believe he was attempting to gain entry into the home"
Police say the homeowner came outside and confronted the burglar, then shot him once in the chest. The burglar died at Washington Hospital Center.
Investigators are still trying to determine if the homeowner will be charged.
Labels: MD, residence burglary
