St. Louis, Missouri

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of March 31, 2005
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Police say killing was self-defense

A robbery attempt in a house in the 5300 block of Maple Avenue early Wednesday turned into a wild fight that ended up with all three participants shot, one of them fatally, St. Louis homicide detectives said.

Darryl Blockton, 21, was slashed with a butcher knife and fatally shot after he had shot and wounded Jerelle Gatlin, 31, and Gatlin’s girlfriend, Twanna McNeil, 27, with a shotgun blast, police said. McNeil’s 8-year-old son may have witnessed much of the fight, police said. He was unhurt.

Gatlin was in serious but stable condition at a hospital with gunshot pellet wounds of the abdomen and left shoulder. McNeil was treated at a hospital for pellet wounds of the right thigh and released, police said.

Detectives said Gatlin fired several shots at Blockton during a struggle over a shotgun and pistol, and McNeil also fired a couple of shots at Blockton and slashed him with a butcher knife.

No criminal charges will be brought against the couple because Blockton was the aggressor and the couple acted in self-defense, authorities said.

Police said Blockton went to the couple’s home shortly before 2 a.m. to collect a debt from Gatlin and to sell him a shotgun, but the visit soon turned into a robbery and then a fight.

Bensalem, Pennsylvania

From the March 28, 2005 Bucks County Courier-Times:

A Philadelphia man shot and killed one man and seriously injured another after at least six others began fighting with him at a Bensalem Wawa early Easter morning, police said.

No charges have been filed and police declined to release the names of anyone involved until their investigation is completed.

Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons said a group of 17- to 20-year-old Philadelphia residents were drinking and partying late Saturday night into Sunday morning in a room at the Neshaminy Motor Inn on Route 1 in Bensalem. The motel is about 100 yards from the Philadelphia line.

When they got noisy and were kicked out of the motel, they crossed the highway to the Wawa gas station and convenience store, according to Gibbons. Shortly before 2 a.m. the crowd of young men got into a fight in the parking lot of the store with a 24-year-old man they didn’t know, police said. It was unclear how the fight started, but Gibbons said the 24-year-old was beaten before he pulled a gun and shot Matt Taylor, 19, of Mayfair and another Philadelphian, 18.

The 24-year-old had not been involved in the earlier drinking party and did not appear to have been drinking, according to Gibbons.

…

Police also photographed the 24-year-old man’s injuries from the fight. According to Gibbons, her office and the Bensalem police are continuing to look into the incident.

This March 28, 2005 report from NBC10 calls it a murder, and claims that the men who were shot were trying to help the 24-year-old:

Wawa Murder Shocks Bucks Community

Teen Killed, Another Critical After Shooting

…

Taylor’s family said that the two were trying to help a man who was being attacked. Police said that a 24 year-old man has admitted to firing the shots. Police said that the man had a permit to carry a firearm.

No arrests or charged have been filed.

From Philadelphia’s KYW1060.com of June 2, 2006

Buxco Grand Jury Says Wawa Shootings Were Self-Defense

A Bucks County grand jury has cleared a Philadelphia man in connection with a deadly shooting last year in the parking lot of a Bensalem, Pa. convenience store.

The grand jury report finds that 25-year-old Randy Dillon was clearly defending himself when he was attacked by eight teens outside the Wawa store on Route 1, in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday, 2005.

District attorney Diane Gibbons says the teens had been drinking at a hotel across the street before assaulting Dillon, who was legally allowed to carry the gun he used. She outlines the grand jury’s additional findings:

“That the eight individuals in the parking lot — including Matthew Taylor, the deceased; including Alex Ryzinski, who was shot in the parking lot — are not the victims of any crime. That members of that group were the physical aggressors.”

The grand jury found that Dillon fired three warning shots and the attackers still didn’t back off. The report finds that the shot that killed Taylor was fired while Dillon was on the ground being punched and kicked.

DA Gibbons adds that she intends to pursue charges in connection with the underage drinking.

Columbia, South Carolina

From Columbia‘s WIStv.com of March 30, 2005

Deputies call fatal NE Richland County shooting self-defense

Authorities are calling a fatal shooting Wednesday morning self-defense.

Around 10:40am Wednesday morning, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department responded to a shooting that happened in the roadway of Fowler Street near Hard Scrabble Road in the northeast area of metro Columbia.

The Richland County Coroner’s office tells WIS that Harry McCray, 36, was transported to Palmetto Richland Hospital with a single gunshot wound to the chest. He died around 11:22am. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

The sheriff’s department says McCray attacked a man whose car broke down in front of his house, leading to the shooting.

Kingsport, Tennessee

From Memphis’ WMCStations.com of March 30, 2005

83-year-old woman wrestles, shoots at burglar

Authorities say a man broke into an 83-year-old Kingsport woman’s home and took her purse, but not before she fought with and fired a couple of shots at him.

Kingsport Detective David Quillen said the man broke into the woman’s home about 3 a.m. yesterday and when she confronted him, they struggled and she fired a handgun at him.

The man, who was not hit, then took the woman’s purse and fled. He was arrested about twenty-minutes later by a Sullivan County deputy sheriff, who charged the man with drunk driving.

Kingsport police then charged the man, forty-four-year-old Mark Foulk, with robbery and aggravated burglary.

Wichita, Kansas

From the Wichita Eagle of March 30, 2005

Intruder’s bullets just missed table of three children

Intruders trying to shoot their way into a home Monday morning fired into a kitchen door, and on the other side sat three young children at a breakfast table.

“It’s fortunate that those bullets went straight into the kitchen cabinet and not to the left, hitting one of those kids,” Capt. Randy Landen of the Wichita Police Department said Tuesday.

None of the children, nor a woman at the table with them, were hurt. But two men were in the Sedgwick County Jail awaiting criminal charges.

A third intruder remained in a Wichita hospital with multiple gunshot wounds after one of the residents fired back.

According to police reports:

The shoot-out resulted in 16 shots being fired between the intruders and a man who lived at the house in the 2700 block of North Wellesley. One of the intruders, a 20-year-old man, was shot multiple times and suffered a fractured hip.

The resident who fired back with a handgun was shot in the left arm.

Robbery was the apparent motive behind the shootings.

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San Antonio, Texas

From San Antonio’s MySanAntonio.com of March 30, 2005
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Gun-toting homeowner lies in wait for burglars

George Shandy said he did would-be burglars a favor Tuesday night after they broke into a vacant East Side house he owns — he held them at gunpoint instead of shooting them.

Early Saturday morning, Shandy had shot a man in the arm with a 9 mm handgun for trying to steal a TV out of the same house in the 1800 block of Dawson Street, according to a police report.

After another burglary Monday, in which someone pinched a china cabinet, Shandy left the property door unlocked Tuesday night and hid in a side room, anticipating a break-in.

Later, two men in their 30s showed up to negotiate a sale on the house’s washer and dryer, San Antonio Police Department Sgt. Pete Rodriguez said.

“They had it unplugged, sitting in the middle of the room,” Shandy said.

Shandy jumped out of the room and told them to get on the floor.

He held them at gunpoint for five to 10 minutes, until police arrived around 9:30 p.m., Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said one of two suspects could be charged with burglary. He said the second suspect, who claimed he was lured to the house for a bargain deal and had no idea the items were stolen, might not be charged, pending a police investigation.

Robert Anthony Fields was charged with burglary of a habitation in connection with Saturday’s incident.

Spartanburg County, South Carolina

From Greenville’s TheCarolinaChannel.com of March 27, 2005

Fatal Shooting Ruled Self Defense
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The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting that killed one man.

Saengkeo Soulivong, 36, died after being shot Saturday night. Witnesses said Soulivong pulled a knife on his stepson Deth Rordsalee, 18, at their home just before 11 p.m.

Deputies said Rordsalee retrieved a gun and shot Soulivong four times in the legs.

Officials said Soulivong bled to death before paramedics arrived.

Anderson County, South Carolina

From the Greenville News of February 7, 2005

Man found shot identified

Authorities said on Sunday that they have identified a man who was shot in a domestic dispute at a home in Anderson County’s Broadway community.

Scotty Fowler, 32, died at Anderson Area Medical Center after he was shot once in the chest at a home on Phyllis Drive, said Charlie Boseman, Anderson County deputy coroner.

A shot went through Fowler’s arm and into his chest after he forced himself into the home, which was occupied by his girlfriend and her mother, Boseman said.

Authorities received a call about the shooting at 6:42 p.m. on Saturday, he said, and Fowler died at 7:27 p.m.

The investigation is continuing with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office and Solicitor’s Office, Boseman said.

No subsequent stories about this incident were found.

Seminole, Florida

From the Bradenton Herald of March 25, 2005

Deputies: Man tried to steal gun to “rescue Terri Schiavo”

A man was arrested after trying to steal a weapon from a gun shop so he could “take some action and rescue Terri Schiavo,” authorities said.

Michael W. Mitchell, of Rockford, Ill., entered Randall’s Firearms Inc. in Seminole just before 6 p.m. Thursday with a box cutter and tried to steal a gun, said Marianne Pasha, a spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Mitchell, 50, told deputies he wanted to “take some action and rescue Terri Schiavo” after he visited the Pinellas Park hospice where she lives, Pasha said.

The feeding tube that has kept Schiavo alive for more than a decade was removed March 18 over objections from her parents. Schiavo’s husband has said his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially.

Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.

Randy McKenzie, the owner of Randall’s Firearms, said Mitchell pulled out the box cutter and broke the glass on a couple of display cases.

“He told me if I wasn’t on Terri’s side then I wasn’t on God’s side, either,” McKenzie told The Associated Press.

McKenzie said he then pointed his own gun at Mitchell and ordered him to lie on the ground. But Mitchell fled out the store’s back door before police arrived, he said.

Mitchell was later arrested in a parking lot and was scheduled to appear in court Friday. He was being held on $125,000 bond on charges of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault and criminal mischief, officials said.

Basin, Wyoming

From the Casper Star Tribune of March 25, 2005

No charges in shooting death

No charges will be filed in the shooting death of a Montana man at a campground last weekend after an investigation determined the shooting was likely “justifiable,” according to the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Department.

Larry P. Thomas, 44, of Roundup, Mont., was found dead Sunday afternoon from a single gunshot wound near the Five Springs Campground, Sheriff Dave Mattis said.

“All the information we have now” indicates Thomas was shot while he was assaulting a man, Mattis said. That man and another man were detained in the Big Horn County Jail while police investigated.

“We’re not saying that the homicide was entirely justifiable, but we’re saying no charges will be filed,” Mattis said.
…

When the two men left in their vehicle, Thomas rammed them from behind with his pickup “for some unknown reason” and off the roadway, according to a sheriff’s office news release. Thomas then attacked the driver of the first vehicle and began slamming his head against rocks.

The passenger of the first vehicle grabbed his rifle, warned Thomas to stop and shot him after he continued to beat the other man’s head into the rocks, according to the sheriff’s office.

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Toledo, Ohio

From the Toledo Blade of March 24, 2005

Homeowner shoots intruder in bedroom

A central Toledo man shot an intruder as the suspect walked toward him inside his home with a radiator, police said.

Gary M. Wilson, 48, of 1329 Woodland Ave., was in critical condition yesterday in Toledo Hospital, authorities said.

Gary Holston, 42, was in his office on the second floor of his house, 1405 Woodland, about 11 p.m. Tuesday when he heard someone run up the stairs and into his bedroom. Mr. Holston said he grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun, walked into the hallway, and saw the burglar with his radiator. The suspect lifted it to head level and appeared as if he might attack.

Mr. Holston then shot the man in the leg.

Ivel, Kentucky

From the Lexington Herald-Leader of March 24, 2005

Burglary Suspect Shot, Killed In Mobile-Home Lot

A Floyd County man was shot to death Tuesday night while attempting to burglarize a double-wide trailer in an Eastern Kentucky mobile-home lot, Kentucky State Police said. The victim, Ronald Dillon, 33, of Ivel broke into the trailer, where he was confronted by Mike Kurt, manager of Luv’s Mobile Homes at Ivel, police said. Kurt, who was waiting inside the trailer at 10:08 p.m. — he had been burglarized several times recently, investigators said — shot Dillon twice in the chest with a 9-mm pistol, police said. Dillon, who lived next door in a mobile-home park, was pronounced dead at Highlands Regional Medical Center near Prestonsburg by Floyd County Coroner Roger Nelson. Police did not indicate whether Dillon was armed. No charges have been filed in the case, which is under investigation by state police.

Drain, Oregon

From the Eugene Register-Guard of March 23, 2005

Gun-toting store owner confronts burglar

Robert Poage was relaxing at home Monday night when he heard an unusual sound coming from his adjacent convenience store.

It was the clatter of coins hitting the floor.

Poage went to investigate and found a burglar looting the cash register at Cold Springs Store on Umpqua Highway 99, which Poage has owned for 14 years.

The burglar wore a ski mask and held a tire iron in one hand. He was stuffing money into his pockets.

“I opened the door and hollered at him,” Poage, 54, recounted Tuesday. “He turned and ran.”

Poage followed the burglar out the door and saw him climb into a green 1996 Pontiac Grand Am. Poage ordered him out, but the man started the engine.

That’s when Poage pulled out his .22-caliber handgun.

“I fired at his right front tire eight times,” Poage said. “Then he drove off.”

Poage’s daughter had called 911, and a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy arrived as the burglar sped away.

Poage briefed the deputy on the evening’s events, and the deputy began his search.

He found the Grand Am parked a few blocks from the store. A man dressed all in black was walking away from the car.

The deputy stopped the man, who was carrying a black ski mask and some cash.

Deputies found a tire iron inside the vehicle, which appeared to have been damaged by gunshots.

The deputy arrested Jonathan William Graham, 26, of Roseburg, who was being held in the Douglas County Jail on charges of burglary, theft and criminal mischief.

Poage said he would have done things differently if he’d had time to stop and think.

“I would have brought my shotgun instead of my .22,” he said.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

From the Albuquerque Tribune of January 4, 2005

Man killed in burglary ID’d

Police say Daniel Romero shot after trying to rob a car, home

Police have identified the man shot to death on the West Side after a burglary attempt.

Elton John Richard, 27, ran after and shot Daniel Romero, 34, on Thursday after he heard Romero breaking into his Ford Bronco and garage, said Detective Jeff Arbogast, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman.

Romero had a criminal record, mostly for driving violations, going back to at least 1987. He was charged with burglary in 1990 in Santa Fe District Court and pleaded guilty to some charges relating to the crime, according to court records.

Richard, a National Nuclear Security Administration employee, was licensed to carry a gun as part of his job, said Al Stotts, an NNSA spokesman.

“He’s a federal agent and is part of a group that protects radioactive materials shipments,” Stotts said. “In carrying out his duty, he is, of course, armed because we have valuable materials that must be guarded.”

His NNSA gun probably wasn’t used to shoot Romero because those guns are kept in federal storage facilities while employees are off duty, Stotts said.

Richard served eight years in the Marines and was in Iraq for several months during the U.S. invasion. He returned to Albuquerque in the fall of 2003 to work for NNSA, said Billy Blackburn, Richard’s attorney.

Richard has about a dozen medals for his military service, half of which were awarded for his time in Iraq, Blackburn said.

“Whether it was his military training or just a natural reaction to somebody breaking into your home, he reacted,” Blackburn said.

Police were dispatched to Richard’s house at 8205 Wolverine Drive N.W. late Thursday night on reports of a burglary.

An officer driving to the scene saw Richard in the median of Paseo del Norte just east of Eagle Ranch Road.

“I need help. I need help. They were trying to break into my house,” Richard told the officer, according to a criminal complaint.

Richard pointed to where he had last seen the burglar, and the officer found a man dead, the complaint states.

Richard told the officer he had a gun, the complaint states.

Richard was released on $50,000 bond on Monday and will be supervised during his release. He must stay in Albuquerque as part of the release agreement, Blackburn said.

“The burglar went after him first,” Blackburn said. “Clearly, based on the information I’ve received, this is a case of self-defense. The burglar broke into his car and his house – where his 15-month-old son and wife were sleeping – and then tried to get away.”

Update:

From the Santa Fe Free New Mexican of January 6, 2005

Woman recalls Romero’s kindness, heroism

A Santa Fe man shot to death during an alleged burglary in Albuquerque last week had a criminal past but also was known as a kind and even heroic person.

Daniel Romero, 34, was killed late Dec. 30 after he allegedly broke into a 1993 Ford Bronco parked in the driveway of a house in northwest Albuquerque. The owner of the house — 27-year-old Elton Richard II — allegedly caught Romero breaking into the vehicle, fought with him outside the house, chased him for about four blocks and shot him dead with a .38-caliber handgun, police have said.

Richard — a federal agent charged with safeguarding the transportation of nuclear weapons and materials — faces an open count of murder.

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St. Louis, Missouri

From St. Louis’ KSDK.com of March 22, 2005

Gas Station Clerk Fires Gun At Attempted Robber

A gas station clerk fought back in an attempted robbery Tuesday morning.

The attempted robbery happened at the Gas Mart in the 5700 block of West Florissant.

Around 6:00 a.m. Tuesday, the suspect entered the store and demanded money from the clerk. The clerk pulled out a gun and fired several times at the suspect, who ran from the store.

Authorities don’t know if any of the shots hit the suspect.