North Carolina folks fight back.......
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:20 am
http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/198785.html
DANGEROUS DECISION
Some robbery targets fight back
But police don't advise self-defense because of risk for serious injury
CLEVE R. WOOTSON JR.
cwootson@charlotteobserver.com
Three times last week, would-be victims fought back against people trying to rob them, injuring two and killing a third.
The incidents span Charlotte and include the city's most recent slaying, a 24-year-old who was shot after struggling with the occupants in an east Charlotte house whom police say he was trying to steal from.
In North Carolina, it's legal to shoot someone in self-defense or while defending another person. It's also dangerous, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police recommend against it. Comply with the robber, they say, then call officers afterward.
The three cases last week have all been sent to the District Attorney's office, which will decide if charges will be filed.
The latest incident happened about 3:45 a.m. Friday when the owner of a limousine business and his driver were about to pull the company's stretch SUV into the garage on South Tryon Street. When they went outside, two men pulled up in a small car.
"The guy was pointing the gun, and he said, `Don't move. Don't move. Give us everything you have,' " said the owner, who asked that his name and company's name not be used so customers wouldn't be scared off.
The owner and his driver handed over their watches and wallets. One of the assailants went around to rummage through the limo, while the other trained a gun on the owner and the driver, telling them not to move.
That's when a laptop in the passenger seat caught the robber's eye.
"He decided to hold the gun on me at the same time while he was trying to reach the computer," the owner said. "He was focusing on getting the bag, and I was focusing on the gun, so I just grabbed the gun. While we were wrestling with it, it went off."
The robbers fled. But a few minutes later, police said, a man with a gunshot wound to the chest was dropped off at Carolinas Medical Center. Police believe the man, who is still in the hospital with life-threatening injuries, may be the robber.
In the other incidents:
• Just before 9 p.m. Tuesday, police say Michael Travis White walked into a house at 5816 Eastbrook Road with a handgun. The people in the house struggled with him, and White was shot. He died a day later at Carolinas Medical Center.
Police are waiting on the District Attorney's Office to see if any charges will be filed.
• Just after 7 p.m. Monday, a robbery suspect was taken by paramedics to Carolinas Medical Center with life-threatening injuries after he and an accomplice tried to hold up a 58-year-old man.
Police say the two armed men confronted the victim near a parking lot off Beatties Ford Road, just north of Interstate 85. But the victim pulled out a gun of his own, police say, and shot one of the men.
The wounded suspect's identity has not been released. Police have not released an update on his condition. The other man fled on foot.
Serious risks
Police never suggest that robbery victims fight back. "Honestly, what happens more is we tend to see people injured when they confront these folks," said Sgt. Kevin Barbee, of the police department's armed robbery division.
In one 11-hour period earlier this month, there were three robberies where the victims ended up in the hospital with gunshot wounds. The shootings included a man who died after being robbed in the Double Oaks community in northern Charlotte. It was unclear whether the victims fought back.
Then there are the legal issues. People who shoot robbers, even in self-defense, face further legal scrutiny, if not by police, then by the district attorney.
In May, the district attorney charged a McDonald's employee who shot at a man trying to rob the restaurant. The employee wasn't charged with murder, but he was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, stemming from a 2001 conviction for cocaine possession.
"The law authorizes you to defend yourself, but the case has to be thoroughly investigated by the detective," Barbee said. "We do not make the determination even when one of our officers is involved in a shooting."
Someone who successfully defended himself against a robber is not sure he'd try it again.
"The best thing is to be cooperative with the people," the owner of the limousine company said. "I got the gun from his hand. But it could have been different."
Newsroom: Letters to the Editor
opinion@charlotteobserver.com
DANGEROUS DECISION
Some robbery targets fight back
But police don't advise self-defense because of risk for serious injury
CLEVE R. WOOTSON JR.
cwootson@charlotteobserver.com
Three times last week, would-be victims fought back against people trying to rob them, injuring two and killing a third.
The incidents span Charlotte and include the city's most recent slaying, a 24-year-old who was shot after struggling with the occupants in an east Charlotte house whom police say he was trying to steal from.
In North Carolina, it's legal to shoot someone in self-defense or while defending another person. It's also dangerous, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police recommend against it. Comply with the robber, they say, then call officers afterward.
The three cases last week have all been sent to the District Attorney's office, which will decide if charges will be filed.
The latest incident happened about 3:45 a.m. Friday when the owner of a limousine business and his driver were about to pull the company's stretch SUV into the garage on South Tryon Street. When they went outside, two men pulled up in a small car.
"The guy was pointing the gun, and he said, `Don't move. Don't move. Give us everything you have,' " said the owner, who asked that his name and company's name not be used so customers wouldn't be scared off.
The owner and his driver handed over their watches and wallets. One of the assailants went around to rummage through the limo, while the other trained a gun on the owner and the driver, telling them not to move.
That's when a laptop in the passenger seat caught the robber's eye.
"He decided to hold the gun on me at the same time while he was trying to reach the computer," the owner said. "He was focusing on getting the bag, and I was focusing on the gun, so I just grabbed the gun. While we were wrestling with it, it went off."
The robbers fled. But a few minutes later, police said, a man with a gunshot wound to the chest was dropped off at Carolinas Medical Center. Police believe the man, who is still in the hospital with life-threatening injuries, may be the robber.
In the other incidents:
• Just before 9 p.m. Tuesday, police say Michael Travis White walked into a house at 5816 Eastbrook Road with a handgun. The people in the house struggled with him, and White was shot. He died a day later at Carolinas Medical Center.
Police are waiting on the District Attorney's Office to see if any charges will be filed.
• Just after 7 p.m. Monday, a robbery suspect was taken by paramedics to Carolinas Medical Center with life-threatening injuries after he and an accomplice tried to hold up a 58-year-old man.
Police say the two armed men confronted the victim near a parking lot off Beatties Ford Road, just north of Interstate 85. But the victim pulled out a gun of his own, police say, and shot one of the men.
The wounded suspect's identity has not been released. Police have not released an update on his condition. The other man fled on foot.
Serious risks
Police never suggest that robbery victims fight back. "Honestly, what happens more is we tend to see people injured when they confront these folks," said Sgt. Kevin Barbee, of the police department's armed robbery division.
In one 11-hour period earlier this month, there were three robberies where the victims ended up in the hospital with gunshot wounds. The shootings included a man who died after being robbed in the Double Oaks community in northern Charlotte. It was unclear whether the victims fought back.
Then there are the legal issues. People who shoot robbers, even in self-defense, face further legal scrutiny, if not by police, then by the district attorney.
In May, the district attorney charged a McDonald's employee who shot at a man trying to rob the restaurant. The employee wasn't charged with murder, but he was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, stemming from a 2001 conviction for cocaine possession.
"The law authorizes you to defend yourself, but the case has to be thoroughly investigated by the detective," Barbee said. "We do not make the determination even when one of our officers is involved in a shooting."
Someone who successfully defended himself against a robber is not sure he'd try it again.
"The best thing is to be cooperative with the people," the owner of the limousine company said. "I got the gun from his hand. But it could have been different."
Newsroom: Letters to the Editor
opinion@charlotteobserver.com
Slaying??? That's an interesting word to use for a self defense shooting.
.:.;";' 
