(TN) Home invader shot to death 07-12-03

[WAGCEVP]

(TN) Home invader shot to death 07-12-03


[This is a separate case from the one I sent previously. It briefly
describes several additional cases in which Memphs residents shot
intruders.]
*******************************


Home invader shot to death

http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_2104948,00.html

Home invader shot to death
By Bill Dries
[email protected]
July 12, 2003

One man was shot to death and another was wounded after they forced a
man inside his East Memphis home Friday night, police said.
The shooting was at 4555 Dunn near Perkins and Willow.

Insp. Richard Sojourner said the shooting came after two men confronted
the resident of the Dunn home at a Union Planters ATM at Perkins and
Quince. They ordered him to withdraw money, but the machine kept his ATM
card.

They forced the man back into his car, Sojourner said, and went to
another ATM, where the same thing happened with a second ATM card.

The two then forced him to drive them to his home to get some money, and
when they went inside, the resident pulled a gun and shot both of them.

Police would not release the identities of any of the three.

The shooting marked the latest in a series of incidents in which
homeowners have shot attackers who broke into their homes or forced the
residents inside.

Among them:

William Ronnie Payne, 45, was shot to death when he tried to force his
way into a home at 4212 Warbonnet Wednesday night.

Kevin Martrell Humphrey, 19, was killed and a second suspect was injured
June 13 when they tried to force their way into a home at 2959 Lark.

David Ronald Washington, 44, identified by police as the so-called East
Memphis cat burglar, was shot to death when he broke into a home at 3980
Wildwind Cove about 2:35 a.m. June 13.

 

[Darrin]

Note to bad guys: Don't break into homes in Tennessee.

 

[4v50 Gary]

They answered Kharma's call. Rehabilitation through reincarnation!

 

[Standing Wolf]

The shooting marked the latest in a series of incidents in which homeowners have shot attackers who broke into their homes or forced the residents inside.

If I were a criminal, I'd get the @#$%^&! out of Tennessee and go to Missouri.

 

[Carlos Cabeza]

(Burglar).....he he, easy money.....................................BANG !
word of wisdom to burglars........just flip burgers, someday you'll make manager.

 

[Matt G]

Strange-- you'd think that word would get around.

Maybe it will, now.

 

[tobeat1]

Heheheh. Gotta love Memphis.

 

[12GA]

Interesting discussion regarding this shooting taking place here

Shooting Debrief

 

[Zedicus]

Mat G: (Burglar).....he he, easy money.....................................BANG !
word of wisdom to burglars........just flip burgers, someday you'll make manager.

LMAO!
Good One!

 

[Seminole]

Today's Memphis Commercial-Appeal had an update on the case.

Killer of robber not to be charged

Was rightfully defending himself

By Chris Conley
[email protected]
July 15, 2003

State prosecutors will not pursue criminal charges against a 22-year-old East Memphis man who killed one home invader and wounded a second.

But Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons cautioned Monday against taking the law into one's own hands.

Ricky Ricardo Wilborn, 21, was fatally shot Friday night at 4555 Dunn. An alleged accomplice, Ali R. Ford, 24, was critically wounded.

On Monday, police charged Ford with aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping of Jason Filippelli, 22.

About 10:45 p.m. Friday, Filippelli was at the Union Planters ATM at Quince and Perkins withdrawing money, when he was accosted by two armed men who demanded his money.

Filippelli gave the gunmen the money he had withdrawn, but they demanded more, police said.

When he attempted to withdraw additional money, the machine kept his card.

Filippelli was then forced to drive to another ATM, at Perkins and Knight Arnold, but he was unable to get any money, police said.

He was then ordered to drive to his home, where he was escorted inside by Wilborn. Filippelli was able to draw a pistol on Wilborn and shot him dead.

Ford confronted the victim and was also shot, police said. It was unclear whether Filippelli had the pistol inside the house or was carrying it.

The District Attorney General's Office, after reviewing the investigative file on the shooting, concluded that Filippelli was rightfully defending himself and should not be charged.

"Each homicide case is individually reviewed based on the facts," Gibbons said.

"These decisions should not be taken as a sign that it is legal to use deadly force solely to protect or recover property," he said. "In such cases, those individuals may be prosecuted."

Last Wednesday, the 71-year-old homeowner at 4212 Warbonnet in Westwood fatally shot a would-be intruder. Gibbons's office ruled that a justifiable homicide, as well.

But Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons cautioned Monday against taking the law into one's own hands.

"These decisions should not be taken as a sign that it is legal to use deadly force solely to protect or recover property," he said. "In such cases, those individuals may be prosecuted."

Good result, but the DA's statements are disturbing. "Taking the law into one's own hands?!" Using "deadly force solely to protect or recover property!?"

 

[TallPine]

Stolen from polite-society.org ...



RangeMaster Student Involved in Shooting - Excellent Performance/Lessons Learned
I just got the following from Tom Givens at RangeMaster. It is a debrief of student involved shooting that has a lot of good learning points regardless of which school(s) you've been to.

Also, while trying not to step on toes, I'd point out that Tom teaches classes on the road as well. His preferred technique is very Weaver-esque and dovetails nicely with FS Doctrine.



quote:
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In the past four weeks in Memphis, there have been four incidents in which a homeowner shot and killed a home invader. The most recent incident occurred last Friday night, and involved a Rangemaster student. I debriefed him Saturday morning, and would like to share some of his experiences with you. Our student will be referred to as J, and the Bad Guys as BG1 and BG2.

J had gone to a shopping center just a few blocks from his East Memphis home, in a nice residential area. The two BG's came around a vehicle and accosted him. As they came into view, BG1 already had a pistol out and pointed at J. J was wearing a concealed pistol (S&W 908), but wisely decided to wait and see if he could get an opening to respond. The BG's ordered him to an ATM nearby and had him insert a card, which the machine promptly ate. They then forced J into his truck and made him drive home, saying he had better have some money there. Upon entering the house, still at gunpoint, they ordered him to his room to look for money.

BG2 left the room, and BG1 bent over to pick up some cash he found in a drawer. At that point J drew his concealed gun, and fired 6 rounds at BG1, hitting him with 5 of them. BG1 collapsed and was DRT. J pivoted to cover the door of the room and waited. BG2 apparently assumed his partner had just executed J, and came strolling through the door, only to be met by J, who fired 2 quick rounds into his chest. BG2 ran away and collapsed outside. J was not injured. J called 911 and the police arrived quickly, coming from another call just a few blocks away. No charges are being contemplated against J.

J and his mother came by Rangemaster to thank us for providing him with the physical skills and the mental preparation to handle such an incident. He also bought a bigger gun, an XD-40. Here are some thoughts on J's experience.

1. Stay calm and focus your thoughts and energies on finding a way to win!
2. Once an opening was available, J moved swiftly and decisively. An AGGRESSIVE counter-attack saved the day.
3. Bullets are cheap, don't be stingy with them. It was critical to RAPIDLY incapacitate these dangerous offenders, and that is best accomplished with fast repeat hits in the torso.
4. In the four such incidents in the past month, two involved one BG, and two involved two BG's. Be prepared for multiple adversaries.
5. Although "only going to the store" J wore his sidearm. You simply cannot predict these incidents. If you don't have your gear with you, you sure won't get to defend yourself with it.

Our sincere congratulations to J for a job well done.

Tom
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To answer likely questions here are some additional facts based on already asked questions:


quote:
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For your info-- ammo was Federal 9mm 124 grain Hydra-Shok. Of 5 torso hits, all expanded and stayed within BG's bodies. Two peripheral hits went through. One miss. 8 shots, 7 hits. Not bad!

TG
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About the ATM:

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BG's took his wallet. He had an inactive card. That was the one they grabbed.

Tom
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Drizzt]

Cat burglar knew 'game was up'
Brazen thief told sister he would rather die than return to prison

By Chris Conley
[email protected]
July 13, 2003

The day before he was shot and killed inside a Hickory Hill home, cat burglar David Ronald Washington told his sister he could never return to prison.

In and out of lockup his entire adult life, 44-year-old 'Little Ronnie' knew that with his record, he would spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted again. Even so, within a month of his parole in February, he went on a spree of house burglaries unprecedented in Memphis.

Burglary detectives have attributed 87 break-ins to Washington so far. They think he may have been responsible for as many as 300 before he was killed June 13 during a fight with the homeowner.

For 3d months, Washington worked at his trade almost nightly. He slipped in through windows wearing gloves, a dark hood and clothing to hide his 5-foot-5, 140-pound frame.

He took only cash and jewelry. He never bragged about his exploits. He didn't work with a partner or carry a gun.

Police have recovered a small portion of the loot and don't know what he did with the rest.

When confronted inside homes, Washington fled, escaping through the same window he entered. And while he never attacked any of his victims, he scared the daylights out of several.

"He came creeping down the hall, and I saw a head stick around the bedroom door," said 80-year-old Jerome Morrison of East Memphis.

"I yelled that I was calling 911. . . . He scared the hell out of me," Morrison said.

Others told police of waking up in the middle of the night and seeing the cat burglar hovering over them.

In April, he crawled through a window, walked in on a couple eating supper and dove out the same window.

On June 3, a sleeping woman heard a bumping noise and woke up to see an intruder standing over her.

The woman's boyfriend chased the man out of the bedroom, down the stairs and into the kitchen, where the burglar crashed through a window.

One victim described his encounter with the cat burglar as "very eerie, very creepy," according to police reports.

Despite Washington's care to mask his identity, by April, burglary detectives were hot on his trail. The cat burglar wasn't leaving fingerprints, but his method of operations had rung a bell with Burglary Det. Daniel Barham.

Back in 1996, while working as a patrolman in the East Precinct, Barham had helped investigate a series of burglaries with very similar earmarks, and he remembered the burglar was named Washington.

Detectives discovered that Washington, who had been convicted in 1997 for a series of burglaries in East Memphis, had been released from state prison in February.

Barham said Washington looked for a particular type of window, with multiple panes on the top and bottom.

He would remove a pane from the bottom section using a putty knife or something similar, then reach up and turn the lock, Barham said.

In mid-April, after one burglary victim identified Washington in a photo spread, police charged Washington in the first of three warrants for burglary.

By early June, Washington's picture was everywhere: on television, on fliers, in the newspapers. Detectives were combing South Memphis, where Washington had lived briefly with his mother after getting out of prison, and watching his haunts.

As the police closed in, Washington kept slipping into homes, sometimes four or five a night. Nothing seemed to faze him.

One May night, he was chased out of two houses by homeowners armed with guns, Barham said. Washington committed three more break-ins later that night.

"He was unique, the best I've ever seen," Barham said. "To him, it was a job, except it was 9 to 5 a.m. for him."

Burglary detectives regret they were never able to interview Washington, to see how he thought and operated.

"He was a cat, and he utilized all his lives," Barham said.

When Washington was shot and killed in the Hickory Hill home of Memphis Fire Department investigator Christopher Howard, police said Washington had items he had taken in burglaries earlier that night.

The shooting was ruled a justifiable homicide. Last week, Howard declined a request for an interview.

Washington's sister said her brother knew he was playing for keeps.

"The game was up," Brenda Word said.

The day before he died, Word said, she had spoken to her brother. "I'd rather die than go to prison," she said he had told her.

Family members debated whether to turn him in, and now regret they did nothing, she said.

"I'd rather see him alive in jail than dead," Word said.

Washington's fatalism is not unusual for certain types of criminals, said Memphis clinical psychologist Dr. John Hutson, who has testified in dozens of criminal trials and interviewed hundreds of suspects.

Cat burglars are a rare breed, proud of their smarts and ability to evade capture, Hutson said. They get a kick out of invading the homes of others, because "there is a thrill factor."

Washington, for instance, preferred going into homes where there were people. He was not scared of alarms or dogs. He would move slowly in the houses unless cornered.

But such anti-social males, by the time they get into their 40s and start to slow down, often think about suicide.

"They think too much of themselves to kill themselves, so they often find a proxy," Hutson said.

"They want to go out in a blaze of glory."

http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_2105759,00.html

 

[CGofMP]

Strange-- you'd think that word would get around.

Dead men's lips are usually pretty quiet.. Hard to warn off his buddies

Seriously though YEA you'd think that even with the 4th grade education theyd be able to turn on the radio.


Still if Tennessee people continue this sort of thing the recividism rate for violent criminals will go to ZERO in a few years.


Charles

 

[Jeff OTMG]

My guess is that the perps are too stupid to read and can't read the newspaper so remain uninformed. This is a good thing as it allows the chlorine to have the greatest effect on the gene pool. Tenn. will be a better place.