Vet kills intruder. Good shoot or bad shoot ?

[Waitone]

Reporters can mess up an article in two obvious ways. They can omit important information or they can garble the information they do present. In this particular situation the reporter presented gun related information with seldom seen clarity.

He grabbed his SKS rifle — a weapon similar to an AK47 assault rifle — and called 911, Johnson said.

He specified the rifle "brand" properly--SKS. He described the weapon properly--similar, He identified an analog properly--AK47. And described the analog technically correct--assault rifle. In summary the reporter was splendidly accurate precisely at the point other reporters fall into a bowl of mush.

My conclusion at this point is based on his accurate portrayal of the firearms used his reportage of the remaining facts in the incident is accurate. That says nothing about facts in the incident that never made it to print. All I can do at this point is throw on a fair amount of windage and sorta kinda say the entire report was representative of what happened and that there are no gross misrepresentations or omissions.

 

[Doug Add]

I would like to see legislation for "castle doctrine" similar to that of other states enacted here.

Momentary off topic comment to p85 follows.

Just such a bill has been introduced in the state senate:

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2007&BillID=S1251

I would encourage you to contact your Senator and the members of the Judiciary Committee I (Civil) expressing your desire for this bill to become law in North Carolina. Here are the committee members and their contact information:

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Comm...ewCommittee&sActionDetails=Senate Standing_70


We now return to our regularly scheduled discussion.

 

[gunsmith]

My whole point is that according to the report the subject had not re-entered the home. Can you legally shoot an un-armed man in your backyard ?

It depends on what state your in.

 

[BBQJOE]

Had this guy been robbed by the BG before?
Or did the BG make a trip home with the guns and decide to go back for more?

Greed can be deadly.

I'd say it was a very LUCKY good shoot.

 

[Mumwaldee]

Good shoot. Good job. Good bye bad guy. Criminals beware.

*29 year old perp living with his parents...laying around getting high on his parent's dime and stealing from productive citizens to either fund his habit or arm himself for more aggressive robbery....I have zero sympathy.

 

[JesseL]

I would say that if:

• The home owner is alive
• The home owner is not in jail
• Bonus: the burglar is dead

It is by definition a good shoot. Nobody can say for sure that the homeowner was acting wisely based on on what he knew at the time, but the results can't be argued with.

 

[daysleeprx]

Forgive the off topic post...but when I first read the title of this thread I was imagining a story of a Veterinarian protecting some sick animals.

 

[PRazz]

Taking belly shots, that's a pretty bad way to go. He picked the wrong house. I don't know the whole story, only this soldier does. I certainly would not want an incident about me in the paper to be taken as truth. My personal feeling is that if I come home and find my house burglarized I will assume that:
1)the person is still present
2)he has armed himself "to the teeth" with any of my weapons not on my person and still in the house
3)deadly force will be used on any individuals found on my property who continue in a forward motion towards me, wife, kids, fish.
This would of course be with a 911 call in progress and listening if time permits. Break-ins aren't just theft based like back in the old days. The perp could be in your house for any sick reason. maybe he saw your wife at the grocery store and decided to pull a home invasion or enter and lie-in-wait. Like you say, lots of what ifs.

 

[starboard]

Another piece of trash dead and buried. I am grateful to the officer for his service, first abroad and now at home.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Home invasion burglary is a dangerous pursuit. Many never learn this.

 

[jpk1md]

AUGUSTA, Ga. — A man authorities say had broken into an Army officer’s home to steal guns was shot to death by the Iraq war veteran, who had come home early.

“While on the phone with 911, he sees the suspect approaching his back door,” Johnson said. “Because he believes the man now is armed with his stolen weapons, Mr. Bollinger fires at him three times.”

Based on what is written above I say Good Shoot.

 

[PrimaryB]

Good Shoot. This scenario could have other endings but fortunately we are posting to this one. No one likes to see a life lost. No celebration here but that is how it's supposed be.

PB

 

[thexrayboy]

Just a bit OT but.....

Provide jurors a nice salary while they are listening to the lawyers.

Where the heck do you do jury duty? Most places the pay is barely enough to cover the cost of gas and lunch for the day you are in court.

Ok back to the discussion of a shooting with poor reporting by the media and a happy outcome for the good guy.

 

[gunsmith]

well, I sure hope the bad guy has learned his lesson and will not try this stunt again!

 

[Lashlarue]

My guess is that the reporter is anti-gun.Describing the weapons so clearly as assault weapons, then leaving the impression that it was an unnecessary shooting.Since the officer was inside his home I don't believe he could see through the back door which makes me tend to believe the suspect was re-entering the premises. Having witnessed what a 45acp will do at close range, it is very possible the intruder was in the house when shot and his body ended up outside since the muzzle energy of 7.62x39 is considerably more than 45acp.

 

[Rumble]

I'm not particularly exercised about the fact that the burglar got killed here, since he was stealing guns and risking "big boy" consequences.

I at first thought that the burglar was inside and leaving by the back door, and that Bollinger saw him move past toward the door. However, the search of the burglar's residence turned up guns of Bollinger's, so I understand that to mean that the burglar was returning to Bollinger's house, after already making off with a couple guns.

I'm on the fence here--"good" or "bad" shoot will depend almost entirely on the law of the state and any specifics that crop up.

 

[fgr39]

That neighberhood of Augusta is not a good place to live. This was the second home invader shot in about a week, I think they were less than a mile from each other too. When you live in an area like that it has to be taken into account for part of the mindset. Everyone here on Fort Gordon thinks the CPT did the right thing and hopes it sends the message to other BG's that this will happen to them, we are also waiting for the report to pop up on the civil case (you know its comming). The big question I had was why is a CPT living in south Augusta? I knew enough to spend the extra money and live in Columbia County.

 

[beaucoup ammo]

The article is an abysmal example of "Police Blotter Reporting." There's not enough information to base a conclusion. There's a lot missing here.

Having discovered many of his weapons missing, however, I feel the homeowner was justified in shooting the criminal.. as I also would have to assume the guy was armed and coming back into my home.

I'd really like to know the real skinny and not just a bad attempt at reporting.

 

[foob]

4- Did the perpetrator make any "Furtive moves" when re-entering the Army Officer's residence? If he did, the shoot was good. If he didn't and the officer could articulate the 2 facts above, still a good shoot.

I would say it wasn't a good shoot if all the officer had to go on was fear and reasonable belief the target was in possession of firearms.

I believe the basic standard consist of
1. ability
If he saw the target carrying a firearm or other weapon, this criteria would definitely be satisfied. Unfortunately, all he had was
(i) stolen firearms (which could have occurred hours ago after he left for work)
(ii) unknown man approaching back door
It's not clear this criteria is satisfied, and may be best decided by a jury.

2. opportunity
It seems, from the minimal details, that the target approached the back door from outside (probably stole firearms and stored it away, came back for more). Considering the target wasn't carrying any firearm, and the officer could see the target well enough to put 2 out of 3 shots into the stomach area, it is unclear whether the opportunity to cause immediate, unavoidable deadly harm to the officer was there.

3. jeopardy
I don't think the officer could tell the intent of the target was to cause deadly harm to him, or that the danger was immediate and unavoidable. So this criteria also doesn't seem to be reasonably met.


Not considering castle doctrine laws, none of the 3 criteria mentioned above seems to be met, at least not convincingly. So I'm very surprised he wasn't charged, and would make a wild guess that his military history played a part. Also it was a home shoot, not CCW on the streets, so that also probably influenced the investigators.

From my cynical point of view, I'm glad a burglar has been punished and a man defended his home. But in relation to the law, I think he is lucky to have gotten off lightly, and hope nobody thinks he or she can get away with it too.

 

[Gerald in Ga]

This the article as ran in the Augusta Chronicle paper. The tv news said that Capt. Bollinger watched this guy jump over his fence to get to his house. Oh well. You can reach the reporter at the info at the end of the article.

News » Metro Welcome, Soldier comes home early, kills burglar
By Timothy Cox| Staff Writer
Thursday, May 03, 2007125 commentsPRINTEMAIL A man who police said broke into an Army officer's south Augusta house to steal guns was fatally shot Wednesday by the soldier living there.



1 / 2

Timothy Cox/Staff
A man who police said broke into an Army officer's south Augusta house to steal guns was fatally shot Wednesday by the soldier living there.
Click photo for optionsErrol Lavar Royal, 29, of the 2200 block of Ramblewood Drive was pronounced dead at Medical College of Georgia Hospital about 6:45 p.m. Police said he lived with his parents near the burglarized home in the 3400 block of Linderwood Drive in the Pepperidge subdivision.

Capt. Barre Bollinger, an Iraq war veteran, told police he returned from work about 3:30 p.m. and found his house had been ransacked, said Richmond County sheriff's Investigator Thomas Johnson.

Capt. Bollinger told police he entered his bedroom and noticed that guns were missing.

He grabbed his SKS rifle - a weapon similar to an AK-47 assault rifle - and called 911, Investigator Johnson said.

"While on the phone with 911, he sees the suspect approaching his back door. Because he believes the man now is armed with his stolen weapons, Mr. Bollinger fires at him three times," Investigator Johnson said.

Mr. Royal was shot at least twice in the stomach area. A search of his residence produced two guns taken from Capt. Bollinger's house and marijuana, the investigator said.

Neighbors told police that Capt. Bollinger, who is stationed at Fort Gordon, generally works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but occasionally returns home early.

As of now, there are no plans to charge Capt. Bollinger in the shooting, police said.

A similar shooting occurred a week ago, when a woman shot an intruder on Lexington Drive, less than a mile from Linderwood Drive.

Reach Timothy Cox at (706) 823-3217 or tim.cox@augustachronicle

 

[akodo]

I was re-reading the little bit of info that we have.

The way it is written, the burglar could have been either
1. IN the home approaching the back door
2. OUTSIDE the home approaching the back door

 

[Browning]

Sounds like good shooting to me, he hit him with all three didn't he?

He shot a burglar, who now won't be able to burglarize anyone's home (or attack anyone else if his criminal career progressed that far) and he got his stuff back, what more could you ask for? Just because you think that the cops would hassle you more because of your long hair doesn't put you in league with defending a burglar. It just means that sometimes the cops are judgemental morons.

The media also isn't going to do a very good job of describing the thought processes of the armed homeowner in shooting this guy. For one they'd think it too graphic and two they don't want other people to defend themselves against burglars. Who knows what gave the guy away, something must have told the vet that this guy was dirty or else he wouldn't have shot him three times.

I for one am glad he did it, one less gun stealing burglar in the world.

 

[foob]

Good logic. We should change all criminal statutes so the mandatory sentence is the death penalty.

Also due process should be thrown out, any cop or civilian that sees a person in the commission of a crime should shoot to kill.

-----
I think most people here think it's a morally good shoot, but I think the question from the original poster is whether it is a legally good shoot.

 

[Gerald in Ga]

This is what the Georgia law says. This comes from a news station in Augusta.

Georgia Gun Laws Liberal For Homeowners; Home Invaders Beware
By Danielle Johnson, [email protected]

It's a split second decision some homeowners have to make, should they shoot an intruder. For Ricky Lanier it's easy to answer.

“I mean I've thought about it a bit but it's just not worth it have a weapon in your house with children,” he says.

Under Georgia law if someone makes threat on your life within the four corners of your property you have the right to use deadly force. And it can be either verbal or physical threat. Danny Craig, the Richmond County District Attorney, says by law the decision to shoot is soley left up to the owner.

“A person is entitled to use deadly force against another person at any time when he feels that person has threatened deadly force or serious bodily harm against him,” he says.

But even more important than your right to shoot is knowing how to use your gun. Lieutenant Derick Still is an instructor with the Richmond County Sherriff's Office.
He says when approaching an attacker keep both hands on the gun but off the trigger.

“Having your hand on the trigger a loud noise could go off, you could be startled you could press it anyway and so sympathetic fires,” he says.

He also says you can give a verbal warning before you fire. Aim for the largest area on the body. And he says in most cases two shots are enough.

While the laws are loosely based on perception there are some cases in which you cannot shoot someone on your property. That includes, trespassing because it's not considered a threat to you.

If you cannot prove that your life in danger and you shoot someone, then it's up to a jury to decide if you did the right thing.

Story Created: May 3, 2007 at 6:16 PM EDT

Story Updated: May 3, 2007 at 6:33 PM EDT

 

[gunsmith]

foob, what makes you say that?

Good logic. We should change all criminal statutes so the mandatory sentence is the death penalty.

Also due process should be thrown out, any cop or civilian that sees a person in the commission of a crime should shoot to kill.

you seem upset, I cant understand why.
I have been a victim of a home invasion, I cooperated and was stabbed for my cooperation.

Now I have a gun and if you break into where I live, I have good reason to assume you mean to cause serious trauma or death, I will shoot first.

This is not some guy simply climbing over a fence.