Victim or Vigilante? An attempt to protect puts detroiter in prison.

[glock 27]

Check out this article. I guess you have to get shot or stabbed first huh?

Jeff Gerritt: Victim or vigilante? An attempt to protect puts a Detroiter in prison | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

[nogods]

Check out this article. I guess you have to get shot or stabbed first huh?

Jeff Gerritt: Victim or vigilante? An attempt to protect puts a Detroiter in prison | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

No...but you have to be right.

Joe Zamudio, the only person who drew a weapon in response to the Rep, Giffords shooting at La Toscana Village mall, almost made the mistake of his life:

“I came out of that store, I clicked the safety off, and I was ready,” he explained on Fox and Friends “I had my hand on my gun. I had it in my jacket pocket here. And I came around the corner like this.” Zamudio demonstrated how his shooting hand was wrapped around the weapon, poised to draw and fire. As he rounded the corner, he saw a man holding a gun. “And that’s who I at first thought was the shooter,” Zamudio recalled. “I told him to ‘Drop it, drop it!’ “

But the man with the gun wasn’t the shooter. He had wrested the gun away from the shooter. “Had you shot that guy, it would have been a big, fat mess,” the interviewer pointed out.

Zamudio agreed:

"I was very lucky. Honestly, it was a matter of seconds."

[glock 27]

Jeff Gerritt states that a gun is not the always the best defense.

I ask, what is the best defense? Calling on police who, if they do show up, will arrive well after the threat has passed, one way or the other?

Wayne county is terrible.

[FloridaBlue]

OK, How can this man be charged with a felony firearm possession if his gun was legal and his CCW was current?

[glock 27]

Mr. Goree has shown us that the hoplophobic nature of those from Wayne County (read: Detroit) are threat to the region at large, and why good people are leaving Detroit.

Self-defense and a valid CPL should NEVER land anyone in jail for their actions.

[v65magnafan]

If you reasonably believe that your life is threatened, stop the threat. A warning shot or a purposeful shot to the arm can get you killed.

You have a fraction of a second to think this through, so be sure you think about it and practice for the eventuality--lots.

Also, if a weapon was used against you, protect the scene if at all possible. It seemed possible in this case, but I wasn't there.

This case doesn't smell right to me. Something may be missing in the writer's account. I get "reasonable doubt" from this narration.

But I would have to know the extent of the defendant's training and Michigan's training requirements. Live fire, right? Lots of discussion on de-escalation and avoiding trouble, I hope.

[FN1910]

There has to be a lot more to this story than what is in that article. It was told from one side only and only a hint of the other side. Guilty of felony firearms violation with no felony or anything else doesn't make sense even for Detroit.

[bob16066]

Slice it any way you want. He shot an unarmed man for calling him a Mother Fletcher while reaching for his wallet. If I shot everyone who directed harsh language my way I'd have run out of ammunition years ago.

I'm not gonna pretend to understand the technical minutia of the law but the Moral of the story is: Don't shoot until you identify a legitimate threat.

Every time one of us shoots an innocent man we give the anti gun liberals on more nail in the coffin of the Second Amendment.

[SGB]

Pretty hard to second guess a jury on a single news article. Though I do find the conviction for felony firearm possession a little odd. When I was a Michigan LEO (left in 88) 750.227b passed in 1986 required one to be committing or attempting to commit felony to be guilty of that charge.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%2...e=mcl-750-227b

[CathyInBlue]

Mr. Goree did not shoot the belligerent man on his front porch for calling him a "motherfucker". Mr. Goree shot the belligerent man on his front porch for what he said and did before calling him a "motherfucker".

I've got something for you too

That sentence placed between the act by Mr. Goree of pulling his legally possessed sidearm and holding it on the belligerent man and the act of the belligerent man reaching behind himself where Mr. Goree could not see was entirely enough to make Mr. Goree believe that the belligerent man had a weapon, that that weapon could be a firearm, and that the lives of both Mr. and Mrs. Goree could be in imminent peril. That legitimate belief was entirely enough to justify Mr. Goree's actions in defense of himself and his wife.

At 10 feet, I think Mr. Goree showed remarkable restraint in shooting his would-be assaillant in the arm. Remember, Aim small, miss small. Always aim center of mass. Mr. Goree's belligerent would-be assailant was lucky he wasn't shot center of mass and dropped dead to the ground. Indeed, I believe that had the man been shot center of mass, he'd have not been able to give the order to his daughter to "go get it", or in legal terms, to obstruct justice by tampering with evidence.

As has been mentioned, a conviction of possession of an illegally possessed but legally possessed side arm during the commission of a felony fails on its face when he is acquitted of the predicate felony. The judge should have thrown that guilty verdict out. That verdict was positively schizophrenic.

I hope, and I believe he will, prevail in his appeal.