"Van Wert, OH shooting victim dies" - good example of why I carry

[wallyb]

I posted this complete news story because I think you have to be a paid subscriber to read it on-line. I thought this was another good example of a reason to carry a handgun at all times to protect yourself from the occasional nut case.

May 19, 2011 12:02 AM
VAN WERT — Danny and Karla McMillen sat around a dinner table Wednesday to talk about their son, who was shot and killed last Thursday. A grand jury notice, a scrapbook of newspaper articles and Christopher McMillen's cell phone sat on the table, along with a plastic bag containing cigarettes and personal items.

It was a jumble of items to go with their jumble of emotions as they tried to make sense of their son's death. Meanwhile the ex-boyfriend of the woman he dated for about a month is in jail, accused of the shooting.

Karla McMillen said her son wanted to help Amanda Schisler and her two children, one fathered by Chad Phillips, to have a better life.

She believes Phillips attacked her son over jealousy. The two men hardly knew each other, but she said Phillips was jealous that Schisler was happy with Chris McMillen. The two had only been dating four to six weeks, she said.

Final moments

She believes that is what led to the frantic call she received from Schisler around 9 p.m. May 12. McMillen said she couldn't talk to her son because he was still locked in the bathroom, trying to keep away from Phillips.

Karla McMillen rushed to Schisler's apartment and saw her son wheeled out on a stretcher.

“I'm hoping he saw me,” she said.

“In the emergency room, he was saying ‘Ouch, that hurts,' and I heard him say ‘Mom.' And then he said ‘I can't breathe,' and I had to leave. And that's the last I heard.”

The McMillens said witnesses told them Phillips burst in to the apartment where Schisler, her brother and her two children, 5 and 2, lived, and shot Chris McMillen.

“How heartless can a dad be to let your son watch this?” Karla McMillen asked.

She said she believes Phillips followed the group home from a park and knew Chris McMillen was there. She said her son had multiple gunshot wounds. No one else was injured.

Warning signs

About nine hours before the shooting, Phillips told Chris McMillen's brother, Casey, he was going to kill Chris.

Casey McMillen was at an upstairs window of the family's Van Wert home around lunchtime when Phillips and another man drove by, Casey McMillen said.

Casey McMillen said Phillips thought he was Chris. The other man in the car with Phillips had to tell him he wasn't.

“Chad stood kind of close to the car and said, ‘Where's your brother, I'm going to ... kill him.'” Casey recalled Wednesday.

Chris McMillen and his mother filed a police report at 12:12 p.m. May 12. According to the report, Chris McMillen heard from a third party that Phillips was going to “beat him up.”

His mother said that description of the complaint is ridiculous.

“Why would Christopher go to the police station and say, ‘Somebody's going to beat me up'?” she said.

Questioning police

His parents, while acknowledging it may not have stopped the shooting, think the police should have done more.

“The officer that was there, he calls Chad on the phone. He said, ‘You need to leave Christopher and the McMillen family alone,'” Karla McMillen said.

His mother added, “If he made that threat, he was in Van Wert, why wouldn't they pull him over, and not call him on the phone?”

Van Wert Police Chief Joel Hammond said the officer's response was appropriate given the information he had.

“Based on the information reported to the officer at the time, he responded appropriately, made contact with the subject,” Hammond said.

“Mr. Phillips denied any threats being made. The officer warned him that contact with him would result in criminal charges.”

Since the threats weren't made directly to Chris McMillen and Casey McMillen wasn't on hand to file the complaint, the issue was considered a third-party threat, Hammond said.

He said each situation is dealt with based on the information provided. “There's going to be more weight given to a first-hand threat,” Hammond said.

“We don't have a criminal violation, but even with that, we still made contact with him. We did as much as we could with the information given,” Hammond said.

The McMillens think police should have looked into Phillips history and made physical contact with him to determine his state of mind and any weapons he might have had.

According to Van Wert Police records, Phillips had been arrested four times on charges ranging from possession of marijuana to assault and aggravated menacing.

Chad D. Phillips arrest history by Van Wert Police Department:

March 7, 1998: Possessing Marijuana, Possessing Drug Paraphernalia, Possessing LSD

July 30, 1997: Assault

December 8, 2001: Violation of Protective Order

November 30, 2004: Assault, Aggravated Menacing

May 5, 2011: Aggravated Murder

Source: Van Wert Police Department

[S&WM&P40]

vary sad story! This thread touches upon two other threads on the forums "Carrying at Home" and the other is "Situational Awareness" maybe even more threads such as Home Security. If he did indeed follow them home from the park. Many people have the mindset of it feeling unnecessary to carry a firearm while at home. If he did indeed burst into the apartment, I would be looking at installing more locks and maybe a better front door(solid wood),dead bolts,chains and a door security push bar. I pray the kids in the apartment great the counseling they will need after seeing someone killed in front of them.

[firelooker]

This is a very sad story, it's one reason my .45 is always close at hand even though I live in a very quiet area with an extremely low crime rate.