Posted on 08/29/2011 5:44:04 PM PDT by Morgana
LOGAN, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A community is split down the middle after a restaurant worker shot the man who robbed him.
It happened last week at the Walmart in Logan. Click here to find out more!
Police say David Abbott threatened to cut Jesus Canul's neck and demanded cash. Abbott took his wallet and was leaving when Canul took action. He is accused of shooting and killing Abbott.
Canul was back in court Monday for a bond hearing, but the real story took place outside the courtroom.
Dozens rallied the streets of Logan in support of Canul.
“He is somebody that when he gets behind, he's coming up to me and going, 'Is there anything I can do to help make the rent,’” Kenneth Sells, Canul’s landlord, said.
Canul worked several jobs to afford staying in his apartment, but now he lives in jail where the price to leave is $40,000. That’s what the judge set his bond at Monday.
“He tells him 'You better back up. You better back up,' and the guy don't back up until he gets his wallet out. Then when he gets his wallet out and he sees that gun, he takes off running. That's when Jesse shot him, as soon as he took off,” Rodney Sells, a witness, said.
That's where the debate of self defense comes into play. Canul is facing murder charges because Abbott was already running away when he was shot. However, Canul’s supporters disagree.
“I don't care if he did walk away, he still has a right to defend himself,” Alice Miles said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsaz.com ...
This is a good reason why people contemplating armed robbery probably shouldn't do their Christmas shopping at the WalMart in Huntington.
Then why is he in jail?
If a cop had shot him under the same circumstances we wouldn’t even have heard about it.
If you’ve ever had you life threatened, you know that the “I’m safe” switch doesn’t flip when the person who did the threatening runs. Far from it. My personal experience is that I would have shot the perp several days later and felt 100% justified.
A perp that is running, is just repositioning.
because he fired after the guy turned to walk away ... dumb a$% judge - with his perfect hindsight 20/20
most victims would have shot the guy too, a victim that just had a knife on his throat has tunnel vision ... he likely saw the guy turn but didn’t see his feet.
I would have interpreted this motion as him going for another weapon and with the adrenalin in my veins I would have shot him till I couldn’t make out his head anymore. My finger would be pulling that trigger so fast and I would be automatically reloading till I didn’t have anymore bullets.
Anyone that practices shooting frequently can almost reflexively operate their fire arm - it doesn’t take a lot of mental effort. It is as effortless as some people use their fingers to point ...
Wait... perfect 20/20 hindsight is how the blow-hards want to judge police shootings. Are you saying there should be a different standard?
What happened to the old West Virginia where a potential or real murderer who was killed at the scene was made into a BBQ? THe liberals have really screwed up the state, esp. that Rockefeller sleaze of a senator.
I don’t see a community split down the middle. I see it in full support of the accused.
I agree with your #6, though I do think I would have stopped when my first clip was empty. But that’s just a difference of style, not substance, and anyway, I could be wrong, since I’ve never been in that situation.
If that scenario pans out, Senor Canul better get used to wearing an orange jumpsuit. The law will argue that the purpose of a gun is for self defense and protecting life and property. After the perp turned and started to run, the danger ceased to exist, or so the law will say. So, what's left to defend or protect against? The gun already did it's job. And, if the perp did start back, he would have had every right to take whatever action he felt necessary to defend himself.
What could save his kiester is if WalMart has a video that shows the perp turning and starting back or even looking back, that could indicate, to me, that he had evil intentions.
of course not,
but intent is obviously important
A police officer that has been trained for these situations and has previous experience dealing with these is going to have certain advantages over your random victim.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.