Posted on 07/14/2012 5:22:21 AM PDT by marktwain
Toledo police Lt. Randy Pepitone wanted to make sure Annie Huddleston was all right inside her central Toledo home.
Ms. Huddleston thought the man outside prying open her front door lock Thursday was a burglar.
Just as Lieutenant Pepitone was opening the door, Ms. Huddleston, 92, steadied in her hand her late husband's .357 Magnum revolver, and pulled the trigger just once.
The bullet blasted through a wall hitting the 54-year-old lieutenant in the side of the head.
"All of a sudden there was a loud explosion right next to my ear and I went down," the lieutenant said. "I could taste the blood, I saw it dripping on the porch, and then saw the bullet hole."
The lieutenant said he knew the wound was superficial so he crawled across the porch and jumped over the railing where he was treated by firefighters already on scene.
The crew took Lieutenant Pepitone to Toledo Hospital where he was treated and released.
Police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said Ms. Huddleston will not be charged with the shooting because "I don't think it meets all the culpability standards for felonious assault on a police officer."
Sergeant Heffernan said the department confiscated Ms. Huddleston's gun on Thursday morning.
"Lieutenant Pepitone is very lucky," Sergeant Heffernan said. "Another centimeter over and it could have been a very different story."
(Excerpt) Read more at toledoblade.com ...
“”I could taste the blood, I saw it dripping on the porch, and then saw the bullet hole.””
He was hit in the side of the head. How on earth did he “see” a bullet hole in his head??
marktwain replies:
He was probably referring to the hole in the wall that the bullet made.
“People who call for police assistance and then fire upon them with an unlicensed hand gun should have the firearm confiscated.”
Here in free America we don’t allow Government to “license” handguns, gun owners, or condone “confiscation”.
The homeowner called 911 because someone was breaking into her home. The “someone” was the officer that got shot who obviously failed to inform properly what he was up to, which is questionable in the first place. Since there was no initial emergency call for help from the homeowner requesting assistance, why did he feel the need to break in?
Someone else initiated the original call over concern they hadn’t seen the homeowner. It would seem prudent to use exhaustive means to knock loudly on every door and window before “breaking in”.
At least one police cruiser and one fire truck, probably an ambulance are outside the front door.
The cops are using super bright flashlights outside, back yard, etc. The neighbors are out and the woman had called the cops, so she was expecting them.
He is banging on the door with his flashlight or so and announcing himself a the police and thinking she must be hurt and in need of immediate assistance, as she is uresponsive in all of this commotion.
He’s going to walk away and call on the phone? OK he will from now on, but she probably ought not to be handling a weapon.
“...an unlicensed hand gun...what the hell is that?
“...A gun in your possession that belongs to someone else...”
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When you have no idea what you are talking about, it is best just to not say anything.
Of all the old ladies in my family, many of who live alone, the biggest topic of conversation when they are not present is “who’s going to take her car keys?”.
My 93 y/o aunt can’t properly handle a TV remote.
A gun? Forget about it.
The lady in question here, can’t see a cop in uniform is a cop and that’s with all of the emergency vehicles outside with blaring lights, bells and whistles.
A gun. Really?
Well, he’s a little smarter now!
Grandma outranks me in years, but I bet Granny, has hearing issues at 92. I do at 62. I hope, for their sake, no one thinks it would be a good idea to break into my house, relying solely on my ability to hear?!
The officer should not have broken in to the home, there was no indicator that would justify it. The officer broke into a home without a warrant on the basis that he had been invited by her phone call. But the officer did NOT identify himself properly and that is the officers duty to discharge.
It is the officers duty to communicate and he did not.Hell , he could have used a bull horn.
This non communication is the fault if the officer, not the complainant.
Her firearm should not be confiscated, they should return it to her.
According to you there were flashlights, Ambulances, all kinds of emergency vehicles outside with bells and whistles flashing.
What article did you read>?
Got a link or is it just you gun grabbing instincts kicking in?
That's when Ms. Huddleston fired the gun.
Looks like your version is contradicted by Ms. Huddleston's, the officer's, and the reporter's.
This indicates the need for a strong change in the “gun culture” of police.
That is, there is civilian gun culture and there is also police gun culture. While the police gun culture has been changing since the 1970s to be far more aggressive, the currently changing civilian gun culture may very well put an end to such aggression.
The middle ground is the “traditional” interpretation of the Bill of Rights. All the Patriot Act and Supreme Court decision foolishness *allowing* the police to violate the 4th Amendment stops cold when citizens are armed.
Therefore:
Congress may permit it, but police perform “no knock” raids and “warrantless searches” at their own risk.
The President may favor police pulling their gun and menacing citizens at the drop of a hat, but if citizens are also armed, the police better think twice before trying to “dominate and intimidate”.
A man’s home is once again his castle, and if you want to bust in to his castle, mind the moat with alligators. And the armed homeowner.
Even shooting someone’s beloved dachshund just to “establish control”, becomes less certain when the dog owner is armed.
Bottom line: An armed society is a polite society. And this means police, too. Be polite, or you might get fired. At.
From the article:
“. . . Ms. Huddleston called 911 after hearing what she thought was a burglar outside of her home about 12:30 Thursday morning. . .
“. . . After doing a perimeter check and finding no signs of anyone trying to break in and after trying to contact Ms. Huddleston with no response, the lieutenant sent other officers to the back of the house while he forced entry. . .
“. . . “It was a little intense at first,” the lieutenant said. “I didn’t know if a bad guy had broken in. . .
“. . . The lieutenant said he knew the wound was superficial so he crawled across the porch and jumped over the railing where he was treated by firefighters already on scene. . .”
Here is the story, cut and pasted from the article. I can extrapolate from what the journalist leaves out, as we all do, every day, here at FR.
The journalist clearly states that fire trucks were on the scene and if you think they pulled up then turned off their emergency alarm lights I’d bet you would be wrong.
I never said the government authorities should take anything from her.
The journalist wants us to think no one should have a gun, of course, and that the gov’t should take them all away from us. I don’t see it that way, but I don’t think this lady should have had a gun and I’ll bet she and her family, if they care, think the same thing.
My suggestion is that if families would do the jobs they used to do, we could avoid the government from stepping in to do so.
Duh, this lady proved she can’t handle a weapon and I’m sure she’s freaked out that she tried to and hurt this police officer who was not there to get her gun but to help her, as he’s done for others in his thirty year career. I’m sure she agrees she can’t handle a gun.
She can’t have it back now, every druggie in town will be trying to break in to confiscate it.
I see this term from time to time and wonder just what an "unlicensed hand gun" is. I have a hand gun and I don't ever remember going to some government office and "licensing" it.
And just when did they show up?
Was it before, after, or while the cop was forcing his way in?
Did they pull up just as he was shot?
She can’t have it back now, every druggie in town will be trying to break in to confiscate it.
That comment is so freaking stupid it doesn't even deserve a reply.
It does reveal your agenda though.
FR is God, Guns, and Country dude, I'd advise you not to push your anti gun agenda here if you want to stay.
“...this lady proved she can’t handle a weapon ...”
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How so? It seems to me she proved she could handle it just fine.
BS, that is not what I read. He was trying to break into her house and he had no right to do that, regardless if she called the cops or not. Her firearm was confiscated illegally and he is lucky he wasn’t killed. I would not have felt bad about it if he was, he was breaking the law and illegally entering someone’s residence, which makes him a frickin criminal committing a felony. Most states you don’t need a license to keep a gun in your home, I doubt if her gun was “unlicensed”.
I’ll try again.
I have called the local police for the same thing. Also, I have called an ambulance for a family member recently.
The whole entourage shows up - a fire truck, a fully loaded ambulance, the patrol car and all with lights and sirens.
You actually have to reassure neighbors who all come out for the commotion.
At night, it’s a scene. The cops light up the back yard with super flashlights before they come to the door, and when they do, they are LOUD, and they assume they know you’re they’re there and they’re correct.
If you don’t know they’re there,and this is after you’ve asked them to come over, something is wrong. In this case it was likely because she can’t hear nor see well and she was frightened because she’s 1)old (92) and 2)there probably WAS someone trying to get in.
This woman called a dispatcher who assessed a truly, and perhaps rightfully so, old woman. The dipatcher sent the whole gang.
There probably was an intruder, she probably gave the dispatcher evidence and the patrol car scared him off.
An intruder who breaks into an old lady’s house while she is home is too impatient to watch for when she leaves, like they did with my grandmother when they took her valuables- easy in easy out with lots of stuff, but not everything.
And they are looking for anything useful to buy drugs and they would take a gun as a big bonus treasure.
And there is no way that I am stupid.
I think people don’t visit old people enough, and they don’t figure out the story. Old people don’t see nor hear well - often hardly at all.
You think shooting to wound a cop with 30 or so years on the force trying to assist is good shooting?
Maybe you could watch “Sgt. York” or “Band of Brothers” for a refresher on good and purposeful shoooting.
Better still, take up your argument with an NRA representative or a local gun range instructor. Wee if they agree.
You think shooting to wound a cop with 30 or so years on the force trying to assist is good shooting?
Maybe you could watch “Sgt. York” or “Band of Brothers” for a refresher on good and purposeful shoooting.
Better still, take up your argument with an NRA representative or a local gun range instructor. Wee if they agree.
Sorry for the double post.
I am willing to bet that this lady who used her husband’s gun in a panic has never had a minute of training - and certainly nothing recent (90+ y/o woman at the range?) and that she never wants to see another gun again, certainly not this one.
If that’s gun grabbing then there just aren’t any limits.
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