Homeowner shoots, kills man believed to be East Memphis 'cat burglar'

The Commercial Appeal ^ | 6/13/03 | Maria Bibbs

[LibKill]

TN offers 15-16 days per month 'good behavior' time. And UNLESS some one fights these paroles.....well the felons walk.

Truth in sentencing laws are badly needed, and not just in TN.

20 years should mean 20 years. Parole should not be routine. It should be reserved for extraordinary cases.

[Nov3]

Ahh an honor students life cut short. How sad

[unread]

Major loss of funds for some stinkin lawyer. The homeowner will most likely get sued because of it!!!

[xp38]

Curiosity killed this particular cat (besides the bullets and the vigilant homeowner).

[07055]

This was a big story in Memphis for months. But I doubt they will ever print another story about it since the ending proves the need of the citizenry to be armed.

I take that back---they will run a story when his family sues the hero who shot this scum.

[islander-11]

Rehabilitation through reincarnation!

Yup, he's a good criminal now. Way to go, homeowner!

[Maigrey]

One less criminal on the street.

[Maigrey]

Got one, and took it for some "practice" yesterday. Pretty effective from 5-20 ft. (not too bad for a tiny .380.)

[razorback-bert]

the odds are 2495 to 5

The odds are 2496 to 4, someone has to go get the donuts.

[breakem]

You'd think rappin criminals would be easier to find.

[breakem]

Your story reminds me of a comedian I saw on tv this week. He once robbed the gas station in his small town of 500. When the cops asked what the robber looked like, the clerk said "Dave."

[AnAmericanMother]

You need more firepower.

As my dear old dad says, "I hate like h@!! to shoot a guy and then stand there and argue with him."

I would recommend a caliber that begins with ".4". Preferably a variation on the 1911A1.

[ninenot]

Well--maybe. Shot placement is quite important, you know. Our friends the Israeli Mossad use .22 pistols for their work. Of course, they are trained to hit a ping-pong ball at 50' and the ping-pong-ball just happens to be the size of your eyeball.

Usually fatal.

[AnAmericanMother]

Yes, but the Mossad boys are doing stealth work, for which a .22 is ideal. They aren't suddenly confronted by a mugger at the front bumper or a burglar in the bedroom.

And you are also playing the averages. An untrained individual (or even a well trained individual with the adrenaline pumping) is going to have a flyer or two. The 1911A1 requires only one hit just about anywhere on the body. My dad says that in WWII in Italy, he saw plenty of wounded GIs that had been shot with the 9mm Lugers or Walthers, but he never saw a live German with a .45 hole in him. He shot a guy in the head at extreme range (about 50 yds) and it knocked him down and out (didn't kill him though, he must have had a very hard head). And a friend of mine who had the misfortune to be in the Marine Corps at Choisin Reservoir shot several Chinese with his .45. He said they went STRAIGHT down and never moved again.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I wouldn't gamble on a cop on the phone. It's better for a person to take their safety into their own hands than to listen to advice from somebody who doesn't have a vested interest. People will tell you all kinds of crap if you let them. I'll trust my .44 magnum first and let the cops provide backup when they get there after the fact.

[kuma]

Did they lock the homeowner up and throw away the key? Not that I think that they should I'm just wondering.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

1. 20 year sentence and gets out in 6. What is that about? He should have done the 20.

2. Goes right back to burglary.

3. Dies. Terminated by properly armed citizen.

4. Justice system fails. Second amendment justice prevails.

[Maigrey]

I probably will once I go back to work. The .380 is nothing more than a back-up. Besides, a double-tap to unguarded body parts guarantee not to cause argument. 8-)

My father was "working out" his various arms, and during my practice, he was trying out his .45 Llama that he got about 6 months ago. Nice, very nice.... (his back-up(s) are a 6 shot .38, and a 7 shot .380)

[GailA]

This fish wrapper neglected to report that another homeowner also got him one yesterday, and wounded another one, even though the homeowner himself was wounded.

[AnAmericanMother]

Roger on the backup.

The one you have with you does a whole lot more good than the one you left at home! (Summer carry IS a problem with a 1911A1, esp. if you're not a particularly large woman. That's why I have the baby Sig P245, but I also do have a PPK in .380. I hate the way it shoots, though, it has more effective recoil than the 1911A1.)