Home-invasion turns deadly for bandit (Gun protects and serves)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 9.6.02 | BILL MONTGOMERY

[mhking]

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 9/6/02 ]

Home-invasion turns deadly for bandit

By BILL MONTGOMERY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

An armed intruder who forced his way into the apartment of a recently married Clayton County couple was killed when the husband picked up his own gun and shot the would-be robber twice, police said.

The 24-year-old intruder, armed with a pistol, forced his way into the couple's apartment on Mt. Zion Road near Stockbridge and ordered the couple to "give it up!" said Clayton County police Lt. J.E. Turner.

"The couple had answered a knock on the door, and the suspect forced them back into the living room. The husband was able to grab his own handgun from a table, and got off two rounds, hitting the assailant in the lower torso," Turner said.

The incident occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday. Names of the suspect and his intended victims were not immediately available.

Turner said detectives believe the married couple, who are in their early 20s, had recently moved into the Waterford Apartments at 3196 Mt. Zion Rd. and were random "targets of opportunity."

"The couple did not know the suspect, and we think he was waiting in the area for a possible victim to come home and watched them go into the apartment," Turner said. "The couple thought the assailant was demanding money," he added.

"While we haven't had a problem with this particular apartment complex, in some parts of the county we have had a problem with random pedestrian robberies as people arrived home," Turner added.

"We don't know why the assailant wanted to get into the apartment, but he did and it turned out bad for him," he said.

The incident is being investigated, but it is unlikely any charges will be filed, Turner said.

[mhking]

You know the gun-grabbers won't like hearing about this one...

[MarineDad]

"We don't know why the assailant wanted to get into the apartment, but he did and it turned out bad for him"

Elegantly understated. Sudden, violent, painful death should be an occupational hazard for all such vermin. Good show and GREAT shooting!

[Pern]

...the married couple, who are in their early 20s...

Good to see that they wern't brainwashed by the 'Gun's are Bad' crowd.

Good shooting, young man.

[DETAILER]

The husband was able to grab his own handgun from a table, and got off two rounds, hitting the assailant in the lower torso," Turner said.

What!? This guy didn't have his gun trigger locked and locked inside a child proof gun safe? Holy cow! He should be disarmed and forced into counseling about the dangers of having a gun "on a table" and loaded.<\sarcasm>

[Vic3O3]

Somebody ought to fwd this story to the NRA for use in the Armed Citizen column.

[glc1173@aol.com]

Within the past three years or so, a "serial rapist" (police description) in Charlotte, North Carolina was breaking into homes and raping women - and linked by DNA to at least five.

His choice of Victim #6 cost him his life. She shot him to death - and wasn't raped.

It made some "mainstream" dailies down here.

GUN REVIEWS free from ad-money bias - emphasizing woman-friendliness of tested guns!

[Spacetrucker]

Especially in the Communist Party mouthpiece the Atlanta
Junk-rag Constipation! I bet ol' Teddy Turner is just havin' a screamin' fit right about now ;=)

[Stefan Stackhouse]

"We don't know why the assailant wanted to get into the apartment, but he did and it turned out bad for him,"

And it turned out good for the rest of we innocent, law-abiding citizens. Thank God, this murderer will never be able to threaten to kill innocent people again!

[shiva]

Imagine what the assailant would have done to the girl. Whatever he wanted I suppose. Then killed them both. The best part of this story is

it is unlikely any charges will be filed

[Area51]

Just think, Had this couple had one of those safe bullets in the chamber that was being pushed on another thread yesterday, the Perp. would still be alive... (/sarcasm)

[Vigilantcitizen]

RKBA self defense ping!!!

[Freemeorkillme]

Things that may have gotten this couple killed: gun lock, safety bullet(do an FR search...), gun in safe, no gun,....

"We don't know why the assailant wanted to get into the apartment, but he did and it turned out bad for him," he said.

The incident is being investigated, but it is unlikely any charges will be filed, Turner said."

???Intentionally sloppy reporting? Or Attempting to cast blame in the victims' direction? Deliberately omitting the criminal's role??? Nah. The Altanta Journal wouldn't do that.

[DETAILER]

Just think, Had this couple had one of those safe bullets in the chamber that was being pushed on another thread yesterday, the Perp. would still be alive... (/sarcasm)

"Safe" bullets....makes about as much sense as a castrated stud bull.

[chiefqc]

Poor perp, some days it does'nt pay to get out of bed.

Oh well, one less piece of trash to worry about.

[GailA]

DITTO

[capt. norm]

Too bad that more of the "perps" don't read. But not to worry...they'll get word faster via the street grapevine (other perps) than the media could ever crank it out.

[dansangel]

Thanks for the ping, VC.

I heard this at 5:00 this AM while getting ready for work. My remark to .45MAN was: "Guess that dirtbag picked the wrong apartment to invade!"

Made my day!

[steve-b]

Names of the suspect and his intended victims were not immediately available.

Note that Mr. Montgomery has his head on straight. Some "journalists" would refer to the dirt-napping dirt-bag as the "victim".

[.45MAN]

Another one for the eternal dirt nap......

[Issaquahking]

Glad to see that we have Real Americans who know how to act like it! Wonder if the guy is a freeper (or if she be a freeperette)?

[Sloth]

What a shame this young man wasn't using the Safety Bullet (tm). This tragic loss of life could have been avoided.

[1Old Pro]

Good shoot. One less bad guy. Everybody happy.

[Sir Gawain]

haha

[Sir Gawain]

'Safety bullet' invention aims to prevent accidental shootings

[Leisler]

" The incident occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday. Names of the suspect and his intended victims were not immediately available."

Another topflight reporting job from a professional journalist. How, about getting into a car and going over there, or to the station house? Duh.

[MD_Willington_1976]

The robber said "give it up"...so the home owner gave him 2, sounds like the home owner was being hospitable and charitable by "giving it up" to the robber twice.. So one must remeber to use proper english to avoid such situations..

All joking aside...the perp got what he asked for...

[Hoosier-Daddy]

Or, as a coworker would say, about as useful as tits on a mule.

[FreedomPoster]

Good stuff; thanks for the ping. I had heard about this driving to work this AM, thought I might post it at lunch if it weren't already here.

Molon Labe! bump.

[calvin sun]

Don your asbestos suit (regarding the Safety Bullet comment). I know you're joking, but others probably won't. LOL

[JavaTheHutt]

What a shame this young man wasn't using the Safety Bullet (tm). This tragic loss of life could have been avoided.

Boy do you live in an upside down world. The "tragic loss of life" as you call it, didn't occur, but might have, if the intended victim had used a "safety bullet"

The fact that the would be perp is now worm food is not tragic. Can you guess how much time I intend to spending mourning the death of this dirt bag?

I would never put a "Safety Bullet" in any of my guns. It's illogical to do so. A gun is supposed to be a deadly weapon, and therefore, it's supposed to be dangerous. Putting a safety bullet in the chamber to cause it to jam is like putting a rubber guard over the blade of my steak knife.

When I use my steak knife, I expect it to be sharp and I expect it to cut the piece of dead cow meat I'm salivating over.
If I ever have to face down a home invader, when I pull the trigger on my pistol, I expect to hear a very loud bang, followed by a look of great surprise on the perps face as his mind registers that I didn't have a safety bullet in the chamber to prevent me from perforating his vital organs.

And if I ever find myself in a situation where I feel it necessary to defend myself with a firearm, I certainly have no intentions of asking the thug-wannabe-wormfood to halt his attack temporarily while I remove the "saftey bullet" from the chamber, so that I can shoot him.

[Sloth]

Speak of the devil! LOL

[Nephi]

I wonder if he was trained in a $900 million dollar program, first?

[calvin sun]

Please see posts #30 and #32. Sloth was speaking with tongue firmly in cheek. LOL

[JavaTheHutt]

Sloth,
If you want to speak sarcastically, please use the sarcasm tags. People can't hear the tone in your voice or see the expression on your face here. All we can do is evaluate your words.

[Sloth]

If you could not identify my post as sarcasm by simply reading it, then I doubt that tags would help.

[JavaTheHutt]

Well, I don't know you personally, so I can't recognize your sarcasm simply by the words. Your sarcasm looks no different than someone else being seriously stupid. The tags would definitely help let people that don't know you know that you're just being sarcastic and not one of the liberal infiltrators that show up around here.

[FreedomPoster]

You have your point about tags, and I use them some significant percentage of the time. And in this case, there are very few people that seriously stupid on FreeRepublic, you've got to admit. At least not for long, and I note that sloth has been on-board since 11-15-2000.

[wizr]

Then they would be sued for his injuries, after his expensive trial and acquittal (temporary insanity; oops, wrong apartment; etc.; etc.).

[csvset]

Some more info on the dead perp plus the perp's mother speaks....

Home Invader Shot, Killed By Tenant

Gary Menard

Jackie Menard

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• Local News • Health • Education

Reported By: Jon Shirek
Web Editor: Manav Tanneeru
Last Modified: 9/6/2002 8:18:42 PM

Clayton County police said Friday that a man acted in self-defense when he shot and killed an armed intruder.

Gary Menard, 24, was shot after entering the apartment of John Peoples, 21, and his wife, 24-year-old Laura. John Peoples grabbed his own handgun and shot Menard, Clayton County police Lt. J.E. Turner said.

Menard knocked on the victim's door and then forced his way into the couple's apartment off Mt. Zion Road at 9:45 p.m. Thursday, according to police.

The couple told police they opened their door to Menard without first looking to see who it was because they thought a friend they were expecting was the one knocking on the door.

Menard then reportedly ordered the couple to "give it up!" Turner said.

"The couple did not know the suspect, and we think he was waiting in the area for a possible victim to come home and watched them go into the apartment," Turner said. "The couple thought the assailant was demanding money."

Peoples was able to grab his own handgun from a table, shooting the assailant in the lower torso, according to police.

“With the person coming in the apartment still pointing a weapon at him, and threatening to kill him if he did not get on the floor, at that point, Mr. Peoples was able to fire his weapon,” said Clayton County Police Maj. Doug Jewett.

So far, the police think the couple acted within the law. “Especially in this case, where someone definitely had the capability of killing, he was threatening to do so,” Jewett said.

Menard’s family, however, wants to know if Menard and Peoples might have known each other, despite what Peoples has told police.

“All I want to know is, I'm not saying it was right, I'm not saying it was wrong, you know I'm not saying anything like that, sir, but what I want is real answers. I'm hearing one side. I need to hear two sides before I put my son to rest,” said Menard’s mother, Jackie.

Police have many unanswered questions, as well. Among them: How did Menard get to the complex when had no car and lived nowhere near? Menard’s girlfriend told 11Alive News he left her around 9 p.m. with two men she did not know. If that is indeed accurate, where were those two men when the alleged home invasion and shooting took place?

Menard has a history of weapons and drug convictions. He was released from prison in January and was on probation for a cocaine possession conviction.

John and Laura Peoples have not yet returned phones calls made by 11Alive News.

Police expect to complete the investigation within a few weeks, but said that it's unlikely that charges will be filed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Menard has a history of weapons and drug convictions. He was released from prison in January and was on probation for a cocaine possession conviction.

Hmmmm..... "Turning his life around" was missing from the description of the dead perp's life. No mention of his father either.

I'm not saying it was right, I'm not saying it was wrong.."

Earth to Jackie: It was wrong.

Source

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

My guess is if the wifey didn't like having guns in the house before she has taken a quick U-turn after their latest house guest.

On a serious note, anyone who has been a victim of an armed robbery knows how long it takes to get the fear behind you.

[Redbob]

"Oh well, one less piece of trash to worry about."

And think of the money saved! No arrest - paperwork reduced - no jail time, no trial expense, no disruption of citizens lives for jury duty!

All in all, the would-be victim has performed a great public service, and should get a reward.

Instead, the thug's family will probably sue him...