<p>For instance, what he did would definitely be considered a crime in NY state. </p>
<p>I cited a news story of a similar home defense/gun case on Eastern Long Island where there was a White racist mob chasing and threatening a Black property owner’s son with racist taunts and threats of violence onto his property*, he brought out a gun to scare them off, gun went off killing one of the racists…and not at his back, and the property owner ended up sentenced to prison for the shooting. </p>
<p>Only the governor’s effective pardon freed him from serving all of it. </p>
<ul>
<li>Sparked by what turned out to have been a hoax perpetuated by someone else impersonating the son.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>GreatKid/frugaldoctor/busdriver: I just started reading this thread. I have been struck by how civil and reasonable everyone is being. So why do you have to bring in generalizations about “the way these conversations always go”? This is the problem with people these days–they become so entrenched in their beliefs and biases that they can’t even appreciate a respectful conversation when it is happening. It’s really too bad.</p>
<p>Actually, just DON’T talk after a traumatic event like this one. If asked, just say, “No comment.” That is doubtless what any attorney would advise.</p>
<p>"“Moral: never give an interview after you’ve shot somebody to death. Talk to your lawyer first.”</p>
<p>Agreed. Words to live by. "</p>
<p>Definitely. If you mangle a sentence or put in the wrong word, it can have an entirely different meaning. And then what you didn’t intend to say is used against you, for infinity.</p>
<p>I was robbed years ago. The perp(s) took about 50 CDs and my guitar (in its case).</p>
<p>They dropped the guitar in the woods behind the house. I still own it, still play it…</p>
<p>It was a week or two before Christmas.</p>
<p>I still have mixed emotions about it.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>He, she or they presumably were looking for presents for their kids. This is really the only level on which I can forgive them.</p></li>
<li><p>They left the guitar in the woods. Too heavy I guess. Given the robbery (and the lifestyle which led to it), I’m not surprised: when the going gets tough, the weak quit.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m very glad that I wasn’t there when they committed the crime. I did not own a gun at the time, but I’m an able combatant, and I’d have wanted to keep at least some of those CDs. Hehe </p></li>
<li><p>Still, if some kids got some enjoyment out of the music, that lessens the bitterness.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I think I would like to know more about the area the man lived in before judging his shooting of the intruders as they fled. If he had been burglarized three times already, it can’t have been a very safe place. Perhaps he had called the police before and gotten a slow response. Given how ruthless the couple was in beating him, I would think he’d have reason to believe they might come back even more enraged after being shot.</p>
<p>You never know exactly how you’re going to react in these type of situations.</p>
<p>When our second child was just a couple of days old, some kids broke into our car and were rummaging around the glove compartment in the middle of the night. My husband came out of the house, running and shouting, scared them so much, they ran into something with their car trying to get away. They were caught by the police. I was running after my husband, telling him to stop, they might have a gun or hit you with their car. But it was the adrenalin that had him going. In retrospect, he agreed that he shouldn’t have done that so aggressively, because you don’t know if they have guns.</p>
<p>The next time this happened, we called the police. They came out and investigated, didn’t find anything, but they did mention a rather large cat crawling around the car. Amazing how that robber turned himself into a cat, anyways. I swear that cat was trying to break into our car!</p>
<p>Sally, you have a right to your opinion of course but I do not see how I have not been civil. I haven’t directed any digs or attacks at any participant in this conversation. I expressed a generalization that I thought was likely, it hasn’t developed that way which is wonderful. I assure you I am not representative of “the problem with people these days”. That statement is incredibly offensive! I have no desire to participate in a back and forth with you, but will continue to participate civilly in this conversation if I choose to.</p>
<p>“I am sure this thread will head in the direction of finding fault with the use of a firearm given any circumstance.”</p>
<p>I just read this (and the others’) as an unnecessarily inflammatory statement, given how polite and respectful the conversation had been. Why introduce a “direction” that hadn’t materialized after dozens of comments? In any case, you too have a right to say whatever you want. and I certainly didn’t mean to offend you.</p>
<p>Some other reports on this case have said the burglary victim didn’t report one of the burglaries to the cops and a neighbor had wondered whether he was still living on that property as its maintenance was such some were wondering whether he was still living there. </p>
<p>Also, the prior burglaries occurred when he wasn’t home and this was the first one he walked into as the crime was in process. </p>
<p>While being interviewed he made reference to these burglars having robbed his safe in two prior instances. In those occurrences he said they used the key to open it. In the latest incident they were attempting to pry it open. The video clips of him do not have him presenting well in my opinion.
I should have done more research before responding as viscerally as I had. My comments would not had been as emphatic or strongly worded. I still believe his actions to be defendable but not to the same extent.
This has nothing to do with my comments here, but he made reference to routinely having $15,000 to $20,000 in his safe. His money, his property but if he wasn’t discreet about that it made or makes his home much more of a target.
In any event a tragic set of circumstances.</p>
<p>He lived in a nicer section of Long Beach. Keeping cash in a safe is not unusual for old people who still remember when the banks failed during the Great Depression. </p>
<p>I’m curious about the logical process of the pro-vigilantes, who appear to be in the majority. We can start with the fact, supported by Greer’s many statements, that he was not in immediate danger from the suspects as they were running away from his property. Based on your logic, Greer was in fear of future victimization and justified in killing them. Suppose the fleeing burglars managed to escape immediately after the incident. What if he sees them the next day, sitting in a park; does he have a right to get his gun and blow their brains out? The only difference in the two scenarios is time, not any qualitative difference in the actions of the burglars. </p>
<p>I don’t think this guy was acting in vigilante fashion. He didn’t go hunt them down. These people were illegally in his home and had viciously assaulted him. </p>
<p>I doubt anything is going to happen to him. I doubt that there is a jury in Calif that would convict him. Calif isn’t as crazy as some may think. It is still a law and order state. </p>
<p>Now, I guess if this had happened in NYC, the ole guy would have been hauled off by now and the key thrown away and the dead woman would be celebrated as some victim.</p>
<p>This isn’t like that nut in Florida who killed the texting movie-goer. </p>
<p>The circumstances between the two instances are not at all the same. With Tom Greer he was reactive and had just been beaten badly.The homeowner in Minnesota was proactive and what he did was premeditated.
I view these situations very differently.</p>
<p>What? I know many 80+ individuals, and very, very few of them are suffering from dementia. I just looked this up, and studies seem to show that only 13.5 percent of 80-84 yr olds suffer from dementia. </p>