GUNS IN THE NEWS--March 12, 2004

As CO Liberal sez:
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"Kenneth G. Riggs, 38, died about 12:30 a.m. Thursday of a gunshot wound to the head. He was shot inside Warren's apartment on Mahoning Road Northeast, less than a block from his home.
Canton Police Lt. Tom Thomas said the two women in the apartment knew Riggs, but he declined to describe their relationship. Police say the shooter is a 31-year-old woman, who Thomas said was identified in the 911 call as Warren's daughter.
The mother apparently made the calls and the daughter allegedly fired a .22 rifle at Riggs twice after he forced his way into the apartment.
Riggs, who lived in the 2600 block of Mahoning Road Northeast, had a history of arrests in Stark County that stretched back to the late 1980s. Court records include a one-year prison sentence for illegal possession of a firearm and using a weapon while intoxicated. The records also list multiple arrests on charges of assault, aggravated burglary, menacing, drug abuse and violating a protection order."

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/local/8167737.htm

"A Shady Side woman who maintains she was temporarily insane when she killed her husband wept on the witness stand yesterday as she told an Anne Arundel County jury she recalls little about the bloody attack.
Eslin contends she suffers from battered spouse syndrome and should not be held criminally responsible for killing her husband of 15 years on Jan. 17, 2003. The only part of the killing she recalled was pounding her husband with a rifle so he would understand the pain he put her through, she told the Circuit Court jury.
Prosecutors say the beating, which broke the rifle stock, came after Eslin fired three shots into her husband's head, but before she rolled him and some bloodsoaked bedclothes into a blue tarp secured with bungee cords. "

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.eslin12mar12,0,4944278.story?coll=bal-local-arundel

This is the breaking story on the local news this morning. Yet another family kept safe by guns...NOT!!!! - Wayne

* * * * *

Colorado Springs Police investigate a child shooting

A family in Colorado Springs is grieving after a shooting in their home leaves a child dead.

Colorado Springs Police said two kids were at a home near Woodmen and Rockrimmon, when the shooting happened. One was shot, and later died at Penrose Hospital. It all happened a little after five Thursday night. Police have not yet confirmed if this shooting was accidental. Sergeant Tony Erickson said, "I was told that there were firearms at the home, but we are not saying more at this point."

<more>

http://www.koaa.com/news/view.asp?ID=1986

<sarcasm>And yet ANOTHER family kept safe by a gun..... </sarcasm> - Wayne

Stepdad charged in gun accident

ROCKFORD — Prosecutors charged a 39-year-old Rockford man with a misdemeanor Thursday for allegedly leaving a loaded gun unsecured in his home where it was found by his 7-year-old stepson who then shot himself in the face.

David B. Hoffman turned himself in to detectives late Thursday afternoon. He later made his $75 bond and was released from jail. If found guilty, Hoffman faces a fine of at least $1,000.

The boy, Kyle Ulrich, was listed in stable condition at Rockford Memorial Hospital. It was an improvement from Wednesday’s report of critical.

According to police, Ulrich found Hoffman’s .25 caliber Beretta in an upstairs bedroom of the home where he lives in the 700 block of Third Avenue.

<more>

http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/your_community/rockford/20040312-16667.shtml

Another celebration of freedom....

"FORT WORTH - A 20-year-old Fort Worth man was sentenced to 20 years in prison this week for his role in the May 2001 robbery and fatal shooting of a 17-year-old at a reputed drug house.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, state District Judge George Gallagher acquitted the defendant, Anthony D. Smith, of murder but found him guilty of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in the May 27, 2001, incident in which Brandon Cooper-Bennett was killed.
Officials said Smith and Darrell Richie were accused of robbing and shooting Cooper-Bennett, who was found shot in the chest on a couch when officers responded to a 911 call at a house in the 4200 block of Avenue J."

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/8169379.htm

"A 27-year-old Troy man who police say accidentally killed his roommate was charged this week with careless discharge of a gun causing death.
Matthew Ferrera shot his roommate and friend, Michael O'Connell, 27, in the abdomen with a 12-gauge shotgun at close range in their Royal Oak apartment on Nov. 19, police said. Ferrera was pointing the shotgun at O'Connell when it went off, police said.
Ferrera was charged Tuesday with the misdemeanor, punishable by up to 2 years in prison.
"It was a tragic, tragic accident," said Royal Oak Police Detective Frank Bonnette. "They were both ex-Marines, both gun enthusiasts and both pursuing careers in law enforcement."
Bonnette said the roommates would wrestle with each other and sometimes toyed with guns. "

http://www.freep.com/news/locoak/nshot12_20040312.htm

Ferrera was charged Tuesday with the misdemeanor, punishable by up to 2 years in prison.

But isn't that a felony sentence? Either the reporter is wrong, or Michigan has enacted some new regime of sentencing for gun-related offenses. (?)


Mary

Reading that story, doesn't it sound like he took it on the lam after the shooting?

I dunno. Maybe he took off, maybe not. I kinda got that impression too, but the story is ambiguous on that point. Yet he wasn't denied bond, and if he'd been judged a flight risk, he could have been.

It's a seriously weird story. Who the hell plays wrestling games with a loaded firearm? The story made it sound as though they regularly spent a lot of time grappling with each other and fingering their guns.

WTF?


Mary

"You break out the baby oil, Dan, and I'll load the shotgun...."

I'm not very upset at the loss of someone that dumb.

...in quotes?

"they regularly spent a lot of time grappling with each other and fingering their guns."

Some states do have 2-year sentences for crimes considered misdemeanors.

Look at the language on the federal paperwork you have to fill out when you buy a gun. One of the questions deals with criminal history - It asks if you have ever been convicted of a crime for which you could have been sentenced to one year or more. If Ferrera is convicted of this crime he will be barred for life from possessing any kind of firearm.

Thanks -- I didn't know about that.

Maybe that was the original point of imposing 2 year sentences for misdemeanors -- making the federal felon-gun prohibition as broadly applicable as possible.


Mary

n/t

"Boynton Beach· Cory Pinkney watched his brother hop into a friend's car and peel out of their northeast Boynton neighborhood Wednesday afternoon. Three minutes later, he said, he heard gunshots.
His brother, Jake Varshain Pinkney III, 24, was riding along North Seacrest Boulevard with two friends home for Spring Break, when suddenly shots were fired from a passing vehicle, he said. Pinkney was shot in the leg. The driver, Styvenson Coreolan, 23, and passenger, Victel Servius, 25, were not injured.
A drive-by shooting in the same neighborhood last month left one man dead and three injured. But Cory Pinkney said he didn't see how the two drive-bys could be related unless the shooters mistook Coreolan's blue 1991 Chevy Impala for someone else's car."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pboynton12mar12,0,4856964.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

The Duval County grand jury returned indictments for seven people in four separate murder cases Thursday.
Brothers Jimmy and Sydney Chhem were indicted in the shooting death of 19-year-old Clay Austin II in December 2003. Jimmy Chhem was charged with first-degree murder and Sydney Chhem was indicted on three counts of attempted murder in the same shooting.
Nicholas Mitchell was also indicted for first-degree murder and attempted murder in the shooting death of Patti Moore in December 2003. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=422&ncid=422&e=3&u=/ibsys/20040312/lo_wjxt/2047661

"SAN DIEGO — To the cheers of hundreds of his colleagues, Police Officer Dan Walters, left a quadriplegic by an on-duty shooting, returned home Thursday after four months at a rehabilitation hospital in Colorado.
"It was a long trip," Walters said softly as his wheelchair was rolled to a waiting van at Lindbergh Field for a trip to a rehabilitation center in San Diego.    
Walters, 37, who was a catcher for the San Diego Padres before joining the police force, had stopped to help an officer who was questioning a domestic violence suspect on a busy street Nov. 12. The suspect, Jaime Contreras, 26, of National City, exchanged gunfire with police, striking Walters in the neck. Walters was then struck by a car. Contreras was killed. "

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cop12mar12,1,5429006.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Possibly MO's first defensive gun use under the new CCW laws - carry in vehicle w/o a permit - Rom

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/St.+Louis+City+%2F+County/114179FB4F233ACB86256E55001C86A6?OpenDocument&Headline=Man+repels+3+r

Robbers pointed a gun at Bryan Rutherford and demanded that he hand over valuables from his pickup Tuesday evening in Lemay.

Rutherford didn't pull out cash or jewelry. He pulled out a .22-caliber pistol hidden in his vehicle and opened fire in what authorities believe is the first instance of self-defense with a concealed firearm since the Missouri Legislature loosened the state's gun laws.

The man holding what turned out to be a BB gun on Rutherford was hit several times in the torso before he and two accomplices fled. Three suspects were later captured and charged.

*snip*

The precise status of the concealed carry law at the time Rutherford fired is cloudy. But in any event, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch said Thursday that Rutherford would not be charged.

*snip/more*

Law abiding citizens being armed is a good thing.

:-)

"Shawn "Tank" Hampton, 19, faces first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Mai Thi Nguyen, 55. The killing happened Tuesday shortly after noon at Kim's Supermarket at 3233 Loyola Ave.
According to investigators, three men walked into the store, at least one of them armed with a pistol, and without provocation ordered the woman to the floor. Seconds later, she was shot in the head. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040312/lo_wdsu/2049181

"Two men continue to recover in area hospitals while two others now recooperate at home following Wednesday's quadruple shooting. 
Carel horton was arrested Wednesday night and charged with two counts of aggravated assault in the shooting.  Jackson police continue to search for others involved. So far, neither Horton nor the victims have been cooperative.
Investigators say the shooting originally started when Horton's cousin, David Vaughan, was shot. That lead to the shooting of Fred Mallard, Harry McNeil, and Derrick Young in retaliation."

http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=1706735

"HUTCHINSON, Minn. -- Authorities released the names of the two men found dead in a Hutchinson basement on Friday.
They were identified as Corey Joseph Posusta and Chad David Uecker. Both were 34 years old.
Posusta lived at the home where the men were found. Uecker did not live there but was a resident of Hutchinson.
Authorities said the two victims died from gunshot wounds. However, no suspects are in custody and police are not actively looking for suspects."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4660296.html

"CHICAGO -- An 18-year-old Minneapolis woman who left home two weeks ago for Chicago and a fresh start has been shot to death, the victim of a drive-by shooting.
Victoria Davis Evans, the mother of a 15-month-old she left behind in Minneapolis, was killed early Thursday as she left a neighbor's house, Chicago police spokeswoman Josephine Del Rio said.
Evans' godmother and others found the woman lying dead on the front porch of neighbor Kim Waits' house. Waits said Evans was visiting that night and walking out the door with a cousin when the shots rang out. Bullets struck Evans several times.
The shots were fired from a dark, 4-door sedan, possibly a Chevrolet or Cadillac. Evans might not have been the shooter or shooters' target, Del Rio said."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/467/4660733.html

"A judge on Friday ordered a Kirby teenager accused of carrying a gun on campus to remain in juvenile detention.
Despite reassurances from family members that the Kirby teenager regretted his actions, District Judge Karmen Kelsey denied their request, saying that the boy allegedly threatened to use the gun. Cornelius Cox, the teen's attorney, said his client was trying to protect himself from a group of boys who harassed the teen because he spoke to the boy's girlfriends. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=391&ncid=391&e=1&u=/ibsys/20040312/lo_ksat/2049527

Local paper story caught my eye -

not much more to the story beyond the fact that she is now in jail and has said (via lawyer? - it was not clear)she did know about the cocaine, and that guns are a so what