Poll: Teen Shot dead after attempting to mug man

[Danzaivar]

No. He was wrong. If someone mugs you, but punches you rather than draw a weapon on you, then you should at least start by threatening them with the weapon you are carrying. A reflexive response of "shoot first, ask questions later", proves why civilians should not be given the power to end peoples live so easily.

And to all of you that say the mugger "deserved to be shot": that's disgusting. Not even if he'd had a weapon (where lethal self-defence is excusable), would he have "deserved" to die. There is no logical explanation that can ever be given as to why a person "deserves" death.

He threatens to pull out a gun, the mugger (who hasn't just been given a concussion by several blows to the head) has better reactions and pulls out HIS gun first and kills him.

Telling the guy to back off is one thing, but announcing you have a gun when he has the advantage is just suicidal.

 

[Missing SHODAN]

4 hits seems excessive, but between the hit to the head and the adrenaline rush from thinking his life is in danger, I doubt the guy was thinking "I only need one or two hits" and probably more "shoot until things don't look bad."

I side with the jogger in this case - it's easy now to look at the situation and go "Why did you fire eight shots?" but that's easy to ask when no one is hitting you in the head and you don't think your life is in danger.

EDIT - Obviously, the kid didn't deserve to die. The kid deserved to go to jail or whatever the hell Florida does with juvenile offenders. However, it was a very bad decision he made, and being shot and killed was one of the possible consequences. It's a shame his life was over so quickly, but it was his bad decisions that got him into that situation.

 

[Jonluw]

Well, the mugger had it coming. I don't believe Baker was in the right though.

 

[Mechsoap]

Some people think they are immortal, till they get a cap in their ass.

Baker had every right to shoot him since he was in a perhaps life dangering episode, and i hope the 16 year old gets a jail time for attempted mugging (or whatever you call it when you try rob someone and fail).

 

[Lord Kloo]

A) who the hell carries a revolver (with hollow point and a laser sight he must think hes a hit man or something..) going out on a late night run..? And its was a concealed weapon, who other than the police and the army carry licenses for a pistol and to also conceal it..?

B) who goes out on late night runs, just ludicrous..

C) if you have a license for said concealed gun then why isn't he trained to use it properly and knee-cap his attacker instead of shooting them, 4 times, in the chest..

D) these muggers were unarmed and posed a seriously limited effect to his life and so fatal force was unnecessary.

E) also carrying $500 in cash whilst on a run.. this seems extremely fishy to me, more fishy than fishy, McFish..

F) death is not a suitable punishment for battery, if it was then the death rate by state execution would amount to something like several hundred thousand per year whereas its only about 100 or more currently..

Overall, stupid that people are allowed to go around carrying guns like that and also that he has been let off for murder (or at least manslaughter) he has intent to harm and possibly kill and also he has killed someone so I would charge him guilty of manslaughter.. or at least if it had been in the UK that would have been the verdict.

It is the mail though so they probably over exaggerated the information..

EDIT: also soldiers, are always told to inform any civilians that they will open fire if said civilian does not surrender. Kinda proves that no-one outside of law-enforcement and the army should be allowed a gun, and these groups having guns is debatable as well..

 

[Jake the Snake]

At first I was a bit appalled that the guy shot his gun 8 fucking times in self defense.

But, then I started thinking: You're suddenly being punched in the face and someone is seriously trying to hurt you. You're scared, and you need to get away. You pull out your gun and just start firing, because of the adrenaline and want to make sure the person will get away from you.

I personally believe that Baker was definitely in the right. It's hard to justify that being assaulted/killed is a bad thing when you had evil and harmful intentions for the other person. I think it's perfectly reasonable to think someone would be armed when trying to mug you, because I'm guessing most of the time, they are.

 

[Imat]

Sorry but I have to disagree with a lot of people here. It was just a couple of kids and the guy shot him eight times. He could have fired a warning shot, I mean hes clearly capable of handling himself if hes applying for the military and keeps fit. The kid had his whole life to turn around, but now he won't get that chance. People who do bad things can change, and I don't think it was necessary to shot him eight times so he was sure he would be dead.

He didn't shoot him 8 times. He shot at him 8 times. The difference being it is assumed he missed 4 times, because the kid only got hit 4 times.

Missing from what I assume is point-blank may have been due to his blurred vision, but the kid wasn't trying to run either. His friend stated that the laser-sight was on the kid's chest, and I'm fairly certain the shooter would not have gunned down a fleeing opponent. I give him the benefit of the doubt, at least. So if somebody who just punched you in the face was willing to continue to threaten violence after you pull out a gun, would you hold your fire or fear for your life? Again, giving the shooter the benefit of the doubt. I doubt he would shoot an assailant who was running or without warning.

 

[Jodah]

Its always unfortunate when someone that young gets killed but he had it coming. Making a stupid mistake in ones youth is one thing but by that point he should know not to try to rob someone.

As for the number of shots, the first thing any Conceal Carry instructor or tactical shooting instructor will tell you is you shoot SEVERAL rounds when defending yourself. You don't shoot then look to see if you hit, that is how YOU get shot. It was likely reactionary for him to empty his magazine (45s usually carry 7+1).

 

[Togs]

regretable, mildly depressing but 100% justified

 

[archvile93]

That guy knew the risks when he committed a criminal act. I see no reason to punish someone who defends himself. Still, the police have to look into this. There have been similar cases where it turned out the shooter really was a murderer and not just a man defending himself.

 

[Danzaivar]

I would charge him guilty of manslaughter.. or at least if it had been in the UK that would have been the verdict.

You are totally right. If you killed someone out of self-defence in the UK you'd go to prison for manslaughter or murder.

And the worst part is you think that's a perfectly reasonable attitude!

 

[badgersprite]

Did he deserve to die? No.
But at the same time, I don't think the shooter should be punished for defending himself, especially if he had the license to carry the weapon.

And this is coming from someone who thinks America's right to bare arms is ridiculously outdated.

Are you me? Because these are my thoughts exactly.

One thing I do dislike about Australian and English law is that it blames the person defending themselves if they use an excessive or lethal amount of force. Someone explain to me how you're supposed to gauge the appropriate amount of force when you're being attacked, you think you might be killed and instinct and adrenaline are flooding your system? Makes no sense to me.

 

[Weaver]

i hate to use the "slippery slope" fallacy, but well... it is. where do you draw the line? in Montana, where i live, a Wal-mart employee recently shot another when they got in an argument. the state had recently passed a law similar to Florida's "stand your ground" law, and he claimed he felt his life was in danger (even though they were both at work, in Wal-mart...). who's to say if he was right or wrong? all i know is someone got shot at Wal-mart over a stupid disagreement and a potentially dangerous law, setting an even more dangerous precedent.

granted, in Baker's case, his life was more clearly in danger, but shooting him 4 times seems excessive. idk... not gonna pass judgement here. on one hand the mugger deserved it, but i just see this leading to bad things.

I agree. What if the shooter simply pulled out his gun? Would the mugger have fled upon realising the danger to his life? Or even just a bullet to the leg. I don't think the shooter should be punished but this is a case of excessive force.

It's awesome to say this when we're sitting at home with our warm drinks and blankets, but the guy probably panicked and was disoriented for being punched so hard in the face it knocked him to the ground.

Thinking clearly in these kinds of situations is difficult.

 

[metal mustache]

i was going to argue that 8 shots was overkill and might have sincerly wanted to kill his attacker after the first few, but then i thought well it doesn't really describe his shooting except that he fired 8 times. Perhaps having been hit the face, he was spraying and praying.

 

[DivineSin]

So he should have just let two people beat and mug him? Yeah no. And he got jumped in the middle of the night? He certainly does have the right to defend himself. And 4 bullets looks a lot better than 1. 1 is too precise, doesn't look like a struggle at all.

 

[JezebelinHell]

If more criminals believed they could get shot for a simple mugging then less of them would be doing it. Which means fewer REAL VICTIMS in the long run which is really what needs to happen. If a criminal gets shot trying to hurt someone else the criminal is not NOT THE VICTIM. It was their choice to attempt to commit a crime. I am not sorry that they picked A VICTIM that was actually able to defend themselves.

 

[Phoenix09215]

How can any of you say he deserved to die? Yeah he was breaking the law but I doubt he had any intentions of killing that man and you have no idea what caused him to try and rob someone in the first place. Plus, firing 8 shots is way over the top. He obvious shot him with the intent to seriously injure him. Yes, the kids just tried to mug him but the first thing that comes to my mind wouldn't be "I'm going to shoot you now". He could've even threatened to shoot, I'm sure he would've been scared off.

 

[Daverson]

These sort of criminals have no respect for the rights of others, and therefore deserve none themselves.