Man with Mosin 91/30 shoots woofer-stealing burglar

[Jocassee]

A Seattle man facing manslaughter charges for fatally shooting a car prowler with a rifle pleaded guilty Friday after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Filing a second-degree manslaughter charge in September, King County prosecutors alleged that Douglas Cameron Sheets acted with criminal negligence when he shot Jhovany Hernandez outside his Northgate home. According to court filings, police came to believe that Sheets shot Hernandez as the 21-year-old fled.

Sheets was arraigned Friday, then pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter. Since he has no other criminal record, he would face a sentence of 21 to 27 months.

But prosecutors will recommend just nine months, pointing to a mitigating factor listed in sentencing laws. That factor is invoked when the victim instigated the incident as Hernandez did during the car prowl.

Describing the Sept. 24, 2008, shooting, Seattle police Detective James Cooper said in statements to the court that incident began when Sheets heard several men breaking into his car.

From the balcony of his apartment in the 9700 block of Fifth Avenue Northeast, Sheets saw an unfamiliar car idling near the parking stall underneath the balcony where his Toyota Camry was parked. Three other men, Cooper said, were breaking into the vehicle.

Sheets returned to the balcony with a Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle, Cooper said, prompting the men in the car to flee as two of the apparent car prowlers, including Hernandez, remained near the apartment. Trying to get to the prowlers' car, Hernandez ran carrying a 27-pound subwoofer taken from Sheets' car.

Cooper said that Sheets told officers Hernandez turned and reached for the waistband of his pants before the shooting. Sheets took aim and fired, striking Hernandez in the back of the head.

Sheets then rushed out of his apartment, Cooper said, checking Hernandez for a pulse and found the man dead. Police later determined that Hernandez was unarmed at the time of the shooting.

Speaking to officers after being taken into custody, Sheets allegedly told investigators he had not intended to kill Hernandez.

"When the defendant told them to freeze, the defendant claimed the last guy turned around holding the subwoofer up by his head with one hand," Cooper said in court documents. "The defendant said (Hernandez), with his free hand, then started reaching for his waistband."

Sheets, the detective added, "said he wasn't going to take any chances, he 'freaked the (expletive) out, and he fired."

During an autopsy, staff with the King County Medical Examiner's Office found Hernandez had been killed by the single gunshot to the back of his head.

Sheets will likely be sentenced in about a month.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/410709_manslaughter01.html

Coworker 1: "I bet that dropped him like a bad habit."

Coworker 2: "I hope the subwoofer's OK."

[PTK]

So, he was defending his property, the thug was reaching for a gun, the victim fired one shot and killed the thug, and yet.... the victim goes to jail?

I don't understand that.

[red headed stranger]

I suspect Mr Sheets would be in a lot better position right now if he hadn't spoken so much.  

[Jocassee]

EDIT

[makattak]

So, he was defending his property, the thug was reaching for a gun, the victim fired one shot and killed the thug, and yet.... the victim goes to jail?

I don't understand that.

I think the gunshot to the back of the head creates doubt in his story.

Most likely, he would have been better off not to talk, as stranger suggests.

[Nick1911]

I agree...

The age old advice of "don't talk to the police" is applicable.

[AZRedhawk44]

Coworker 2: "I hope the subwoofer's OK."

Coworker 2 wins one innernetz lolz.

 

On a somber note, seems like (in King County at least) it's hard to justify self-defense with a 1-shot kill to the back of the head of a guy with his hands full.

A subwoofer held overhead with one hand?  Hmm.  Smells fishy, and that ain't the Pike Place Fishmongers.

I think a more hilarious response (and less lethal) would have been to put that 150gr bullet @ 2800fps into the middle of the engine block of the getaway car.  Then fix bayonets and charge to make them drop the pilfered goods.

But I'm just dark like that.

[BlueStarLizzard]

*shrug* i think i would have shoot the subwoofer. I tend to be of the thought if i can't have it then niether can you.

i question this man's shooting. A head shot? whats more, one in the back of the head... *raises eyebrows*

i'm with AZ, if he wanted to stop the bad guys, stop their vehicle would have been a better and safer tactic.

[Gewehr98]

I'm sure this'll get the Texican contingent of APS all riled up, but it appears to me that our hero was looking to shoot somebody well before the deceased moved hands towards waistband.  Shot in the back of the head?  Explain that one to the judge... 

[Gowen]

It's hard to justify a shot to the back or at an odd angle, such as entering the top of the head and exiting the rear end.

[lee n. field]

Sheets took aim and fired, striking Hernandez in the back of the head.

Sheets then rushed out of his apartment, Cooper said, checking Hernandez for a pulse and found the man dead

Ya think?

Was there any head left?

[red headed stranger]

*shrug* i think i would have shoot the subwoofer. I tend to be of the thought if i can't have it then niether can you.

And the muzzle blast might have caught the screen and or cabinet on fire.  After that, Hilarity would surely ensue.  

But seriously, I wouldn't go to war with three unknown individuals over a subwoofer.  I certainly wouldn't start shooting from my balcony.  

[Nick1911]

From a moral standpoint...  Crime should be a dangerous profession.

From a legal standpoint...  Probably not a good shoot.

From a pragmatic standpoint...  No sub-woofer isn't worth 9 months of my life incarcerated.

[Viking]

Edit: I ought to keep my big mouth shut occasionally...

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

finding a gun on the thief woulda been good too

[Gewehr98]

I have a hard time condemning him for it. After all, steal someone's property, and you take a part of their life that they spent working to get the money to buy said property. To hell with that, along with all thieves and other dirt bags. Don't want to get shot? Don't commit crimes. Not hard to understand is it? The fact that the dead thief appears to have been shot from behind doesn't bother me either.

finding a gun on the thief woulda been good too

Two threadkiller posts, right there.

Why?

1.  How many years of a person's life have you stolen from him after you capped him for the time spent on a subwoofer?  A subwoofer equals what, one week, one month's wages?  What would his life expectancy have been had you not given him an acute dose of lead poisoning?  Hardly equitable.

2.  This is APS.  It is read far and wide, not just by folks in Texas who still have legalities in place for deadly force vs. theft.  We will not promulgate or endorse illegal activities on such a public forum hosted by a well-known RKBA figure. We fight anti-gunners on several fronts every day, and hardly need the extra exposure.   Planting a gun on the deceased?  I hardly think so.  

[Viking]

You are right. Edited.