Armed self-defense works.

[just Warren]

I know she feel's bad about killing, but better that then her being dead.

[LadySmith]

She fired two warning shots thru a window, the man left walked around the corner but immediately came back and that’s when she fired the fatal shot.

Note to bad guys: when someone shoots at you twice, don't come back for more. M'kay?

[MrsSmith]

That's about the third instance I've heard of in the past six months of women defending themselves in their home. Hate that there's a need for it but glad to see more women refusing to be victims.

On a side note, that article was obviously not scanned by a proofreader or editor. Made my red pen itchy.

[just Warren]

It's a local station staffed with less than stellar newsies. Either they're learning and going to move on to bigger markets or this is the highest level they will reach. In one promo they ran for some time the breathlessly exclaimed of a story that "We were the only one's to bring it to you first!"

[Boomhauer]

That's about the third instance I've heard of in the past six months of women defending themselves in their home.

Expect lots more. *expletive deleted*it's getting real out there.

As a side note, I wonder what's going to happen when the "end of the world 2012" bullshit starts really spinning up... A good friend of mine was carjacked and raped on the eve of Y2K because a punkass mother *expletive deleted*er "wanted a piece of ass before the world ended".

[Viking]

Note to bad guys: when someone shoots at you twice, don't come back for more. M'kay?

Darwin in action.

[Perd Hapley]

As a side note, I wonder what's going to happen when the "end of the world 2012" bull*expletive deleted* starts really spinning up...

Didn't you hear? The world ended yesterday. Remember Harold Camping, the guy that predicted the Rapture would happen in May?

[vaskidmark]

The whole emotional trauma she is going through could have been avoided if she had not wasted the two "warning shots" and just plugged the guy with the first shot.

I'm not going to get into a debate about whether or not a guy still outside the plane of the walls is an imminent threat or not - I'm not an elderly woman apparently living alone whose home is being targeted at 2 AM.  The cops seem to be happy, so I'm happy too.

stay safe.

[wmenorr67]

Well being the fact that she was 60+ some years old, I can't say she was wrong.  Easy for us to sit back and play armchair 20/20 hindsight monday morning quarterback.  But we weren't there or in her shoes.  I just hope that if the time ever comes I can pull the trigger as she did.

[230RN]

"The whole emotional trauma she is going through could have been avoided if she had not wasted the two "warning shots" and just plugged the guy with the first shot."

Probably helped her legal situation.  (Although I would figure she just missed with the first two shots.) 

Y'know, two in the dirt, two COM, but I wonder where those first two ended up.  Probably won't find 'em until the next time the neighbor paints the garage. 

I s'pose it's OK to fire warning shots if you got wun uh them standard-capacity 17-shot guns what you load on Sunday and shoot all week.  Not sure it's a good idea if you got wun uh them limited-capacity guns what only hold five  or six or seven or eight shots.

Or ten.

Terry, 230RN

[Perd Hapley]

I've read multiple articles on this, but none of them address how she was able to keep the attacker from taking the gun away from her and shooting her with it. That is what would normally happen. Nor do they hold her accountable for escalating the conflict by introducing a gun into the situation.

What has become of our journalists?

[Hawkmoon]

That's about the third instance I've heard of in the past six months of women defending themselves in their home. Hate that there's a need for it but glad to see more women refusing to be victims.

On a side note, that article was obviously not scanned by a proofreader or editor. Made my red pen itchy.

Not gonna happen.

I've been realizing that what passes for "articles" on most television station web sites (or is that site's? -- I see this so much I'm beginning to doubt my high school English teachers) is nothing more than transcripts of the live-from-the-scene news(?)casts. I'm sure the person doing the transcribing has little more than a high school education, so if spell check in Word doesn't flag it ... it must be correct.

[Tallpine]

I'm sure the person doing the transcribing has little more than a high school education

A person with a HS education from 40 years ago would know better 

[French G.]

Not gonna happen.

I've been realizing that what passes for "articles" on most television station web sites (or is that site's? -- I see this so much I'm beginning to doubt my high school English teachers) is nothing more than transcripts of the live-fom-the-scene news(?)casts. I'm sure the person doing the transcribing has little more than a high school education, so if spell check in Word doesn't flag it ... it must be correct.

Werd spellcheck does not detect homonyms because they are of course spelled correctly. My local newspaper is good for 2-3 per edition.

[lee n. field]

The whole emotional trauma she is going through could have been avoided if she had not wasted the two "warning shots" and just plugged the guy with the first shot.

There'll be, and ought to be, emotional trauma any time your actions cause a death.  Hopefully she'll get it sorted out in due time.  Hopefully the perp's friends and family don't cause problems.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Werd spellcheck does not detect homonyms because they are of course spelled correctly. My local newspaper is good for 2-3 per edition.

Yep, mine too.  Drives me crazy.

One I see occasionally in the gun forums is "Inside (or outside) the wasteband holster".  What exactly are you wearing to hold your (or is it you're) holster?

The other day on Craigslist I saw "Worshing machine for sale".  I wouldn't call such an individual on a bet.

[Tallpine]

"Worshing machine for sale"

Well, that's just spelling it like it sounds 

[Boomhauer]

The other day on Craigslist I saw "Worshing machine for sale".  I wouldn't call such an individual on a bet.

Hell, I'm blessed. They call ME. "Yall got that dere cable tv in da campground?". Seriously..one idiot left a very long, rambling message about how he couldn't find the cable TV hookup at his campsite (our campground doesn't have cable TV...nor has it ever). He went on for so long, the answering machine timed out and he called back and rambled for a while longer.

[MrsSmith]

Hawkmoon and Tallpine - one that bothers me a lot is confusing "who" and "that" and I see it all the time, even in supposedly professionally written articles. And some of us with a high school education from 20-something years ago know better too. 

Lee - I agree. Trauma is perfectly normal and to be expected. If she felt nothing about shooting someone I'd wonder. That said, I think it might be a little easier to put it to rest knowing that it had to be him or me.

As to there being any question about her firing "warning shots" while probably not a wise move as she likely wasn't thinking about where else those rounds might have landed, I suspect she likely didn't care to wait and see if he'd follow through on coming through her window. Where he might have succeeded in getting the weapon away from her.

This was a positive outcome, no matter how you look at it.

[KD5NRH]

As to there being any question about her firing "warning shots" while probably not a wise move as she likely wasn't thinking about where else those rounds might have landed, I suspect she likely didn't care to wait and see if he'd follow through on coming through her window.

This is why my "warning shot" is low-recoil #4 buck.  When that hits the BG in the chest, it's warning him that a 000 magnum is next.

[Hawkmoon]

Yep, mine too.  Drives me crazy.

One I see occasionally in the gun forums is "Inside (or outside) the wasteband holster".  What exactly are you wearing to hold your (or is it you're) holster?

The other day on Craigslist I saw "Worshing machine for sale".  I wouldn't call such an individual on a bet.

Oh, true enough. Years ago, the local shoppers bargain paper had an ad for a used Jeep with "worn" hubs. Obviously, the seller had phoned in the ad and the person at the paper dutifully wrote down exactly what he said. Of course, a 4WD vehicle with "worn" hubs is a lot less desirable than one with "Warn" hubs, but I don't expect a phone drone to know the difference. I ALWAYS sent in typed or computer generated copy by snail mail or fax rather than call ads in and cast myself on the mercies of the phone drones.

Back to the report du jour: the other problem with these news "articles" that are transcripts of telecasts is that, in addition to not spelling very well, they reproduce what the roving reporter on the scene said ... exactly. So if that person doesn't use correct grammar ... the "article" won't use correct grammar. Since it's a given that 98.7 percent of television field stringers can't speak proper English, it's small wonder so many of these "articles" are unreadable.

[AmbulanceDriver]

KD5, according to your logic, I'll give the bad guys six warning shots of 00 buck before getting serious with the 3" magnum slug.....    :)

[Hawkmoon]

I guess I'm weirder than I ever knew. I've thought about the possibility that I might someday have to shoot someone, either in my own defense or to defend a member of my family. My intent would be defense rather than homicide but, if my properly legal and morally sustainable self defense resulted in the demise of the assailant ... I really don't think I would be especially upset. Nor should I be.

Roman Catholic Catechism (emphasis added):

Legitimate defense

2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor.... The one is intended, the other is not."[65]

2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:
If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful.... Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.[65]

2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life. Preserving the common good requires rendering the unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. To this end, those holding legitimate authority have the right to repel by armed force aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their charge.[66]

[Bob F.]

After a nighttime stakeout/gunfight many years ago, a trooper friend told me "some people just need killin'." How true.

Stay safe.
Bob

[just Warren]

Interview with the lady.

She fired two warning shots and called 9-1-1.. That scared off Theis.. But it didn't keep him away for good. "All of a sudden he put his knee on the window sill and tried to climb through the window. And I just pulled the trigger again. I looked for a white shirt. I was afraid to look at his face and then I just shot the white shirt," Hopper says.

She kept it together after being awakened and frightened. That's a hell of a woman.

And based on the story the guy was committed to scumbaggery.