good guys with guns 09-18-09

by permission

from: Stephen P. Wenger
comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger

http://www.spw-duf.info
 

Oops, Wrong Car: Two burglars attempting to steal a car from a Brevard County [FL] home were held at gunpoint by the homeowners. Matthew Clark, 20, and Justin Sheppard, 19, are facing several charges including burglary and grand theft. Authorities say the pair was burglarizing a home near Titusville on Karen Drive when the homeowners confronted them with a 12-gauge shotgun. The woman and her son held the two until police arrived. Clark and Sheppard are now being held on $5,000 bonds. (All's well that ends well but, had the car thieves been armed and prepared to fight, the outcome might not have been worth whatever portion of the vehicle's value was not covered by insurance. With no immediate threat to life or limb, sometimes it's best to call 911.)

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/9/16/burglars_held_up_by_homeowners.html
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Oops, Wrong Treatment Plant: The Polk County [TN] Sheriff's Office is searching for a suspect after a shootout at the Intertrade Holdings, Inc., facility near Copperhill Sunday evening. According to a news release from the sheriff's department, three employees were working at a water treatment plant in the Cantrell Flats area of the Intertrade facility around 10:30 p.m. Sunday when they spotted a male subject walking on the property. When they challenged the man, he allegedly pulled out a handgun, ducked behind cover and began firing at the employees. According to the news release, one of the employees grabbed a shotgun the workers kept at the facility to defend against coyotes and other predators and returned fire. During the brief exchange of fire, another employee, Larry Breeden, 57, of Cherry Log, Ga., suffered a wound to the neck. He was transported to Copper Basin Medical Center and then to Erlanger Medical Center, and released Monday morning… (It sounds as though it's fortunate that this employer did not ban firearms in the workplace.)

http://dpa.xtn.net/dynamic/News/Story/158178
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Student Will Not Be Charged in Sword Death: Baltimore homicide detectives don't think a Johns Hopkins University student had "the intent to kill" when he used a samurai sword to confront an intruder behind his home, a police spokesman said Thursday. John Pontolillo, 20, a junior chemistry major from New Jersey, killed the man with a single blow early Tuesday after police said the suspected burglar lunged at him. Mr. Pontolillo has not been charged in the death of Donald D. Rice, 49, who had a long rap sheet of burglary arrests and was released from jail just two days before the altercation. Prosecutors will determine whether charges are appropriate after consulting with police, a process that could take weeks… When Mr. Pontolillo saw Mr. Rice, he raised the sword and yelled for his roommates to call police, Mr. Guglielmi said. Mr. Rice lunged at the student, who backed up against a wall. At that point, Mr. Pontolillo struck Mr. Rice once with the sword, nearly severing Mr. Rice's left hand and causing a severe wound to his upper body. Mr. Rice died at the scene…

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/18/samurai-sword-death-not-homicide/

…The student was the third Baltimore resident in the past month to draw headlines for a confrontation with an intruder. In August, a man used a baseball bat to bash a man who police say was attempting to rob a Fells Point store for the third time. And this week, an off-duty police officer shot and critically wounded a man who police say had forced him to the ground at gunpoint in his Northeast Baltimore home…

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.ci.sword18sep18,0,2280312.story
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