Self Defense – Page 27

Improve Your Shooting: The 50-Round Skill Sustainment Course of Fire

In case you didn’t already know it, if you don’t continue to shoot over time, you will slowly lose your shooting skills. Ammunition is more reasonable that it was a couple of years ago, but you still want to make the most of your training dome and dollars. How do you maintain your skill set without burning through a lot of ammunition? Simple: take your time and make every shot a count.

Dry fire practice at home is a great way to keep your skills sharp. If you add a Mantis X training system, that’s even better. Travis Pike gave the Mantis five stars and Jeremy gave it four. Yes, it runs over $200 or about the price of 250 rounds of 9mm ammo. I haven’t formally reviewed my own personally-owned unit, in part because I haven’t used it as much as I’d like yet. At the same time I’ve used it enough that I strongly recommend it for new and experienced shooters alike.

Even at that, though, no matter how much dry fire and Mantis X practice you complete, everyone needs real, live-fire handgun practice.

Here’s a suggested fifty-round course of fire to maintain keep the skill sets you’ve acquired through past training and practice sharp. You should use something small, like a 3×5 index card or a 3″ circle at three to five yards.

Remember, aim small miss small. If you keep all fifty rounds on the target, move back to ten or fifteen yards and repeat (if you have enough gun food). Continue reading “”

Man shot by resident after breaking into southwest Atlanta home

ATLANTA — A man is in the hospital after officials say he was shot while trying to break into a southwest Atlanta home.

Atlanta police told Channel 2 Action News on Sunday at 3:13 a.m. officers received reports of a person shot at a home on Richardson Street SW.

When officers arrived, they located a man who had been shot in the chest. He was taken to the hospital, where he is in critical condition.

The victim’s identity has not been released.

According to the investigation, the man was breaking into the home at that location when the homeowner shot him.

A Home Invasion That Failed: And it failed because the invadees had done their homework beforehand.

Here is a story that was recently shared with me. Dave and Susie (not their real names) were watching television in a room just off the main hallway near their front door. Suddenly, they heard a noise as if someone was trying to kick in their heavy wood front door accompanied with the shouts of “Police Officers…Open Up!” At the same time, from the same direction, they could hear other people laughing. Feeling certain that this was a home invasion, Dave and Susie went into action.

First, they shoved the heavy couch they had been sitting on over to block the closed door of their room. Dave took a 9mm pistol (I don’t know what kind) off the side table and got next to a large wooden bookcase that gave him some cover and allowed him to keep an eye on the door. Susie got in a far corner, behind a heavy chair and began to call 9-1-1 on her cell phone. Neither one of them said a word, instead using hand signals to communicate.

Shortly after that, the criminals got the front door open and started down the hall. One of them tried the door to the TV room and, when he felt that it was blocked, gave it a shove, moving the couch slightly and allowing him to open the door about a foot. Dave said he could clearly see that the intruder was not a police officer and could also see that the thug had a pistol in his hand. Dave fired two shots and saw the thug drop the gun and collapse. They then heard sounds that indicated that the others had run back out the front door.

Dave and Susie then held their positions until the 9-1-1 dispatcher told Susie that a uniformed officer was at the front door. At which time, Dave put is pistol down on a table and the couple spoke up to the officer and moved the couch away from the door.

A short time later, two crooks in a stolen car were arrested nearby. It is thought that they were the partners to the deceased home invader.

I like the way Dave and Susie handled this attack. It appears that they must have discussed home invasions and developed a plan. Not responding verbally to the home invaders kept the crooks wondering where their victims might actually be located. And blocking the door with the couch caused their attacker to focus on that chore instead of keeping his full attention focused on looking for victims. Susie gets points for maintaining an open line of communications with the 9-1-1 dispatcher. And Dave was also very smart to put his gun down and meet the police officer with empty hands. Latest reports are that police investigators see no legal problems for Dave & Susie and, in addition, a series of other home invasions may be cleared by this shooting and the subsequent arrests.

Have a plan…keep your wits about you…and don’t give up.

Suspected teenage home invader shot, critically injured in Lake County

MASCOTTE, Fla. —
A 16-year-old was shot and critically injured during a home invasion, Mascotte police say.

Police say the teen who was shot may have tried to break into at least two homes.

According to officials, Mascotte officers responded to an in-progress home invasion at Pine Needle Drive just after 6 a.m. on Dec. 28. There, they located a teenage male suspect who was shot by the homeowner.

The suspect was treated by Lake County EMS before being transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center. Officials say he is listed in critical condition.

According to officers, nobody in the home was injured and they are cooperating in the investigation, so they won’t be facing any charges.

Officers believe the suspect may be linked to an earlier call of a young man attempting to break into another residence in that area. This is an ongoing investigation.

WOULD-BE CARJACKER SHOT, KILLED IN APPARENT CASE OF SELF-DEFENSE

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A man is dead after being shot multiple times in Philadelphia’s Pennsport section early Tuesday morning.

Police responded to the 1400 block of S. Front Street around 5 a.m.

When they arrived, they found a man between 18 and 22 years old with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to police, the deceased was one of two individuals who attempted to carjack a 38-year-old man in the former United Artist Theater parking lot.

The victim pulled a weapon and shot one of the would-be carjackers in what police say looks like a case of self-defense.

The shooter did remain at the scene, was briefly detained, and then later released by investigators.

In a surveillance video viewed by Action News, you can see a person run from the direction of the parking lot and then collapse by a utility pole moments later.

About five minutes later, someone approaches the body to seemingly check on the person.

Neighbors who live nearby said they heard what sounded like gunshots during this time.

The noise was so loud that Zion Aregahegn said it woke her out of her sleep.

“I heard a loud boom or a bang kind of sound,” Aregahegn said. “A few seconds later, I heard someone shout. I couldn’t tell what they were saying. It was just-someone shouted.”

Aregahegn said she generally felt safe in the neighborhood but had some recent concerns about activity under the I-95 overpass. She said it was a place where people often parked and used drugs.

She’s called the police in the past but said she got little to no help.

“A lot of people pull up under here to fix their cars and I’ve seen people passed out doing drugs under there,” Aregahegn recalled.

Jordan Lewis, who lives up the street from where the incident happened, said she often passes the area on her morning run.

She said she had noticed people doing drugs under the overpass but never saw or heard of any violence breaking out there.

“Usually, it’s kind of quiet. I run on the trail along the water and there’s a lot of homeless people but they never really bother me or anything like that,” she said.

Lewis said she always tries to be aware of her surroundings but this incident heightened her instincts to be on the lookout even more.

No other details have been released at this time and police are investigating this incident.

Something to take into real consideration in these times

Is There Strength in Numbers? Critical Considerations When Forming a Mutual Assistance Group

This is not an article on how to form a mutual assistance group. It’s a discussion of the things to consider before trying to form such a group.

When things are tough, it’s usually better to be a member of the pack than a lone wolf. That would seem to be true for a SHTF situation, but it may not be as straightforward as it sounds. Is organizing your neighborhood to work together in an emergency realistic or not? I am not referring to a short-term emergency like everyone being snowed in or the aftermath of a storm. I am talking about the kind of long-term TEOTWAWKI crisis that has long-lasting ramifications for survival.

Organizing people in your community or neighborhood into a mutual assistance survival group (MAG) with the intention of working together in a world-changing crisis is something that warrants a great deal of thought and consideration. Failure to do so could reduce your chances of survival rather than enhancing them.

Continue reading “”

North Redington Beach Homeowner Shoots Burglar in Defense of Wife and Residence

Detectives from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a shooting in North Reddington Beach related to an occupied residential burglary.

On Wednesday, December 27, 2023, at approximately 3:16 a.m., deputies responded to a report of a 51-year-old male, identified as Robert Jackson, yelling on Gulf Boulevard near 164th Avenue.

Subsequently, another 911 call at 3:23 a.m. reported a residential burglary in the 200 block of Bath Club Boulevard North, where deputies found Jackson with a single gunshot wound.

Investigation reveals Jackson, after yelling on Gulf Boulevard, proceeded to break into a home on Bath Club Boulevard, engaging in a physical struggle with a 74-year-old female resident. He used a large rock, smashed through the front window, and entered the residence.

Responding to her distress, her 76-year-old husband shot Jackson in the right shoulder for their safety.

Following the shooting, Jackson unsuccessfully attempted another burglary before being apprehended by deputies.

Transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Jackson faces charges of Burglary with Battery and Attempted Residential Burglary.

Once released, he will be taken to the Pinellas County Jail. Detectives assert this was a random incident with no ongoing threat to the public.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Ohio Prosecutor: Robbers Should Expect to Get Shot

There are some DAs who are very tough on crime and there are others who are soft on crime. It doesn’t matter what city, county, or state you’re in. What matters is the DA in charge of prosecuting crimes in your neck of the woods.

In Ohio, though, there are a few mixed signals being sent by a prosecutor.

You see, she’s opted to prosecute a man who shot a robber trying to rob his store, but she’s also telling criminals that if they’re robbing a place, they should expect to get shot.

An Ohio prosecutor has indicted a smoke shop manager for allegedly shooting to death a 16-year-old boy during a robbery attempt — but warned that people “should expect to be shot” if they target stores.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers filed the charges against the manager, Tony Thacker, 29, for allegedly shooting at would-be robbers as they fled VIP Smoke Shop in Delhi Township on Oct. 20, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.…

“However, I want to make perfectly clear — these retail thefts will not be tolerated. If you try to rob a store, you should expect to be shot,” she added.

Mixed signals, right?

Not necessarily.

What’s omitted in that quote is that the person Thacker shot was, first of all, running away. That means he was no longer a threat. A lot of people think they can shoot someone fleeing, but you can’t do that. They’re no longer threatening you–unless, of course, they’re taking shots at you while running away or something similar–so your right to defend yourself isn’t applicable.

It also seems that Thacker was a prohibited person due to a felony conviction. That also changes the calculus a bit.

But Powers isn’t wrong to warn would-be robbers that if they’re going to commit an act like this, they should expect to be shot.

Robbery is an inherently violent crime in most instances. Law-abiding citizens who exercise their right to keep and bear arms have a right to protect themselves from violent criminals. In a state like Ohio where there are a fair number of gun owners, the risk to criminals becomes very real.

I want them to know that. I want them to understand that. I want them to recognize the very real probability that if they continue down this path, it’s only a matter of time before someone shoots them.

Almost no criminal thinks they’re going to get caught, but quite a few recognize that they’ll be face-to-face with their victim. That means a high likelihood that they’ll be shot.

What happened in Ohio may look like mixed signals, but it’s not because of some extenuating circumstances. Yet it also looks like Powers isn’t really interested in prosecuting armed citizens who act in self-defense, either.

If she were, I suspect she’d not have said what she did, especially knowing how a lot of people throughout the nation would react to it.

Of course, she also said the truth. It’s just a shame that in this day and age, that’s a revolutionary act.

Man shot, killed while attempting to rob two people in south St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – A man was shot and killed while trying to rob two others in south St. Louis Sunday morning, police say.

According to St. Louis Metropolitan Police, the shooting took place in the 3500 block of Minnesota Ave. around 3 a.m. Two men with a firearm approached two other people while they were sitting in their car, saying it was a robbery. One of the victims grabbed a firearm inside the car and shot one of the suspects. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The man was later identified as Donta Stone, 34, of Jennings Station Road.

The two victims fled in their car and contacted police shortly after the incident.

The Homicide Division responded and assumed the ongoing investigation.

Seattle Homeowner Uses Rifle to Fend Off 4 Home Invaders in Early Morning Home Invasion Attempt

Remember, no one needs more than ten rounds of ammunition to protect themselves. If you think you do, you’re doing it wrong. We’ve been reliably informed of that fact by the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex and all of the smartest people for years now on a regular basis. Magazine capacity limits are dubious in their effectiveness at best and are in the process of being swept into the ash heap of gun control history.

Still, though, they remain one of the primary footings on which the argument for civilian disarmament is based. And then things like this happen which, for some reason, don’t get quite as much coverage as the braying jackasses who know everything about “common sense gun safety.” Or something.

Let’s go now to the perpetually peaceful neighborhood of Beacon Hill Seattle which, we’re told, has been the location of a number of home invasions recently including one home that was the target of multiple attempts at illegal entry.

Shortly after 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, officers responded to the location for a report of an attempted home invasion robbery. Police spoke to the homeowner, who said three men tried to break down his door but were unsuccessful and fled the scene.

The SPD says the suspects tried a second time at around 12:25 a.m. the next morning.

Authorities say four men returned to the house to try breaking the door down with a sledgehammer.

The homeowner told police he was sleeping and woke up to loud banging at the door. He armed himself with a rifle, and when the suspects tried getting inside, he shot at them.

It isn’t clear from the report, but we’d guess the un-named rifle the homeowner armed himself with was an AR pattern rifle of some sort. Fending off four men takes a good amount of ammo, more than any 10-round capacity limit would confine you to.

Authorities say the suspects fired back at the homeowner before speeding off in a vehicle. It remains unknown whether the homeowner shot any of the suspects during the incident.

Detectives processing the scene say they located bullet damage in the living room and bedroom windows.

Never mind the obvious utility of having a 15- or 17- round mag in your handgun, or a full-30 compliment in your rifle when facing multiple attackers as the Seattle homeowner did. The state of Washington has a “high capacity” magazine ban, but if the homeowner was using an AR as we suspect, any 30-round magazines he may have had or used were likely grandfathered in.

If you want to get really nit-picky about it, there’s also the fact that objective examinations of “high capacity” magazine bans have shown they do little if anything about limiting “gun violence.”

Magazine restrictions do not have appreciable effects on crime or violence. In an oft‐cited study, Christopher Koper analyzed the effects of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which banned new magazines of more than 10 rounds but did little more than drive up the price of already‐existing magazines.

While presenting his findings at a Johns Hopkins summit on reducing gun violence in America, Koper was decidedly noncommittal on the ban’s utility.

In general, we found, really, very, very little evidence, almost none, that gun violence was becoming any less lethal or any less injurious during [the course of the Assault Weapon and Large Capacity Magazine (LCM) ban]. So on balance, we concluded that the ban had not had a discernible impact on gun crime during the years it was in effect.

But save your breath. Gun control zealots never waste their time with or allow themselves to be confused by facts. In the mean time, make sure you have the means and ability to defend yourself and your family against multiple attackers, just as this home owner did last week.

19-year-old shot and killed, possibly while trying to rob concealed carry holder in West Town

Chicago police are investigating after a 19-year-old man was shot and killed in West Town on Saturday afternoon. A concealed carry holder told police he shot the man because the man and three other people targeted him in an armed robbery.

The shooting occurred in an alley behind the 1700 block of West Cortez around 4:51 p.m.

In a media statement, the Chicago Police Department claimed “a 19-year-old male victim was in the alley when he sustained a gunshot wound to the chest by an unknown offender. The victim was transported to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced. Area Three Detectives are investigating.”

However, officers at the scene said the shooter was a 68-year-old concealed carry holder who remained on the scene. He reportedly told them that he shot the man, who celebrated his 19th birthday last week, in self-defense during an armed robbery. Three other people who participated in the robbery ran from the scene, according to initial information.

The shooting occurred in CPD’s Near West (12th) District, where robbery reports are up 57% compared to last year and up 118% compared to 2019.

GIBBON, GUNS AND GOVERNMENT

In the course of writing Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon encountered Mohammed, who pursued the Jews with “implacable hatred” to the end of his life. The historian also called out Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogoth king who invaded Italy in 488 AD and “condescended to disarm the unwarlike natives of Italy, interdicting all weapons of offence, and excepting only a small knife for domestic use.” Call it an early display of the totalitarian mindset.

Wherever they hold sway, modern totalitarians disarm the people of firearms and ammunition. For details, see Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming Jews and “Enemies of the State,” by Stephen Halbrook. Hitler’s National Socialists used the registration records of the Weimar Republic to identify and disarm gun owners.

As Halbrook shows in Gun Control in Nazi-Occupied France: Tyranny and Resistance, the Nazis confiscated all firearms, even antique hunting rifles. That left the people vulnerable to wholesale slaughter. On June 10, 1944, four days after D-Day, troops of the 4th SS Panzer Regiment surrounded the village of Oradour-sur-Glane in central France. The attackers killed 245 women and 207 children, including six below the age of six months.

The 196 men killed included seven Jewish refugees from other parts of France. Of the 648 people murdered in the village, only 50 could be identified. The Nazis locked the women and children in the village church, shot indiscriminately, and set the victims on fire. The rest of the village was then looted and set ablaze.

As the late P.J. O’Rourke explained, this is what happens when those with all the power have all the guns. And to paraphrase inspector Claude Lebel (Michael Lonsdale) in The Day of the Jackal, be in no doubt that this is what the Biden Junta wants.

At every mass shooting, the default government response is to blame guns and make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to exercise their constitutional right to keep and bear arms. This does not apply, however, to Muslim jihadists like “Soldier of Allah” Maj. Nidal Hasan. At Ford Hood in 2009 Hasan gunned down 13 unarmed American soldiers, including Pvt. Francheska Velez, who was pregnant. Hasan wounded more than 30 others, including Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who took seven bullets from the jihadist.

According to the composite character president David Garrow described in Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, this was “workplace violence,” not terrorism or even “gun violence,” and the mass murderer Hasan got better medical treatment than his victims. In 2014, Lunsford sought to explain his plight to the president, who declined to meet with him. The composite character did not proclaim Islamic terrorist attacks in 2015 at San Bernardino (14 dead) and Orlando in 2016, (49 dead) as cases of “gun violence.”

Of all the various forms of government in the world, wrote Gibbon, “an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule.” The buffoonish Biden channels Obama, but the Delaware Democrat shapes up worse. On September 1, 2022, backdropped in red light with Marines at the ready, Biden targeted those who want the nation to be great as the primary threat to America. Biden’s FBI openly follows suit and in August the FBI killed Craig Robertson, a 75-year-old woodworker, for threats he had allegedly posted online.

Recall the Ruby Ridge siege of 1992, when the FBI deployed massive military force against a single family, and FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shot dead Vicki Weaver as she held her infant daughter. That case prompted Senate hearings, but so far nothing on Robertson. Biden’s FBI shoots first and avoids questions later, so an escalation of deadly violence is not out of the question. Christmas 2023 may well be joyous, but 2024 shapes up as the year of living dangerously.

The Sheriffs “thinks” this will be referred to a Grand Jury. What crap-for-brains and from a Texas LEO. All homicides – by Texas State Law – are automatically referred to a Grand Jury.

Dollar General robbery suspect shot by manager, crashes into bus, dies:

A man accused of robbing a Houston, Texas Dollar General and crashing his car into a METRO bus has died, according to authorities.

A Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy was heading to work around 1:16 p.m. Wednesday when someone flagged him down about an incident at the store, sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at a news conference.

Gonzalez said a man was driving a vehicle and parked it in front of the store. He then entered the store with a pistol and began making demands at gunpoint, trying to get the store’s safe open.

A store manager had a gun and shot at the suspect, hitting him once or twice, the sheriff said. The man then fled the location, got back into his vehicle and drove about a block away to an intersection.

“It appears he had been bleeding out based on some of the evidence we’re seeing inside the vehicle and collided with a METRO bus that was here and eventually came to a stop,” Gonzalez said.

The man was pulled from his vehicle and taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.

His identity has not been released by authorities yet.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County said there were six people on the bus, including the driver. There were no life-threatening injuries to passengers on the bus but the driver was taken to the hospital to be checked out.

No passengers asked to be taken to the hospital, METRO said in a statement to USA TODAY.

Man entered store with Airsoft pistol, sheriff says
The weapon turned out to be an Airsoft pistol, Gonzalez said, similar to a BB gun or pellet gun.

“But again, they look very realistic and at the time when somebody’s facing that at gunpoint … they don’t know what kind of pistol it is,” he said.

The sheriff also said the man’s vehicle may have been involved in another incident two days earlier in the same area. Investigators are still looking into it, he said.

When local media asked if the Dollar General employee having a gun on-hand speaks to the area and its safety, Gonzalez said it’s “not a great area” or a place where people let their guards down.

It’s the busiest area in the sheriff’s office’s district and authorities have tried to combat crime over the past few years with more patrols, authorities said.

Regarding the Dollar General incident, the sheriff said he can’t speak for the store manager but it is well-known that it is a high-crime area.

“But there’s a lot of great businesses, a lot of wonderful residents, so it’s not indicative of everybody that’s out here,” he said.

When asked if the manager who shot the man would face charges, he said he can’t speak for investigators or prosecutors but thinks it will be referred to the grand jury.

“If somebody was trying to obviously protect themselves, this went down as an armed robbery from everything that they viewed and how things went down, then most likely it’s referred to … the grand jury.”

Attempted carjacking at McMinnville Walmart thwarted by man carrying pistol

MCMINNVILLE Ore. (KPTV) – An attempted carjacker in a Walmart parking lot in McMinnville was stopped in his tracks when the would-be victim pulled out a handgun, according to police.

On Tuesday, Dec. 19 around 11:25 a.m., a man was loading items into his car when another man, holding a large knife, approached him and demanded his car keys, according to police.

Fearing for his life, the victim drew a handgun he had holstered on his hip and pointed it at the attempted carjacker, who then ran away.

Officers arrived on the scene and started searching for the subject, who they learned had left some luggage behind. One piece of luggage had a tag on it with the subject’s name. So officers were able to get a photograph of the subject and then found that person standing near the Panda Express restaurant on the other side of Hwy 99W.

He was taken into custody without incident and then interviewed, during which he admitted to his involvement in the attempted carjacking, according to police.

During the investigation, officers viewed video surveillance footage and an officer eventually found a piece of clothing near the WinCo Foods store that the subject ditched while fleeing the area. An officer on scene also learned that a bystander had found a large knife in the parking lot and had picked it up, not knowing it was involved in the carjacking incident.

The subject was identified by police as 22-year-old Aaron J. Quiocho of Beaverton. Quiocho allegedly told police he had been dropped off in McMinnville by a family member because they did not want him at their house in Beaverton anymore, and said he planned to take the victim’s car so he could go back to the family member’s house.

Quiocho faces charges of Robbery in the First Degree, Menacing, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, and Attempted Unlawful Use of a Motor Vehicle..

Man shot, killed during robbery in Polk County motel parking lot

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A man was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in a motel’s parking lot late Tuesday night.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said they received a call about the shooting at the Tropicana Resort Motel at 43420 Highway 27 in Davenport just before midnight.

When deputies arrived, they said Christian MacDonald, 44, told them Harold Omar Sepulveda-Cruz, 33, got into the backseat of the car he and Robert Rafael Pementel-Cruceta Jr., 31, were sitting in. Sepulveda-Cruz then started to demand money and drugs, threatening to kill them if they didn’t comply.

Deputies said when Sepulveda-Cruz’s demands became increasingly aggressive, MacDonald pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and shot it multiple times toward the backseat and the suspect, who was struck in the upper torso.

Sepulveda-Cruz had already passed away when deputies arrived. MacDonald allegedly admitted to deputies that he shot and killed Sepulveda-Cruz and that he was shooting in self-defense.

After investigating, deputies said the shooting was the result of a robbery and illegal drug transaction Sepulveda-Cruz and Pementel-Cruceta planned. When MacDonald asked Pementel-Cruceta about buying marijuana from him over the phone, they planned to meet in the parking lot.

Deputies said Pementel-Cruceta picked up Sepulveda-Cruz, who told him he wanted to get “quick cash” before Pementel-Cruceta dropped him off near the hotel.

MacDonald parked at the motel and got into Pementel-Cruceta’s 2017 white Kia. Shortly after, deputies said Sepulveda-Cruz got into the backseat and attempted the robbery using a “makeshift simulated” gun to hit MacDonald in the back multiple times, leading to the shooting.

According to deputies, Pementel-Cruceta was seen on motel surveillance video rummaging in the backseat of the Kia and throwing evidence over a fence after the shooting. Detectives found Sepulveda-Cruz’s ID, keys and cellphone on the other side of the fence later on.

Cruceta-Pementel was charged with the following:

Felony Murder (2nd Degree)
Conspiracy to commit robbery
Possession of cannabis with intent to sell
Possession of heroin
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Possession of a controlled substance without a prescription
Maintaining a vehicle for drug use/sales
Tampering with physical evidence
Provide false information to LEO during investigation
Unlawful use of two-way communication device

Officials added the investigation is still ongoing.

GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES WONDER WHY NEW YORKERS TURN TO THE SECOND AMENDMENT

More than half of New Yorkers now believe their state is in decline and won’t get better soon. Go figure, crime is listed as the Number 2 reason for the reported despair – behind only the cripplingly high cost of living. Recent events have led to a surge in crime leaving countless New Yorkers feeling susceptible to the violent wills of criminals.

The feelings aren’t political either, as according to a new Siena College poll there’s wide agreement among each party affiliation – Republican, Democrat and Independent – that violent crime remains a serious issue. At least 64 percent of each respective group says so.

“In assessing the severity of problems facing New York, there is, surprisingly, considerable agreement among Democrats, Republicans and independents,” Siena College poster Steven Greenberg said of the findings.

Unfortunately, there’s some bad news-good news, though, for residents of the Empire State who want to exercise their right to defend themselves with a firearm as things are likely getting a lot worse before they get any better.

Continue reading “”

Alaska. .44 Magnum. Yep, sounds legit.

Wasilla woman kills home invader who stabbed husband

A 22-year-old Houston man was shot to death Sunday during a residential burglary in Wasilla when he fought with the couple who lived there, according to Alaska State Troopers.

An initial report of the home invasion reached troopers at 9 a.m. Sunday, an online dispatch said. Troopers found Justice Beaudoin-Martinez, who was unknown to the residents, suffering from a single gunshot wound. Medics attempted lifesaving measures, but he died at the home.

“Investigation revealed the two residents of the home had discovered Beaudoin-Martinez inside their home and a physical altercation ensued, during which the male resident was stabbed in the arm,” troopers said. “The female resident retrieved a firearm and fired a single gunshot, in defense of her husband, which struck Beaudoin-Martinez and resulted in his death.”

Medics took the husband to a local hospital for treatment of his non-life-threatening stab wound, according to the dispatch.

Troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said in an email Monday morning that some of the homeowners’ belongings had been found in Beaudoin-Martinez’s backpack. The weapons involved in the encounter included a buck knife he used to stab the husband and a .44 Magnum revolver the wife fired at Beaudoin-Martinez in response, DeSpain said.

An investigation of the shooting was “consistent with an act of self-defense,” according to the trooper dispatch. No charges are being considered in the case, DeSpain said.

Beaudoin-Martinez’s family has been notified.

Waffle House customer fatally shoots man who threatened diners

The weekend violence in the Birmingham area continued early this morning when someone was shot to death outside an east Jefferson County Waffle House.

Jefferson County sheriff’s Lt. Joni Money said deputies were dispatched at 1:30 a.m. to the restaurant in the 2200 block of Center Point Parkway. The report was that a person was threatening to shoot patrons.

Before deputies got on the scene, Money said, the 26-year-old man got into an altercation with a patron. The patron then shot the man and left the location.

The 26-year-old was pronounced dead on the scene.

Just in time for Christmas: terrorism is comin’ to town!

Just in time for Christmas, the FBI and Homeland Security are announcing a greatly elevated risk of “lone wolf” terrorism. Happy Holidays!

They’re a little late in contributing to the holiday spirit. Hapless FBI Director Christopher Wray has twice in the last month or so sheepishly told Congress with thousands, or tens of thousands of single, military-aged men from countries that want to kill every American, countries like China, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and more, streaming across the totally secure border, we might have a kinda, sorta, terrorist problem, maybe. They’re even kinda, sorta admitting some of these guys might be members of the Chinese Army.

That’s tens of thousands they know about because they’ve chatted briefly with them before letting them go wherever they please by taxpayer-funded bus or jet, or they’ve seen them trotting across the border and kindly waved “bye-bye.” No one knows how many “got-aways” got away, likely as many more.

Our security establishment has gone so far as to say they’re watching some 300 undocumented persons on the Terrorist Watch List. What they’re not saying is why they allowed 300+ undocumented, TWL nabobs into the country in the first place so they would have to “watch” them. Job security? One doesn’t need to watch them so much if they’re not in the country, but that makes sense, so our security establishment doesn’t do that.

Our guardians, brilliant analysts all, are also suggesting because many of these potential terrorists are Islamists—one has to read between the lines to get that–and not fond of Christianity in all its trappings, might want to “disrupt”—helpful translation: shoot up, blow up, generally slaughter—Christmas gatherings, like church services, parades, stores, malls, that sort of thing.

Incredibly for government work, they’re on to something. We probably don’t have to fear another 9-11 style attack or attacks, though such grand gestures can’t be ruled out. With thousands of terrorists already in country, a great many more, smaller, attacks are most likely. Terror states have cooperative arrangements with Mexican drug cartels, which not only help them cross the border, but provide them with all the weapons and support they need.

Most likely are numerous attacks all across the country at churches, schools, shopping malls, theaters, sports events, anywhere Americans gather. Those attacks require only a few terrorists with small arms. Grenades and other explosives are icing on the terrorist cake. Imagine at least one such terrorist attack in every state occurring on the same day at the same time. That’s the very definition of terrorism: making people fear, making them realize the government can’t, won’t, protect them. Imagine that kind of terrorism occurring over and over again. Even a single terrorist armed with an AK—an actual automatic weapon, not a fictional “assault weapon”—can do enormous damage in little time.

The worst part is terrorists don’t need high body counts, though they certainly prefer them. They need only do many attacks, coordinated or random, to secure the goals of terrorism. Americans afraid to leave their homes contribute to the economic collapse the Biden Meat Puppet Administration has so ardently pursued.

One of life’s ironies is terrorists will be most likely to strike in blue cities and states, places doing their best to keep their citizens disarmed, places—and here’s deadly irony for you—most supportive of the Palestinian terrorist cause. Terrorists, domestic and foreign, prefer gun free zones, knowing they’ll have the best chance to do the most damage before the police can arrive. That doesn’t mean red states are safe, just that there’s a greater chance of armed Americans who can end an attack long before the police can respond. Foreign terrorists are certainly learning the patterns and practices of the police in their assigned target areas.

Sophisticated actors, like visiting members of the Chinese military, are more likely to be stealthy. They’ll engage in sabotage, probing to see just how and where we’re most vulnerable, though they surely have good intelligence on those vulnerabilities already. Wouldn’t widespread blackouts on Christmas Eve add to the festivities? Wouldn’t biological agents in water supplies spice up the Christmas punch bowl? Wouldn’t a universal Internet crash be a Christmas morning surprise?

That the FBI has been very busy pursuing domestic terrorists like soccer moms, any Normal American who happened to be anywhere near DC on January 6, or the worst of the worst—Catholics—is only evidence of their staunch defense of “our democracy.” Unfortunately for us, we’re not a democracy; we’re a representative republic. They’re protecting the people and bureaucracies that want the republic dead, just like those folks on the TWL the FBI is “watching.”