Self Defense – Page 2

Police Say Man Was Shot By Homeowner At Wenatchee Residence

Wenatchee Police are investigating a shooting just after midnight Friday morning in the 300 block of South Wenatchee Avenue.

Officers say a 50-year-old man was shot by a homeowner who said the man tried to enter the residence.

Police Sergeant Nathan Hahn says they haven’t determined yet whether a crime was committed.

“Obviously a homeowner has the ability to protect themselves if they feel like they’re in danger or threatened,” said Hahn. “But in this case, we just don’t have enough information to be able to definitively say what exactly happened.”

The man was taken to Confluence Health Hospital Central Campus with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

Police said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

They say it does not appear the homeowner knew the man who is a Wenatchee resident.

No charges have been filed at this time.

The shooting took place at 12:05 am Friday. All four local law enforcement agencies were called to the scene initially – Wenatchee Police, East Wenatchee Police, Chelan County deputies, and Douglas County deputies.

Grandmother shoots man who allegedly broke into her home while fleeing police

Albuquerque police say a woman trying to protect her 4-year-old grandchild shot an auto theft suspect who twice broke into her home demanding car keys Friday night in the North Valley.

Joseph Rivera, 32, is charged with burglary, attempted burglary and auto theft.

Franchesca Perdue, an Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman, said Rivera will be booked into jail after being released from the hospital, where he is being treated.

Rivera is currently on pretrial release in a July 2023 case in which he was found in a stolen vehicle with fentanyl, cocaine and heroin on him, according to court records. At the time, Rivera told police that “his personal life and caring for his family has been incredibly difficult” as he struggled with undiagnosed mental health issues and addiction.

A warrant was issued in that case when he didn’t show up for a court hearing in October.

On Friday, around 8 p.m., police tried to pull over a stolen truck near Central and Cypress and used spike strips to flatten the tires, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Police said the driver fled with the truck “on its rims” and crashed it into a curb near Candelaria and Rio Grande NW.

The driver ran into the neighborhood, and police made a perimeter to search the area.

Around 9:30 p.m., a woman called 911 and said she had shot a man in her home after he “took her keys and said he did not want to go to jail,” according to the complaint. Officers detained the burglar — identified as Rivera — at the home and the woman handed police the gun she used to shoot him.

Police said the woman told them she was with her 4-year-old grandson when she heard someone inside the home. She said she confronted the man, who “appeared to be angry” and told her he “just needed her keys.”

The woman told police she thought about arming herself then but “did not know if she had time to use the weapon” if he also had a gun, according to the complaint. The woman said she took him to a “bowl of keys” in the kitchen and Rivera took several keys and left.

Police said the woman told them she then grabbed a gun and took her grandchild into the bedroom. She said she then found Rivera back in her hallway, “demanding more keys.”

The woman told police she pointed the gun at Rivera and “told him to get out” but he began approaching her instead, according to the complaint. She said she was scared “he would kill her or her grandchild” and she shot him once.

Police said the woman told them Rivera fell to the ground and began “crawling through the halls asking for water.” She said she “put pressure on his wound until police arrived.”

Victim fights back, fires weapon during attempted carjacking in North Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA – What would have been another Philadelphia carjacking was thwarted when its victim took matters into their own hands.

Police say a suspect tried to carjack a victim at 10th and Mount Vernon streets in North Philadelphia around 1:30 a.m.

But the victim fought back, firing his weapon at the suspect, according to authorities.

It’s unclear if the suspect was hurt.

Police have to release any details about the victim, who did not suffer any physical injuries.

So far, no arrests have been made, and no suspect description.

Amid crime surge, vendors in Bogota turn to hired guns

On the streets of a Bogota neighborhood where a businessman was killed for refusing to pay protection money, retired soldiers sporting weapons and camouflage gear keep a watchful eye on every movement.

Similar “self-defense” groups have sprung up all over Colombia’s capital, a city of some eight million people that has experienced a surge in robberies and killings since the beginning of the year.

As fear has risen in step with crime, residents and business owners are taking matters into their own hands in a country with low levels of trust in the authorities.

“We are taking care of security. There are armed people here, but within the law. We are not illegal, we are military pensioners and the traders are paying us,” one of the sentinels told AFP in Bogota’s 7 de Agosto neighborhood, a bustle of autoparts shops.

Other patrolling guards claimed they work with the “Gaula” — official law enforcement divisions created in the police and military to combat kidnapping and extortion — a still all-too prevalent crime in Colombia as in other countries with a presence of drug gangs.

But Gaula officials told AFP the non-uniformed sentries have nothing to do with them.

“Civilians have no place” in the fight against extortion, insisted Colonel Cristian Caballero, commander of the Military Gaula in Bogota.

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Man shot, killed by homeowner after allegedly breaking into home in Trenton, New Jersey

TRENTON, N.J. (WPVI) — A man is dead after being shot and killed by a homeowner in Trenton, New Jersey, according to police.

Trenton police responded to Bert Avenue around 10:25 p.m. Sunday, after receiving reports of a shooting in the area. Detectives in the area on an unrelated assignment then found a man on St. Francis Avenue who had a gunshot wound to the chest.

That man, identified as 34-year-old Andray Ingram, was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

During the investigation, police determined that a homeowner on Bert Avenue had fired multiple shots at an unknown individual who allegedly had a hammer, and was banging on the homeowner’s front door and smashing his Ring camera.

The person, who police say they have identified as Ingram, had entered inside the vestibule area of the residence when the shots were fired, according to officials.

Officials say no charges have been filed and the investigation is ongoing.

BLUF:
After consideration of the arguments, the Utah Supreme Court agreed with the district court that Clara “presented evidence showing a reasonable belief that the snowplow posed an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to him and his passenger.”

Utah Supreme Court upholds prior ruling in first challenge of 2021 self-defense law

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Supreme Court sided with a man who fought felony firearm charges by claiming self-defense under a law that went into effect in 2021.

The case in question stems from a shooting in 2019. Jon Michael Clara fired several shots toward a truck with a snowplow that had repeatedly rammed into the SUV he was driving. One of the bullets flew through the cab of a nearby uninvolved vehicle, narrowly missing a child.

A blue truck with a snowplow rammed into an SUV multiple times, spinning it around to face oncoming traffic on Nov. 23, 2019.

Several charges against Clara were dismissed after he made use of a new self-defense law he urged lawmakers to pass. However, in an unusual move, the judge who presided over the case urged prosecutors to appeal his decision. In an opinion released Friday, Utah’s Supreme Court justices concluded that the district court “did not err” in its handling of Clara’s case.

Utah’s self-defense law

HB227 sailed through the Utah legislature in 2021. The law allows people who are charged with a crime and claim self-defense to have a justification hearing before the case goes to trial. If prosecutors cannot disprove a self-defense claim with clear and convincing evidence in that early hearing, the case is permanently dismissed.

That is what happened in Clara’s case in March 2022. Third District Judge Todd Shaughnessy ruled the state had not met its burden of proof, and despite evidence he said “troubles” him, he dismissed the case.

“This is one instance in which the state can appeal,” Shaughnessy said. “I would encourage the state to do that to seek some clarity on exactly what this new law means. But, as I say, I believe my hands are tied.”

The case is one of several the KSL Investigators followed after first reporting on the unintended consequences of the new law.

Utah Supreme Court arguments

During arguments before the Utah Supreme Court in May 2023, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson argued Clara was not acting in self-defense, while defense attorney Ann Taliaferro argued Clara had acted reasonably given the circumstances.

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Man shot after forcing entry into Orange County home

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A man was shot Saturday night after allegedly forcing entry into a home near Baldwin Park, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded around 8:50 p.m. to the 700 block of Eldridge Street, a statement reads.

The man accused of forcing entry to the home suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital in stable condition, deputies said, adding the two parties know each other.

The sheriff’s office is still investigating.

Az Senate approves extension of “castle doctrine” self-defense law

PHOENIX – A Senate committee approved an expansion of Arizona’s “castle doctrine” self-defense to make it apply not just in someone’s home and yard but on any property they own or control after a fiery debate on Thursday.

The fight between Republicans backing what the sponsor of House Bill 2843 originally framed as a needed protection for farmers and ranchers against Democrats who said it targeted migrants.

But in debate at the Judiciary Committee that lasted an hour, Rep. Justin Heap, R-Mesa, the sponsor of the measure, said it had nothing to do with migrants and only makes a minor change to the existing law.

“It just makes it clear to judges in what circumstances you can raise a defense in court,” Heap told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

That, however, is not how Heap sold the measure when it went through the House.

He told colleagues that the law was needed specifically to give ranchers and farmers tools they need to stop large number of migrants from crossing their lands. Those remarks during testimony in an earlier House committee hearing were widely reported in various news media.

During that much more sedate House hearing last month, Heap said the change would simply give legal cover for property owners to threaten to use deadly force to evict a trespasser on vast swaths of the state’s open ranch and farm land. If they actually used deadly force, they’d have to show they were themselves threatened.

Heap tried to walk back those statements on Thursday, saying the change in law he was proposing had nothing to do with immigration. But the damage was done.

“My first question would be why were you surprised that the attention that this has brought is what it is,” Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, asked Heap.

Heap said statements he was quoted as making at that hearing were inaccurately conveyed.

But numerous Democrats read directly from transcripts during Thursday’s hearing. And a review by Capitol Media Services of Heap’s testimony confirmed it.

Republicans, however, slammed the media for crafting an inaccurate narrative. Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said it does not change existing law that only allows someone to shoot in defense of themselves or someone else.

“Yet all the opponents of this bill have blanketed the news media with ‘you can use deadly force in your house and now we’re taking it outside,'” said Kavanagh. “The result will be some people may be killed because of misinformation gun control people against this bill have spread all over the place.”

He said people who believe that could end up being charged with homicide because they thought the reports were accurate.

“Let’s stop the misinformation,” he added.

“This bill does nothing but expand the area of the existing law, which doesn’t allow deadly force purely for trespass,” Kavanagh said. “And decent people who were misled by that lie will end up being prosecuted for criminally negligent homicide or manslaughter because they thought that they could shoot to kill in their house.”

Others, however, said the effects of what Heap is proposing are significant.

Anne Thompson, a volunteer for Moms Demand Action, a group that pushes for strong gun laws, urged the panel not to broaden the state’s self-defense laws.

“Unfortunately, the ramifications of this bill can be dehumanizing and can provoke vigilantism and escalate conflicts to violence,” Thompson said.

Marilyn Rodriguez, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, warned that enacting the measure would be misread by ordinary people – namely the farmers and ranchers Heap initially said he was trying to help.

“Often, it is applied so broadly by individuals and then held up by law enforcement as a means to shoot and kill trespassers who are marching across your farmland at the border,” Rodriguez said.

Arizona has several trespassing laws on the books, including one that already allows a property owner or manager to order someone to leave their land and to ask law enforcement officers to compel them to do so or be arrested.

The change in law that Heap is proposing is in the actual self-defense law. Currently, that law applies only to a residence or a residential yard.

The measure was passed by the committee on a 4-3 vote, with only Republicans in support.

“Every week I’m amazed by the egregious types of bills that we hear in this committee and other committees and as we vote for them in the (majority Republican) makeup of what exists now,” Hernandez said. “The fact that we’re trying to expand legislation that would encourage killing and shooting that would result in death is wild to me.”

Republicans continued to push back, calling the narrative embraced by minority Democrats false.

“I am disturbed by the amount of misinformation and politicking taking place from the left side of the dais today,” said Sen. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson. “And if you read the bill, you would see that your arguments have nothing to do with the bill. You’ve clearly not read the bill.”

That prompted one last eruption during the hearing, this one from Sen. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe.

“I clearly read the bill, aloud, to the audience, so do not accuse me of not reading the bill,” Epstein said.

“Misinformed, misinformed,” Wadsack shot back.

Heap said during House meetings that he was pushing for the change because of concerns with ambiguities in the current law raised by prosecutors in Yuma and Yavapai counties. But the two county attorneys, Jon Smith in Yuma and Dennis McGrane in Yavapai, told Capitol Media Services they had not asked for the law to be changed.

McGrane said a recent case in his county did involve questions about how the law it applied in specific circumstances. He said, though, someone outside his office raised it with a lawmaker.

No charges in NYC subway shooting; Brooklyn DA cites “evidence of self-defense”

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn district attorney said Friday he will not be filing any criminal charges right now against the shooter in Thursday’s subway shooting due to self-defense.

The chaotic scene happened right during the evening rush and unfolded on videos posted across social media.

On Friday, the NYPD responded to the terror witnessed on board.

The news briefing that took place in the afternoon made clear what the investigation had concluded at the moment — that the passengers of the train had to act and disarm an attacker with a gun, including the man who police say shot the attacker with it.

A few hours later, the DA’s office followed suit.

Cellphone video obtained by CBS New York of the inside the moving A train shows the terrifying situation as it escalated during Thursday afternoon’s rush hour. It left a 36-year-old man in critical condition after being shot in the head. However, on Friday afternoon, the DA’s office said it would not be charging the man who pulled the trigger, saying in a statement, “Evidence of self-defense precludes us from filing any criminal charges.”

“It was incredible what people from the community did yesterday, people who tried to intervene,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.

Maddrey and NYPD officials say the 36-year-old man aggressively approached a 32-year-old man, eventually pulling out a gun that was wrestled away. Police say the 32-year-old then shot the alleged attacker in the head with his own gun.

Police said they also want to talk to a woman who had a sharp object or knife and stabbed the 36-year-old man during the confrontation. She was apparently traveling with the 32-year-old man, CBS New York’s Lori Bordonaro reported.

Police released video they say shows the attacker entering the subway from the emergency exit before the incident, without paying a fare. During the briefing Friday, NYPD officials centered their focus on that.

“Sometimes people ask why would we do such a big operation for people not paying a $2.90 fare,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said. “We are seeing a small group of people doing these operations that don’t pay their fare that are recidivists, that have warrants.”

The witness who shot the dramatic cellphone video describes to CBS New York the terrifying moments on board the moving train.

“I see blood coming out when they’re on top of each other,” the woman named Sherri said. “He pulled out the gun, and I said, ‘It’s time to go.'”

Other New Yorkers chimed in on the violence underground.

“I’m a New Yorker. I’ve been here my whole life, so I know the subway culture,” Aaron Mealy said. “If an altercation happens on the subway, you can’t get off until the next stop, so it’s best to de-escalate the situation.”

“We can’t say, ‘Oh, this happened on the subway, the subway is dangerous.’ No, there’s a bigger issue, and if we don’t address those issues it’s gonna keep happening, whether it’s on a bus or the street,” Nysheva Starr said.

CBS New York asked Mayor Eric Adams about the shooting at an event on Friday morning.

“These random acts of violence send the wrong message. I’m really pleased with the police department being there to apprehend and make sure other people are not injured,” he said.

Over the last several weeks, the mayor and Gov. Kathy Hochul have both made a point to stress the importance, not of the numbers, of whether people feel safe, which is part of the reason why the National Guard was called in. But during Friday’s news briefing, Deputy Commissioner Daughtry pointed out that while many saw what happened Thursday, millions got to their destination safely.

So far this year, there have been eight shooting victims in the transit system. In the same period last year, there was just one. There have also been 17 gun arrests, versus eight last year.

“Be not afraid of any man;
No matter what his size;
When danger threatens, call on me;
And I will equalize!”
-Colt’s revolver advertisement, 1870s

“Put your trust in God….but keep your powder dry!”
-Oliver Cromwell, 1642

Terrorism is a disease. Constitutional carry is the cure
FBI’s latest terrorism warning is dire and should not go unheeded.

FBI Director Christopher Wray must be frustrated. He issued one of the strongest terrorism warnings earlier this week, but few seemed to notice and even fewer seemed to care. Instead, the legacy media remained fixated on the testimony of former special counsel Robert K. Hur, who concluded that Joe Biden committed multiple federal crimes but was too incompetent to stand trial. While Hur’s findings were certainly newsworthy, they were not news. Most of the country already knew Old Yeller’s best days are behind him.

Wray’s warning, however, was dire. He told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that known or suspected terrorists were infiltrating the country across the wide-open southern border using counterfeit documents. One of the smuggling networks, he said, has ties to ISIS. Add to this the thousands of unknown border crossers from countries that hate us, and the more than 80,000 military-age males from China, and you have a terrorist hellbroth just waiting to bubble over.

“The threats from homegrown violent extremists that is jihadist-inspired, extremists, domestic violent extremists, foreign terrorist organizations, and state-sponsored terrorist organizations all being elevated at one time since October 7, though, that threat has gone to a whole other level,” Wray said. “And so, this is a time I think for much greater vigilance.”

We should thank Director Wray for his timely information and for his candor. This is precisely why we have fought so long and so hard to restore our Second Amendment rights, so that law-abiding Americans no longer have to bend a knee and beg the Crown to sell them back their constitutional rights in the form of a permit to carry defensive arms. Constitutional carry levels the playing field, making it easier for the good guys and gals to lawfully carry arms.

In the 29 states that now offer some form of constitutional carry, when a terrorist rears their ugly head — be they a card-carrying ISIS member or a lone-wolf jihadist — Americans can take immediate action without waiting for First Responders to arrive, assess the situation, plan and then respond.

Time and time again, we have seen how judicious marksmanship can end a madman’s murderous plans.

In 2015, an off-duty police officer shot two home-grown terrorists who were trying to gain entry to an exhibit at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, which featured images of Muhammad. ISIL (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) took credit for the attack — their first upon American soil.
In 2019, 71-year-old Jack Wilson dropped a 43-year-old shotgun-wielding madman, who had fatally shot two parishioners at the West Freeway Church of Christ in a Fort Worth suburb, with a single round to the head.
In 2022, Elisha Dicken fired 10 rounds from his Glock at a madman who was shooting people inside an Indiana shopping mall. Eight of Dicken’s rounds struck the bad guy, who was 40-yards away. Dicken was carrying his Glock lawfully because of Indiana’s recently enacted constitutional carry law.

Despite these and many lesser-known examples, the left and the legacy media they control still consider an armed response by a private citizen a fantasy. Instead, they continue to push the laughable Run, Hide, Fight response.

One of the most important lessons learned after last year’s Hamas attacks is that terrorists are capable of much better planning than most thought possible, especially when paired with a state sponsor such as Iran. There is no reason not to believe a terrorist group would be even more prepared for an attack on American soil. Their target analysis will likely include the possibility of armed opposition. In other words, the terrorists are more likely to focus on a target where concealed carry is heavily regulated if not impossible, and civilians have no option other than to run, hide or fight.

Despite our misgivings about the FBI and how it has been weaponized by the Biden-Harris administration, Wray’s warning should not go unheeded. However, now is not the time for paranoia. The main goal of terrorism is to terrorize. They want us to overreact, change our lifestyle and curtail our own freedoms.

Instead, use the time Wray has given us to service or upgrade your EDC. Replace batteries. Re-confirm zero. Buy those extra mags you’ve wanted. Most importantly, go to the range and train. Shoot up your old defensive ammo and replace it with new.

There are 21 states that do not offer any form of constitutional carry, including several that make it nearly impossible for law-abiding Americans to defend themselves. This will prove to be a deadly mistake and it must change. Once your EDC is prepped, please help make that change.

Constitutional carry saves lives and it should be the law of the land. Every American should enjoy their God-given right of self-defense, regardless of where they live.

Utah governor signs bill encouraging teachers to carry guns in classrooms
Republican Spencer Cox approves legislation for firearms training that critics say incentivizes educators to bring guns on to campus

The Utah governor, Spencer Cox, has signed a controversial bill aimed at encouraging teachers to carry a gun or keep one in their classroom.

The legislation will fund annual training for teachers on how to defend classrooms against active threats, as well as safely use firearms in a school setting.

Michelle Oldroyd learns techniques during a free tactical training class for school teachers at a gun range in Hurricane, UT on June 6, 2018. Michelle is 53 years old, teaches 9th Grade, and shoots a Walther PPS.

The proposal builds upon a state law enacted last year that waived concealed-carry permit fees for teachers.

Taken together, the laws are aimed at incentivizing teachers to bring guns into their classrooms – a move that has been hotly contested by gun violence prevention advocates, who argue that more guns on campus does not equal better safety for students.

Utah is one of 16 states that allow school employees to carry guns in K-12 schools. State law currently allows people to carry firearms on public-school property if they have permission from school administrators or hold a concealed firearm permit, which requires a criminal background check and completion of a firearms familiarity course.

The new bill does not prevent teachers with a permit who are not involved in the program from carrying a gun on school grounds. Those who participate in the training program will be shielded from civil liability if they use the gun at school while “acting in good faith” and without gross negligence, according to the bill.

School districts also cannot be held liable if a participating teacher fires their weapon.

“We worked closely with the department of public safety to make sure we have all the necessary safeguards in place in this bill,” Cox’s office said in a statement. “We all want schools where our kids are safe and can thrive.”

Utah’s public schools have not seen any mass shootings on campus. But two students were killed and one was injured after they were shot by a then 14-year-old in a January 2022 shooting outside a high school. The next year, several schools were the targets of automated hoax calls reporting an active shooter.

The bill would cost the department of public safety about $100,000 annually. County sheriffs would appoint instructors to lead the course, which participating teachers would be expected to retake each year.

Some Utah educators, including retired public school teacher Stan Holmes, voiced concern that the half-day training would not be enough to prepare teachers to respond properly in an emergency. Holmes, a US army veteran, said he had taken a tactical training course offered by the state, which he referred to as “a joke”.

“I left unconvinced that all graduates could handle themselves in a crisis situation,” he said. “Parents of children in Utah schools have no reason to trust that the so-called educator-protector program trainings would be any better.”

Teachers participating in the program who choose not to carry the gun on their person would be required to store it in a biometric gun safe, which uses unique biological data such as a fingerprint or retinal scan to verify the owner’s identity. They would have to pay out-of-pocket for the storage device.

Jaden Christensen, a volunteer with the Utah chapter of Moms Demand Action, said in a statement published by Everytown for Gun Safety: “Let’s keep our educators centered on what they do best – teaching. We should be working on finding ways to keep guns out of the wrong hands and out of the classroom – not inviting them into our schools.

“It’s shameful that this new law will do the opposite.”

HB 119 is one of two bills that focuses on how to navigate campus-safety guns being in the hands and classrooms of teachers. The other, HB 84, which was signed on 13 March, updates the parameters for storing a gun in a classroom and creates a protocol for teachers, staff and parents to report concerning or threatening behavior.

In a statement to the Guardian, Cox’s office referred to HB 84 as a “significant piece of a multi-pronged effort to increase school security”.

Charlotte boy shoots hotel intruder while defending pregnant mother

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say an 11-year-old boy shot a man to defend his pregnant mother against an attack from a hotel room intruder.

Police have warrants out for the suspect.

Investigators said he broke into a hotel room and started attacking a pregnant mother when her young son stepped in and shot him.

According to CMPD, the break-in and shooting happened late Wednesday, March 13, after 11 p.m. at the InTown Suites just off I-77 in west Charlotte.

Investigators said a man busted into a hotel room and started attacking the 27-year-old pregnant mom, leaving her with bruises and scratches.

Police said the woman knew her attacker, and it was a domestic violence situation.

Detectives said the woman’s 11-year-old son saw his mom getting attacked, and the young boy rushed in and shot the intruder.

The suspect and the pregnant woman were taken to the hospital.

Police said the young boy is not facing any charges.

Investigators have warrants out for the suspect, including assault by strangulation, assault on an unborn child, and false imprisonment.

NYC Straphanger Shoots ‘Aggressive’ Rider in Head After Wrestling Gun Away From Him During Fight: Cops

A fight on a packed Brooklyn train Thursday afternoon took a horrific turn when one straphanger wrestled a gun away from an apparent agitator and shot him in the head, police said.

The violence on a rush-hour northbound A train erupted when a 32-year-old man was confronted by an “aggressive” 36-year-old rider after boarding at the Nostrand Avenue subway station at 4:45 p.m., NYPD Chief Michael Kemper said at a press conference.

What started as a verbal argument quickly escalated as the 36-year-old man flashed what’s believed to be a knife or razor before pulling out a gun, Kemper said.

I’ve got a phone number for him; 1-800-CRY-BABY

Dem mayor howls as pastor leads gun-toting citizen patrol to combat violence, clean up streets

Armed citizens are patrolling the violent streets of Hartford, Connecticut as the Democrat mayor decries people with guns taking the law into their own hands.

Minister Cornell Lewis launched the Self-Defense Brigade after Archbishop Dexter Burke demanded patrols following violent crime breaking out in Hartford. The group of citizens are patrolling the violent areas of the city while cleaning up the streets.

Burke remarked, “We are going to bring an armed security that’s going to walk the streets with individuals, help them to the bus stop. Help them to the grocery store and patrol the area,” the Daily Mail reported.

“We are legally armed, and we are patrolling,” Lewis told NBC Connecticut. “The people on Garden Street came to us and asked us for help.”

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No charges in Sterling Heights shooting after attack

The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office said it will not charge a woman who shot two people accused of attacking her, citing self-defense.

A mother and daughter driving a Jeep Compass followed a woman in a Dodge Durango to Carrabba’s Italian Grill off Schoenherr Road on Feb. 27, according to a press release from the prosecutor’s office.

The Durango driver had stopped for a stop sign near the restaurant when the duo got out of their car and began assaulting her, officials wrote.

A witness tried to help the Durango driver but fled when she opened fire, striking both women attacking her, according to the release.

The two women had been trying to attack the Durango driver, a witness who saw the shooting told 911.

Both attackers are recovering from non-life threatening injuries, the prosecutor’s office said.

Sterling Heights police filed a warrant request for charges against the shooter this month. The prosecutor’s office denied charges, as the shooter also had a valid concealed pistol license, according to the release.

The shooter will also not file charges against the two women who attacked her, the office reported.

“Denying charges on the ground of self defense is a recognition of the inherent right to protect oneself when faced with imminent danger,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in the statement.

Elderly woman fatally shoots suspect during home invasion near Blackfoot

A home invasion turned deadly for the intruder on Wednesday north of Blackfoot [Idaho], authorities said.

The Bingham County Sheriff’s Office said the elderly female homeowner fatally shot the adult male suspect during the home invasion that occurred around noon at a residence at 134 West 600 North in the Rose area.

The elderly woman suffered injuries during the incident and was transported via ambulance to a local hospital. She’s expected to survive, the Sheriff’s Office said. Her name hasn’t been released.

“She was harmed but protected herself,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The adult male suspect was dead when sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene after the home invasion was reported to the county’s 911 center.

As of Wednesday evening his name hadn’t been released.

The Sheriff’s Office said the area around the house where the home invasion occurred has been cordoned off and the public should stay away until further notice.

The incident remains under investigation and anyone with information about the case should contact the Sheriff’s Office at 208-785-1234.

“This is believed to be an isolated incident with no further threat to the community,” the Sheriff’s Office stated.

Gun Control Activists Admit They Overreacted to This Concealed Carry Case

Gun control advocates have spent the past two years losing their minds over the Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, a case that affirmed citizens’ right to publicly carry a firearm for self-defense.

One of the commonly repeated criticisms of Bruen has been that the high court’s ruling is dangerous because allowing ordinary peaceable citizens to carry concealed handguns in public would increase rates of gun violence.

In a strange twist of events, some of those same gun control advocates now admit—unintentionally and with no sense of irony—that violent crime rates are actually on the decline in those restrictive gun control states forced by Bruen to recognize the right to bear arms in public.

Giffords, a prominent gun control advocacy organization, previously condemned the Bruen decision as “extremist,” arguing that it would “drastically affect the safety of a large swath of the U.S. population” by “escalating gun violence, leading ever more people to feel unsafe in their own communities.”

Two years later, while retweeting an article that criticizes conservatives for asserting that President Joe Biden’s failed border policies are partially responsible for an increase in crime rates (even though significant evidence suggests that this claim is false), Giffords now highlights a claim that crime rates are actually falling.

Gun control advocates can’t seem to get their story straight. Crime rates often appear to increase or decrease depending on whichever is most useful to the gun control narrative.

The truth is that lawful gun owners—and concealed carry permit holders, in particular—have never been the driving force behind criminal gun violence. At the same time, the right to keep and bear arms in self-defense offers ordinary Americans significant protection against threats to life, liberty, and property.

Almost every major study has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times annually, according to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the issue concluded that roughly 1.6 million defensive gun uses occur in the United States every year.

For this reason, The Daily Signal publishes a monthly article highlighting some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read other accounts here from past years)

The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use that we found in February. You may explore more using The Heritage Foundation’s interactive Defensive Gun Use Database. (The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation.)

Feb. 5, Jackson, Mississippi: After arguing over text messages with a contractor for a water utility, police said, a man drove up to the house where the contractor was working and opened fire. The contractor and a member of his crew returned fire, striking the assailant three times. While fleeing, the wounded attacker soon crashed his getaway vehicle. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, police said.
Feb. 5, Marysville, Washington: Three armed men in a stolen car approached a homeowner as he pulled into his driveway, police said. The homeowner, also armed, engaged his assailants in a shootout, apparently hitting at least one, until they ran away. After an hourslong manhunt involving drones and K-9 units, police detained one suspect with a gunshot wound. Neither the homeowner nor anyone else in the neighborhood was injured, police said.
Feb. 6, Philadelphia: A gunman began shooting at a mechanic outside an auto shop, wounding a 12-year-old boy, police said. The boy’s father, who was getting his car fixed and wasn’t the gunman’s intended target, drew his own handgun and fired back to defend himself and his son until the gunman fled. The mechanic was seriously wounded, police said. The boy, who suffered a grazing wound to the head, was treated and released from a hospital.
Feb. 10, Tipp City, Ohio: An armed resident fatally shot two pit bulls who wandered onto his property and attacked his own dog, police said. The resident initially tried to scare off the pit bulls by yelling and firing a warning shot from his rifle. As the two pit bulls became more aggressive, however, he used his handgun to protect himself and his dog.
Feb. 11, Surprise, Arizona: After an argument broke out between customers waiting in a Taco Bell drive-through, a man got out of his car and threatened the occupants of another vehicle with a gun. A passenger in that car, also armed, fatally shot the gun-wielding assailant, police said.
Feb. 13, Houston: A man sleeping in the back seat of his truck used his AR-15 to shoot and kill an armed burglar who broke into the vehicle and tried to rob him, police said. The assailant had already burglarized other vehicles in the same parking lot, investigators said.
Feb. 19, Swansea, Massachusetts: A courier depositing money at a bank drop box was accosted by two armed robbers who forced him to the ground and tied his hands behind his back, police said. The robbers tried to disarm the courier, a concealed carry permit holder who had a holstered gun on his hip. When the courier resisted, the robbers pepper-sprayed him. But he was eventually able to free one hand, draw his gun, and fire three rounds at the robbers, causing them to flee in a stolen U-Haul van. A suspect was later arrested and charged with several offenses, including armed robbery with a firearm, police said.
Feb. 21, Memphis, Tennessee: A woman shot and wounded the father of her children after he smashed a window, forced his way into her home, and assaulted her, police said. The two had gotten into an argument earlier that day over alleged infidelity, and the woman put his belongings outside for him. When the man arrived, he became confrontational and then violent, police said. The woman fled the house but he followed, prompting her to shoot him once in the leg before asking a neighbor to call police.
Feb. 22, Palm Beach, Florida: During a road-rage incident, a man pointed his handgun at another driver who had two children in his car, police said. Fearing for his and his children’s lives, the other driver pulled out his own gun and fired it at the assailant in self-defense. The assailant was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
Feb. 27, Nashville, Tennessee: A rideshare driver fatally shot a passenger who became agitated during the ride, then pulled a gun on him and started making threats. The rideshare driver first called 911 by using an “SOS alert” on his smartwatch, which was also connected to his wireless headphones. That call was eventually disconnected because the dispatcher didn’t pick up on the driver’s “quiet hints” about the situation. The driver made a second call about 15 minutes later, after he had apparently been able to access his own gun and shoot the would-be kidnapper.
Feb. 28, Atlanta: Police said an armed man confronted his ex-girlfriend and her family outside her home, then fired shots into the air. After he refused to leave, the ex-girlfriend’s mom shot and wounded the man, who was detained by law enforcement.

Even during the “safest” times, we will never live in a society where violent crime ceases to exist, or where law enforcement can protect the innocent from every harm.

The right to keep and bear arms always will remain essential to a free state, and law-abiding Americans always will be the first line of defense for themselves and their loved ones against threats to their life, liberty, and property.

Gun control activists’ reactions to the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision never were based in reality. They were emotion-driven responses designed to evoke irrational fear in people who didn’t know any better.

We’re glad they’re finally willing to admit they got it wrong.

Alleged burglar shot by homeowner ID’d

A 28-year-old Hernandez man is dead after being shot early Saturday morning by a homeowner who caught him in his garage.

A call was received at the E-911 Dispatch Center around 4:20 a.m., from a woman who told the dispatcher that her husband shot someone they caught in the garage. She said her husband shot the man, later identified as Pablo Hinz, because he attacked the couple and pushed the caller over. The names of the homeowners were not released.

According to a press release from the Española Police Department that was circulated later in the morning on Saturday, EPD officers were dispatched to the 500 block of Middle San Pedro Road regarding a burglary in progress.

“Upon arrival, officers learned, an elderly home owner confronted a burglary suspect within their residence,” the press release said. “During the incident there was a struggle resulting in the home owner shooting the burglary suspect at least one time.”

The press release said Hinz, whose name had not been released until Monday afternoon, succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was being withheld pending next of kin notification, which was done Monday, EPD Chief Mizel Garcia said.

“He was well known to law enforcement in the area for commission of burglaries,” Garcia said about Hinz.

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¡Grupos de Autodefensas Comunitaria Para Mi y Tu!

And when the Police won’t, or can’t do their job……

Armed citizen patrols start in Hartford amid violence concerns.

A new controversial armed citizen patrol has launched in Hartford.

Organizers say the people will be legally carrying as they walk around parts of the city where violence has taken a toll.

Though some – including the city’s mayor – are raising concerns about the effort.

In Hartford’s North End on Saturday, a group of people looked to patrol and clean up Garden Street.

“It was important to come out here because we believe that we have to keep the community safe, keep the community clean. And we’re doing this by being out here for a few hours, clean up the community, pick up the trash,” said Marcus Long, of Hartford.

Garden Street has seen its share of gun violence including a double homicide in February, which is what prompted the push for civilian armed patrols.

“We are legally armed and we are patrolling,” said Cornell Lewis, the founder of the Self-Defense Brigade. “The people on Garden Street came to us and asked us for help.”

While there did not appear to be open carry – which is banned in Connecticut – organizers previously told us those armed would be licensed and have concealed weapons.

They were part of Minister Cornell Lewis’ Self-Defense Brigade.

“We are not vigilantes. We are a group of people that are disciplined and trained. We go to the shooting range,” said Lewis.

The effort faces opposition including from an anti-violence group and the Hartford mayor.

Mayor Arunan Arulampalam wrote in part:
“Our community has seen so much pain and trauma, and what we need is for those who love this city to do the hard work of healing that pain.”

The mayor added that the city did not need people being trained to walk the streets with guns and trying to take the law into their own hands.

Earlier, there was a talk about gun rights including how to get a permit, safe storage and carry and personal use.

The founder of the brigade says they plan to do the patrols a few times a week. “We’ll be patrolling at night. So it’s not just a one-time thing. It’s going to be on a consistent basis,” said Lewis.

Organizers argue the patrols are needed and they have plans to expand them to other parts of the city.

APD: Man tries to break into off-duty officer’s apartment, falls 3 stories after being shot at

ATLANTA — Investigators say an off-duty Atlanta police officer fired at a man who tried to break into the officer’s apartment.

It happened around 5 a.m. Tuesday at the Dwell at the View apartment complex at 1620 Hollywood Road NW.

Police say the officer, who was home and off-duty at the time, grabbed a gun and fired toward the man.

The suspect was not hit, but police say he suffered non-life threatening injuries after he fell three floors to the ground.

The names of the suspect and the officer have not been released.

A resident, who declined to give his name and speak on camera, told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims that the apartment complex has recently been hit with several break-ins and other crimes.

Investigators are working to determine all the circumstances surrounding the attempted burglary.