There were three recent cases of apparent self-defense in which a person used deadly force to stop an attack.
One incident happened about a month ago in Des Moines, Iowa. In a Hy-Vee store for some reason which is still unclear, a woman named Kapri Lashawn Francis attacked another woman, allegedly blindsiding her and putting her in a headlock while she continued to give her what for.
Unfortunately for Ms. Francis the woman she attacked happened to be a legal concealed carry gun owner. And wouldn't you know, that lady had her gun on her. She used the gun to stop Ms. Francis.
Police said suspect Kapri Lashawn Francis, 30, attacked the woman without provocation inside a Hy-Vee grocery store at about 10 a.m. local time. The unidentified woman was legally armed and fired one shot at Francis.The suspect was shot in the leg, while a male customer was shot in the foot after the bullet ricocheted. Francis was arrested and charged with assault causing bodily injury after receiving medical attention at a local hospital. Police said the victim fired her gun in self-defense after interviewing witnesses and reviewing store surveillance footage.
In Detroit someone tried to break into Maiso Jackson's home claiming that someone there owed him money. When Mr. Jackson asked the man to leave the man tried to pull out a gun. But Mr. Jackson was quicker and shot the man, killing him. The police have not charged Mr. Jackson at this time but it's still possible the Wayne County Prosecutor might. We shall see.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - An early morning home invasion ended in the fatal shooting of the suspect on Detroit's west side. Homeowner Maiso Jackson has lived in his home for 20 years, and he’s owned his gun for the last eight. He's taken lessons on how to handle that firearm. Early this morning, that training was put into action."I had to do what I had to do, to save my life," he said.
Jackson says he tried to reason with him from inside his house. "He wouldn’t leave, so I dialed 911," he said. While they waited for police he says things escalated.
"Then he went around the window here and busted that window out," Jackson said.
Fearing the destruction wouldn't stop, Jackson armed himself. "I came outside and said you have to leave, you can’t be doing this," he said. "So then he reached for his gun and pulled it out. I had to defend myself, I had to shoot him because of that."
Jackson fired four shots, hitting the man in the chest killing him.
"It was me or him at that point," he said. "I didn’t want to hurt nobody, but he just wouldn’t quit."
And in a case which has attracted the most national attention, in New York an older bodega worker defended himself from a man who came behind the counter and attacked him. Although the bodega worker was significantly older he grabbed a knife and ended the assailant's time on this planet. The Manhattan DA charged the worker with second degree murder.
New video from inside a New York City bodega shows the moment a worker was stabbed by the girlfriend of the man police said the clerk had just killed, for which he now faces a murder charge.
Pressure continues to mount on the Manhattan district attorney to drop the murder charge against Jose Alba, the Washington Heights bodega clerk accused of killing Austin Simon, who attacked him behind the counter.
Those pleas will likely only grow louder, as video released on Monday showed what immediately led up to the stabbing that left the 35-year-old Simon dead on July 1. Investigators said there was an argument when Simon's girlfriend had her card declined as she tried to purchase a bag of chips for her daughter, and Alba took the bag of chips back from the little girl.
That's when police said the girlfriend came back with Simon, who went behind the counter to corner and confront Alba. After getting shoved into a wall, the deli clerk grabbed a knife and stabbed Simon multiple times, video has shown.
From a new angle of video, Simon's girlfriend can be seen grabbing Alba's arm, then taking a knife out from her purse and stabbing him in the upper arm, as Simon collapsed. New photos showed the injuries Alba suffered in the violent altercation.
I understand that most prosecutors don't want to give incentives to citizens eager to kill people to do so and then claim self-defense. Let's say that another man steps on my shoes, refuses to apologize after I follow him and politely request an apology, and finally pushes me out of his way as he tries to leave.
If I shoot him , then no I should absolutely NOT be able to claim self-defense. I extended and escalated the incident and used deadly force when there was no reasonable fear to my life.
That's not what happened in these stories. I don't think you should be required to take a beating or get shot before you defend yourself. My question is always who was the aggressor. Was the victim able to escape? Did the victim have a duty to escape?
I know that racists on the right will always attempt to racialize these cases, as they are doing with the Alba incident. However, when you initiate force against someone you must accept the risk of getting hurt. I have noticed that for whatever reason some prosecutors seem to take it very personally when people defend themselves. These prosecutors need to get over that.
That's not what happened in these stories. I don't think you should be required to take a beating or get shot before you defend yourself. My question is always who was the aggressor. Was the victim able to escape? Did the victim have a duty to escape?
I know that racists on the right will always attempt to racialize these cases, as they are doing with the Alba incident. However, when you initiate force against someone you must accept the risk of getting hurt. I have noticed that for whatever reason some prosecutors seem to take it very personally when people defend themselves. These prosecutors need to get over that.
