Defensive gun use (DGU) weekly roundup
Ten recent stories of good guys and gals with guns.
Welcome to another weekly round-up. Note that we don’t pretend that this represents every newsroom that covered any given story. And everyone is innocent until proved guilty.
To the stories!
Florida
Palm Coast
Massive coverage of this incident.
Around 1:50 PM on Sunday, June 14, Courtney Price was home with her two children when they heard the garage door open when no one was supposed to be ther. Then her 16-year-old son Jamari and his younger sibling came running into her bedroom because Michael McDonald — a man she knew through his sister — was banging on the windows.
She grabbed her gun — a firearm she’d only owned about six months and had never fired.
McDonald then got inside the house through the front door and cornered Price and her children in the foyer, threatening them and demanding money. The mother thought he was pushing up against her son, Jamari, as a prelude to a fight. Price warned him repeatedly to leave and threatened to shoot. Her 11-year-old later recalled McDonald’s response: “I don’t care, shoot me.”
He kept advancing.
Price fired once, hitting McDonald in the arm. He let the house and fled in a silver Kia SUV.
Deputies arrived within minutes and found blood at the scene. They tracked the Kia to a hospital parking lot and arrested McDonald.
Price and her children were unharmed. She later told reporters, “I did what I had to do to protect my children and myself.”
McDonald, 33, was charged with burglary with assault or battery and held without bond. His prior record includes robbery with a firearm, grand theft, drug offenses, DUI, and resisting arrest. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office cited Florida’s stand your ground law in clearing Price.
The story got a lot of coverage specifically because it was a situation that perfectly illustrated the need for Florida’s stand your ground law and the Second Amendment. As Ammoland.com put it, “That is the reality of armed self-defense...It is a mother with children behind her, an aggressive, threatening man allegedly advancing toward her, and only seconds to decide whether she and her family will be victims.”
Florida law enforcement was also eager to express support for Price’s actions. “[T]his is proof why we have the stand your ground law,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly.
“If you’re going to force yourself into someone’s house and be aggressive, be prepared to get shot,” Chief Deputy Joe Barile said.
So many links.
Local news
Woman shoots man who threatened her and her children in Palm Coast (News-Journal)
Palm Coast mom says intruder pushed toward her kids before she opened fire (WESH 2)
Homeowner shoots man accused of threatening family during Palm Coast break-in (Observer)
Central Florida mom shoots home invader who threatened her kids, sheriff says (ClickOrlando)
Florida mother shoots alleged intruder during Palm Coast home invasion, deputies say (Fox 35)
Stand Your Ground: Florida Mom Shoots Intruder After He Breaks In And Threatens Her Children (Tampa Free Press)
Mom shoots suspect who allegedly barged into home, threatened her 2 children: sheriff (WKRC Local 12)
2A / specialist
Armed Florida Mom Shoots Alleged Intruder Threatening Her Children (Ammoland)
Florida Mother Shoots Home Intruder Who Threatened Her and Her Two Children (USACarry)
Mother Who Shot Intruder: ‘I Did What I Had to Do to Protect My Children’ (Breitbart)
Tabloid
Home Invader Arrested in Florida After Woman Shot Him for Threatening Her and Her Kids (Us Magazine. No, really, Us? …yes, Us.)
Michigan
Garden City
UPDATE on an incident that we can now definitively call a DGU.
It was New Year’s Day, a little after 4am, when Brian Lindsay — sober, designated driver — was attacked while backing into a parking spot outside a bar to pick up his girlfriend and friends.
Dennis Kewin, 55, and his son Brendan, 22, approached the driver’s side and pulled Lindsay from his Jeep.
Bar surveillance footage captured what followed: the two men dragging their victim toward the back of the vehicle, then Dennis beating Lindsay — who then shot Dennis in the head. Seconds later, Brendan jumped on him and continued the assault. Lindsay shot Brendan in the shoulder. Lindsay suffered facial injuries requiring surgery and a broken ankle.
Lindsay, a CPL holder, was charged with assault with intent to murder and spent five months in jail, with a bond initially set at $1 million. After six hours of deliberation, the jury returned not guilty on all charges. Jurors told his attorney the security footage showed that it was self-defense. The county prosecutor’s didn’t explain why they chose to so aggressively charge and prosecute Lindsay, saying only that it was a “challenging case.”
Garden City bar shooting suspect found not guilty by a jury (Fox 2)
Livonia man acquitted in shooting of father, son at Garden City bar (The Detroit News)
Livonia man found not guilty in shooting outside Garden City’s Rockstarz Bar (WWJ 950 news radio / Audacy)
Man Found Not Guilty In Shooting Outside Wayne County Karaoke Bar (Patch)
Missouri
Blue Springs
Early in the morning on June 19, someone broke into a home near Lake Lotawana. The homeowner called 911 to report that someone had entered their house illegally — then shot the intruder before police could arrive. The intruder, 18-year-old Tristan Barker of Blue Springs, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police confirmed Barker was not known to the homeowner.
The homeowner was unharmed. Detectives are still conducting an active investigation. Still, USACarry points out that the “help was on the way. It just wasn’t there yet” scenario demonstrates the “police are minutes away” reality behind gun use for self-defense.
To get the whole list of stories, won’t you consider becoming a subscriber? We have incidents from Charlotte and Salisbury, NC; Tulsa, OK (twice!); Cordova, TN; and El Paso and San Antonio, TX.
