[Vision2020] : 11 year-old Montana girl shoots twohome intruders

[Saundra Lund]

I'm happy to respond to your push, Kai, with a shove:  I can dig up as many
stories highlighting the tragedy of guns in homes as you can pro-gun
stories.  Here's a *local* example, and there are a heartbreaking number of
similar tragedies across the country.

LMT
Lewiston child dies of gunshot wound
By Kerri Sandaine

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A 3-year-old boy died Monday afternoon from a single gunshot wound to the
chest after shooting himself with a handgun.

According to Clarkston police, the boy was apparently playing with a 9 mm
semi-automatic when it went off. The incident occurred at 716 Third St.

The name of the child and his mother have not been released, pending
notification of the boy's father, who lives out of the area. 

Clarkston Police Chief Joel Hastings said the Lewiston boy and his mother,
who do not live at the residence, were outside where she was doing yard work
when the boy went in the house to use the bathroom. A few minutes later, she
heard a gunshot and went inside, where she found her son in a bedroom. 

The woman called 911 on her cell phone, Hastings said. A neighbor walking by
saw the frantic mother and started CPR on the boy. The boy was alive when
police and emergency medical crews arrived. 

Sgt. Jon Coe of the Clarkston Police Department was the first officer to
arrive on the scene, which is two blocks from the station. Coe packed the
child out to the ambulance, and he was taken to St. Joseph's Regional
Medical Center in Lewiston. The boy died a short time later at the hospital,
police said. 

The mother's boyfriend lives at the house, Hastings said. They were in the
process of doing some home improvements, and she planned to move there in a
couple months, he said. The boyfriend was out getting some building supplies
when the accidental shooting took place. The gun was reportedly kept in a
dresser, police said. 

Sandaine may be contacted atkerris at lmtribune.com or(208) 743-9600, ext. 264.


_____
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
- Edmund Burke

-----Original Message-----
From: Kai Eiselein, editor [mailto:editor at lataheagle.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 1:04 PM
To: Saundra Lund; 'Chuck Kovis'; 'lfalen'; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] : 11 year-old Montana girl shoots twohome
intruders

Unfortunately things like this DO happen. Generally not with an 11 year old,

though. But, then again, why should age matter when defending oneself?
The police cannot defend everyone, they can only react "after" a crime has 
been commited. It is incumbent on each of us to take measures to protect 
ourselves.
snope these:
July 11

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 24-year-old man was shot several times in an 
exchange of gunfire with a Panama Park homeowner Wednesday morning during 
what police described as a home invasion robbery.

Just after 9 a.m., police responding to a burglar alarm in the 7100 block of

Elwood Avenue found the door kicked in and witnesses describing gunfire both

inside and outside the home.

Investigators said Jonathan Comas and Donovan Thomas, 21, broke into the 
house, waking up Johnny Johnson.

Johnson said he grabbed his gun and got to the living room in time to see 
two men turning around to leave.

"I was the first person to shoot, I guarantee it, because they were in my 
house," Johnson said. "I look up, see the guy and I shoot twice, then I 
start hearing shots."

Johnson said he fired five or six shots, then dove for cover when he heard 
gunfire coming from outside.

Police said Comas, who was shot several times, was taken to 
Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center by Thomas and Sandra Flood, 27, who 
officers said was driving a vehicle used in the incident. Late Wednesday, 
Comas was reported to be in critical condition.

Johnson's mother got a call from her son saying someone was in the house.

"He said, 'Mom, somebody broke into the house. I think they're still in 
here,'" Joann Christopher said. "As he's talking to me, I'm hearing 
gunshots."

Johnson told Channel 4's Dan Leveton that he thinks the men turned around 
and started to leave because there wasn't much in the house. Police think 
they might have been scared off by the alarm.

"I'm lucky to be alive," Johnson said. "Somebody could have died, and I 
could have been me."

Police said Thomas and Flood were be arrested and charged with home-invasion

robbery. They were ordered held without bond pending an arraignment on Aug. 
2.

Officers said Comas was absentee booked on the same charges as he remains 
hospitalized.

July 4

HICKORY, N.C. -- An elderly man feared for his life and shot a 23-year-old 
man who broke into his home Tuesday night in Hickory.

The 79-year-old man woke up to find that someone had broken into his home.

His quick thinking may have saved his life and his wife's.

The man told his wife to go the neighbor's house and be safe. Get out while 
she could.

The man then grabbed his handgun that he had in the house and waited for the

intruder.

When the burglar walked into his bedroom, the elderly man shot him in the 
head.

The elderly man said it was a split second decision and one that he doesn't 
regret.

Investigators said the man had a right to defend himself and his home.

The 23-year-old intruder is in the hospital and is expected to survive.

Investigators said that he would be arrested as soon as he is discharged 
from the hospital.



Just a guy who believes in the right of self defense and >legal< 
immigration.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at roadrunner.com>
To: "'Chuck Kovis'" <ckovis at turbonet.com>; "'lfalen'" <lfalen at turbonet.com>;

<vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 12:32 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] : 11 year-old Montana girl shoots twohome 
intruders


> Chuck Kovis posted:
> www.snopes.com/politics/crime/homeinvasion
>
> Thanks, Chuck, for setting the record straight.
>
> I'd previously heard about this email hoax from family who live in MT --
> people there are HOPPING MAD that lies like this about MT are spreading on
> the Internet -- but I'm glad to have confirmation.
>
> I *know* there's a sucker born every minute, and I guess the allure 
> getting
> a two'fer (gun nuts and anti-immigration nuts) was just too much for some 
> to
> resist and to heck with such lofty notions as honesty and integrity.  For
> those folks -- clearly -- the ends justify *any* scummy means.
>
> I always kind of get a kick when fanatics pull idiotic stunts like that
> because it says a whole lot about them  ;-)  However, this one is a little
> different:  I was deeply disturbed by the comments added at the beginning
> and the end of the forward.  Be afraid, folks, be very, very afraid of
> people with the fanaticism to add comments like that  :-(  What's wrong 
> with
> America today?  Those comments sure give us a clue, don't they?
>
>
> Saundra Lund
> Moscow, ID
>
> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
> nothing.
> - Edmund Burke
>
> ***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2007 through life 
> plus
> 70 years, Saundra Lund. Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce 
> outside
> the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
> author.*****
>
>
>
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