“I didn’t want to shoot him, but I had to. I shot him.” So says 81-year-old James Stevens, matter-of-factly. When he noticed a 2010 Kia following him for a longer period of time than could have been a coincidence, he decided not to lead the tail to his home. Instead, he pulled over next to an empty field. We might have chosen the nearest cop shop or another more public place, but there it is. Sure enough, the Kia pulled over, too . . .
That’s when Stevens armed himself. As miamiherald.com relates,
Stevens told investigators that the driver of the Kia – later identified as Lonnie Lorenza Hollingsworth Jr., 28 – got out of the vehicle, approached him and demanded “everything you got,” reports state.
As Stevens said, he shot him. But good. He landed one of four rounds of .38 caliber deterrence he launched and now Lonnie Hollingsworth (not pictured above) is in the Ocala Regional Medical Center ICU. With a belly wound. And pending charges should he recover.
Just because the rat has a name doesn’t mean he’s not pictured above….
Those three hamsters resent both rat references.
Ask & ye shall receive. Good going gramps, Randy
He asked for all six bullets, lucky the old man wasn’t that generous.
Maybe it was one of those 5-shot Tauruses with an empty chamber.
Cop: Why did you shoot at him 4 times?
Mr. Stevens: Because when I pulled the trigger the 5th time it only went ‘click’.
Reminds me of some rather dark humor:
The Two Loudest Sounds I Hope You Never Hear:
1. A “BANG” when you expect a “click”.
2. A “click” when you expect a “BANG”.
I do hope Gramps gets a nice heavy .45 for the car, the next crim should be pushing up daisies…
(Got a Kahr K9 as a car gun with spare mag, at least until I can find a sub2k..)
I’m a sucker for a happy ending. Thus, my affinity for Koontz novels.
Wouldn’t lead the orcs to his home. Ballsy. Worked out well for him, not so much for the orc.
CENTER OF MASS, fella. CENTER OF MASS. Had he followed that rule, the perp would not be convalescing at taxpayer expense.
81 years old, probably a wee bit stressed, and he managed a better hit percentage than NY’s finest. I’ll cut him some slack.
+1
+2
+1. The fact that a person of his advanced age has the situational awareness that he does is what should be celebrated.
Like a real life Walt Kowalsky
The old timer did better than the LAPD who shot up the paper delivery women in Torrance, CA. They fired some 100+ shots and got a couple of grazing wounds.
According to the article, the scumbag had a prior for body armor, so center of mass to get his attention, then double tap the head to stop the threat.
prior for body armor? is armor illegal?(edit, i see now because he was commiting a crime whilst wearing body armor…)
Excellent situational awareness by Mr. Stevens.
If all facts are as presented, the only things I’m sad about are that Mr. Stevens had to shoot someone and that somehow (as it does nearly 100% of the time) this will wind up costing him even more stress and money and time before it is over. He gets “robbed” either way .
Nope, it is clear cut self defense they are not allowed to charge him!
He will still have to deal with the mental stress. Also the way the neighbors may react, possible hassles from the goblin’s “peeps” (or just concern that there may be retribution) and so forth. NOBODY pulls a trigger and gets off scott-free no matter how justified which is why my thoughts and prayers are for all the people like Mr. Stevens as they deal with the aftermath of an event that was forced upon them.
So true Dale, there’s an old cop saying “Everybody’s a Tough Guy Until They Kill Somebody”.
Afterwards, everything is different. It’s just as well this didn’t result in death – much as the BG may have had it coming – and, of course, you do what you must but it’s not nice to live or deal with.
While I was talking with someone who’s trying to get a CCW in Kalifornia, he was told, by the Sheriffs Dept., that if he shoots someone, he should expect a lawsuit from the family of the wounded or deceased. After that first pull of the trigger, keep in mind, there’s at least $100k you are going to be spending on your attorney and their attorney, lest not forget the time wasted on court dates, time away from work and all because you protected yourself.
If the shooting was legally justified you are not going to be paying the other party’s legal fees.
Assuming you’re in a state with those types of protections. Many states, California included believe it or not, have pretty strong castle doctrines. Some states do not.
Damn its good to be a hamsta.
Sadly DGU’s almost never make the main stream media…
http://www.reddit.com/r/dgu
Interesting bit from the story:
“Hollingsworth has had numerous run-ins with the law and was convicted in 2008 of carrying a concealed firearm and altering the serial number of a firearm. He also was charged with wearing a bulletproof vest in the commission of an attempted crime, but that charge was dropped.”
I’ll take “Poor Choice of Words” for 1000, Alex.
Ask and ye shall recieve.
Ugh, I hate to be “that guy,” but I’m not 100 percent sure this was a justifiable DGU. The linked story says the BG wasn’t armed… Depending on the DA and your state, this could work itself self out a couple of ways, not all of them good. Yeah, I know the BG demanded everything he had, but I’m not sure that’s the same as physically threatening him.
I know it’s easy for me to say what I’d do having never been in such a situation, but I’d think I’d prefer to see a weapon before I shot someone approaching me. Of course, by then it might be too late.
Twenty eight year old habitual offender vs. eighty one year old octogenarian – what do you think the odds were of the old man coming out of the encounter without serious injury. Even a fall would likely inflict grave bodily harm. He did what he felt he had no other choice than to do
Too bad his other three weren’t center mass.
Too bad because he’ll probably be victimized again by this a-h.
This.
I agree that this event could be a little sticky. That said, there are a few factors that work in the victim’s favor:
(1) The criminal followed the victim for a long time. This indicates clear intent and premeditation to do something to the victim.
(2) The criminal has a previous criminal record, the victim does not.
(3) The victim is 81 years old and the criminal is 28 years old.
(4) The criminal could easily harm or kill the victim due to the age difference.
(5) The criminal approached the victim (after following the victim for miles).
(6) The criminal demanded something.
All of these factors together put the victim in the clear. Eliminate any one or definitely two of those factors and the victim gets into legally questionable territory really fast.
Which is why, if you’re going to shoot, shoot to stop (the thugs heartbeat). Much better your word against a coffin’s than against a seasoned thug with justice system experience.
Only hangup is 2). Victim has no way of knowing the assailant’s criminal record. But honestly, that should be irrelevant given the other facts.
“Yeah, I know the BG demanded everything he had, but I’m not sure that’s the same as physically threatening him.”
So you think possibly he was saying “give me everything or I’ll hand you a daffodil”?
I’m pretty sure this comes under the heading of “your money or your life” and if that isn’t a direct threat I don’t know what is.
Dale. Agree. It’s a perceived threat and the old gentleman’s answer was correct.
81
Disparity x3 rounded
28
28+
28+
——
84
Huh?
Disparity of force in law, from what I understand and Massad Ayoob covers in his materials, is that force that the assailant proffers towards or threatens you with, the victim, that a reasonable person would believe could cause grave bodily harm or death. Meaning, in this case, that a 28 yr. old is able to whup an old man. It also applies to man vs. woman, or a 300 lb. weightlifter vs. a 150 lb. man, or a martial arts master against one who isn’t, or multiple assailants vs. one, or an armed attacker. If a person of your size and approximate abilities attacks you without a weapon you may not be able, legally, to use deadly force. If they have a weapon or meet any of the other criteria to create a “disparity of force” then you are legally able to respond with deadly force such as using your gun.
1. Wait until the BG smashes your face in and takes your weapon
2. When you regain consciousness politely ask said BG for your weapon back
3. After receiving said weapon from BG … OPEN FIRE!
GREAT PLAN
Maybe the surgeons can give him (Hollingsworth) the fragments. It may not be everything Stevens had but with what some people charge for ammo now… just sayin.
The only thing that the old guy did REALLY wrong was talk to the cops.
“I’m in shock and I can’t talk”
An instructor in my NRA Basic Pistol Course which I took for my CCW said that something he has thought of (but you didn’t hear from him) is telling the police that you feel chest pains from all the stress. Have your lawyer meet you at the hospital.
All’s well that ends well, I suppose.
He would have shot him more times, but pity stayed his hand. “It’s a pity I’ve run out of bullets,” he thought to himself.
That sounds like a good one to me. That would make it one of the 500 to 1,000 good ones that happen each year.
Doesn’t the fact that your nation-wide network of tipsters isn’t coming up with 25 or 30 a day make you think. It does me.
I’m sure those 500 to 1000 people a year are pretty happy that they still had a right to defend themselves in this country, despite your best efforts.
Yeah, Ruff, guess how many used an AR with a 30-round mag.
I don’t do guessing. FLAME DELETED
@Mikeyb#’s: I assure you we are all deeply concerned with your opinion about the matter, lol.
The scumbag will claim he was asking directions.
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