GUILTY AL - Summer Moody, 17, fatally shot in Gravine Island burglary attempt, 15 April 2013

[kentuckybound]

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/04/attorney_describes_gravine_isl.html

DAPHNE, Alabama -- Campers on Gravine Island shouted and fired warning shots to stop the people captured in their spotlight during what their attorney described as an early morning break-in at a neighboring camp, but they never imagined the nightmare that the 5-minute encounter with 4 teens would launch, according to Daphne attorney Tom Dassinger.
Dassinger represents Wayne Hearn, one of six people--3 couples-- who had gone to the remote island in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta for a weekend of fishing, frog-gigging and relaxation. Dassinger said his client does not wish to identify who did the shooting that morning that resulted in 17-year-old Summer Moody being shot in the head, but all the campers have been devastated by the incident.


More at link....

 

[wondering?]

A casualty during the commission of a crime, yes, breaking into another person's property is a crime.
It is unfortunate that this girl was hit with a bullet meant to scare the thieves away from a place where they did not belong.
Who knows where a bullet will go when shot, warning shots, I believe they were.
She should not have been there according to her mother.
So many young people do this stuff for the lark of it, never thinking that anyone will get hurt, just a little break in, just a few things taken, just some damage to someone's vacation home.
Who cares that the owner has the expense of repairs.
Trying to feel sorry for the kids, nope, cannot find it in my heart.

 

[suspicious1]

Mom said she was supposed to be spending the night at a girlfriends. She did not know she wasnt at the friends and somewhere else until the police contacted her about the shooting.
http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/apr/...12BDQspN8aBVMlg&shorturl=http://bit.ly/IRgaWJ

OMG! This is horrible....

I pray that this young girl makes it.....she did not deserve that, I don't care what she was doing....she did not deserve to be shot in the back of the head.....I am speechless.

Question: if this girls makes it, can they charge her with this crime as well?

 

[PHB]

When I think of all the stupid, dangerous, and downright criminal things I did as a teenager...
There but for the grace of God, you know?

 

[Yoda]

A casualty during the commission of a crime, yes, breaking into another person's property is a crime.
It is unfortunate that this girl was hit with a bullet meant to scare the thieves away from a place where they did not belong.
Who knows where a bullet will go when shot, warning shots, I believe they were.
She should not have been there according to her mother.
So many young people do this stuff for the lark of it, never thinking that anyone will get hurt, just a little break in, just a few things taken, just some damage to someone's vacation home.
Who cares that the owner has the expense of repairs.
Trying to feel sorry for the kids, nope, cannot find it in my heart.

I agree. If they were knowingly trespassing, which it appears to be the case, they are responsible for what happened to themselves. I don't understand how people can break the law but then turn around and expect others to behave according to higher standards. I'm going to trespass, steal and or vandalize, but don't confront me or try to scare me off with a gun. I expect you to let me have my fun at your expense- financial and sense of security.
MOO. And teens being teens does not fly either. IMO just because you are a teen doesn't make doing something illegal less illegal.

 

[Lovejac]

Interesting info found out about the 3 men that shot "warning shots"

Campers in Gravine Island shooting of Summer Moody have criminal records

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/04/campers_in_gravine_island_shoo.html

snipped

William Nicholas Hearn, 37, was arrested in 2010 on a fugitive from justice warrant out of Georgia stemming from a probation violation on a cocaine trafficking charge and a charge of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Lonnie W. Davison, 38, faced various traffic citations as well as a theft charge in the 1990s.

 

[AZ1991]

A casualty during the commission of a crime, yes, breaking into another person's property is a crime.
It is unfortunate that this girl was hit with a bullet meant to scare the thieves away from a place where they did not belong.
Who knows where a bullet will go when shot, warning shots, I believe they were.
She should not have been there according to her mother.
So many young people do this stuff for the lark of it, never thinking that anyone will get hurt, just a little break in, just a few things taken, just some damage to someone's vacation home.
Who cares that the owner has the expense of repairs.
Trying to feel sorry for the kids, nope, cannot find it in my heart.

Um, I do. Straight up in the air. Then back down in such a way that a "through the head" (as this young girl got it) would be impossible.

So yeah. I DO know where a REAL warning shot would go, and it COULD hurt someone. But it is IMPOSSIBLE for a REAL warning shot to have hit the girl in such a way.

No, I don't feel like it's right that the kids were vandalizing. I honestly wish someone HAD fired a warning shot, that would have scared them. Nope, they HAD to have shot straight forward, as you would shoot at a target.

So REGARDLESS of how you feel about the kid's offense. You HAVE to understand that that was NO "warning shot" and that the person who fired (or people) should be held accountable for their DISGUSTING IGNORANCE.

Now, I am out to use physics and geometry to determine HOW IN THE WORLD a "warning shot" as they so incorrectly and innocence-buyingly called it. And I will come back hopefully with some mathematical accuracies so show just how it is IMPOSSIBLE for a warning shot fired as they are (in the air, the noise is the warning, not the bullet) to have hit the girl in such a way (ETA: Unless she was lying down on the ground, which honestly doesn't seem likely).

 

[otto]

Since Alabama law provides that every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the State, the teens should have fully realized that they could encounter people with guns defending property from thieves.

 

[Yoda]

Um, I do. Straight up in the air. Then back down in such a way that a "through the head" (as this young girl got it) would be impossible.

So yeah. I DO know where a REAL warning shot would go, and it COULD hurt someone. But it is IMPOSSIBLE for a REAL warning shot to have hit the girl in such a way.

No, I don't feel like it's right that the kids were vandalizing. I honestly wish someone HAD fired a warning shot, that would have scared them. Nope, they HAD to have shot straight forward, as you would shoot at a target.

So REGARDLESS of how you feel about the kid's offense. You HAVE to understand that that was NO "warning shot" and that the person who fired (or people) should be held accountable for their DISGUSTING IGNORANCE.

Now, I am out to use physics and geometry to determine HOW IN THE WORLD a "warning shot" as they so incorrectly and innocence-buyingly called it. And I will come back hopefully with some mathematical accuracies so show just how it is IMPOSSIBLE for a warning shot fired as they are (in the air, the noise is the warning, not the bullet) to have hit the girl in such a way (ETA: Unless she was lying down on the ground, which honestly doesn't seem likely).

Moo Actually warning shots fired in the air could hit her. I remember a little boy in Tampa being shot in the head from celebratory shots fired. Google celebratory shots and there is a lot of info.
I don't know if they have determined if the shooter fired the warning shot up into the air or towards the perps, but if up in the air I can see it as an unfortunate accident. if towards the perps then I'm not sure how the shooter could say it was a warning when he aimed near them.

 

[otto]

Moo Actually warning shots fired in the air could hit her. I remember a little boy in Tampa being shot in the head from celebratory shots fired. Google celebratory shots and there is a lot of info.
I don't know if they have determined if the shooter fired the warning shot up into the air or towards the perps, but if up in the air I can see it as an unfortunate accident. if towards the perps then I'm not sure how the shooter could say it was a warning when he aimed near them.

Since the law permits the use of guns to protect property in Alabama, does it really matter if the shot was in the air or closer to the ground? The person with the gun did not know anything about the burglars when firing the shot. They could have been hardened criminals that could shoot back, so, given Alabama laws, it seems like the shooter was well within his rights.

 

[Yoda]

Since the law permits the use of guns to protect property in Alabama, does it really matter if the shot was in the air or closer to the ground? The person with the gun did not know anything about the burglars when firing the shot. They could have been hardened criminals that could shoot back, so, given Alabama laws, it seems like the shooter was well within his rights.

Protect property too? I wish they had that in my state!

 

[otto]

Protect property too? I wish they had that in my state!

I never thought I'd be researching Gun Law but here it is; Alabama has a "shoot first" law:

"Section 13A-3-23 - Use of force in defense of a person.
(a) A person is justified in using physical force upon another person in order to defend himself or herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by that other person, and he or she may use a degree of force which he or she reasonably believes to be necessary for the purpose. A person may use deadly physical force, and is legally presumed to be justified in using deadly physical force in self-defense or the defense of another person pursuant to subdivision (4), if the person reasonably believes that another person is:

(1) Using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force.

(2) Using or about to use physical force against an occupant of a dwelling while committing or attempting to commit a burglary of such dwelling."

http://www.lcav.org/content/shoot_first_laws.pdf

http://law.onecle.com/alabama/criminal-code/13A-3-23.html

 

[jjenny]

Since the law permits the use of guns to protect property in Alabama, does it really matter if the shot was in the air or closer to the ground? The person with the gun did not know anything about the burglars when firing the shot. They could have been hardened criminals that could shoot back, so, given Alabama laws, it seems like the shooter was well within his rights.

And are there guns legal? If not that could be the charge.

 

[Steely Dan]

So this is the most HINKY $h!t I've ever read, so they fired "WARNING SHOTS" but they didn't fire them into the air? So. Yeah. Those weren't warning shots. Who fires a "warning shot" knowing that it COULD hit a person. Nobody. And if they were not trying to hit someone because they were SO SICK AND TIRED OF THE VANDALISM, then they are IGNORANT and should have never been allowed guns because they handled them in the most irresponsible way, and most likely killed a girl.


Nope. Either those men were not "warning" anyone of anything but their impending death, or they are absolute IDIOTS and ignorance is not cause or excuse to take a life.

The average American isn't smart enough to decide when to shoot and when not to.

Interesting info found out about the 3 men that shot "warning shots"

Campers in Gravine Island shooting of Summer Moody have criminal records

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/04/campers_in_gravine_island_shoo.html

snipped

I guess they should have been shot and then this whole thing wouldn't have happened.

Since the law permits the use of guns to protect property in Alabama, does it really matter if the shot was in the air or closer to the ground? The person with the gun did not know anything about the burglars when firing the shot. They could have been hardened criminals that could shoot back, so, given Alabama laws, it seems like the shooter was well within his rights.

I never thought I'd be researching Gun Law but here it is; Alabama has a "shoot first" law:

"Section 13A-3-23 - Use of force in defense of a person.
(a) A person is justified in using physical force upon another person in order to defend himself or herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by that other person, and he or she may use a degree of force which he or she reasonably believes to be necessary for the purpose. A person may use deadly physical force, and is legally presumed to be justified in using deadly physical force in self-defense or the defense of another person pursuant to subdivision (4), if the person reasonably believes that another person is:

(1) Using or about to use unlawful deadly physical force.

(2) Using or about to use physical force against an occupant of a dwelling while committing or attempting to commit a burglary of such dwelling."

http://www.lcav.org/content/shoot_first_laws.pdf

http://law.onecle.com/alabama/criminal-code/13A-3-23.html

Well that seems to show that they didn't have the right to shoot at them, since they were running away. It appears that some here think that vandalism should be a death penalty crime. I disagree.

 

[otto]

And are there guns legal? If not that could be the charge.

Shouldn't the law for defending property from burglars apply regardless of where the weapon came from? The fact is that four burglars were taking or vandalizing private property and Alabama Law includes the option of first strike in order to protect that property.

 

[otto]

The average American isn't smart enough to decide when to shoot and when not to.

I guess they should have been shot and then this whole thing wouldn't have happened.

Well that seems to show that they didn't have the right to shoot at them, since they were running away. It appears that some here think that vandalism should be a death penalty crime. I disagree.

Regardless of whether the average American really knows when to shoot, plenty of States have a "shoot first" law ... like Alabama and Florida. It's legal.

Are the burglars claiming that they were running away when they were discovered burglarizing private property? That doesn't sound possible. It's more likely that they were in the process of burglarizing and vandalizing property when they were surpised by men with guns ... that were used.

 

[jjenny]

Shouldn't the law for defending property from burglars apply regardless of where the weapon came from? The fact is that four burglars were taking or vandalizing private property and Alabama Law includes the option of first strike in order to protect that property.

If the gun is not legal then that person who has that gun can be charged with that. Laws for defending property don't mean someone is allowed to have a gun that someone isn't supposed to have. Since those people involved do have criminal history, were they legally allowed to have these guns?

 

[PHB]

Good question! If the shooter was a felon in possesion of a firearm, that's murder, right (assuming Summer passes away, which I hope she doesn't)?

 

[SwampMama]

Moo Actually warning shots fired in the air could hit her. I remember a little boy in Tampa being shot in the head from celebratory shots fired. Google celebratory shots and there is a lot of info.
I don't know if they have determined if the shooter fired the warning shot up into the air or towards the perps, but if up in the air I can see it as an unfortunate accident. if towards the perps then I'm not sure how the shooter could say it was a warning when he aimed near them.

There are people who die each year from guns fired in the air. It most often happens on new years when drunken fools celebrate by popping off rounds in the air. A young lady in the French Quarter in New Orleans died a few years back when that happened. They never did find where the bullet came from.

But I agree, he should not have been firing a warning shot in their direction. But then again, the young lady and her friends should NOT have been there committing crimes. Lots of bad choices all around leading to a tragic ending.

 

[AZ1991]

There are people who die each year from guns fired in the air. It most often happens on new years when drunken fools celebrate by popping off rounds in the air. A young lady in the French Quarter in New Orleans died a few years back when that happened. They never did find where the bullet came from.

But I agree, he should not have been firing a warning shot in their direction. But then again, the young lady and her friends should NOT have been there committing crimes. Lots of bad choices all around leading to a tragic ending.

Not to show just how hormonal I have been lately, but I'm getting SO ANNOYED. Really? People die every year, maybe. It's likely.


Give me ONE who was shot through the back or side of the head.


GIVE ME ONE!