[Houston Crime] foiled robbery at S. Gessner taqueria

I'm not going to pretend to know Texas self-defense law (although given 20 years of arguing Joe Horn-esqe situations we may all have a minor in it by now), but I guess we'll see if that's the case given an indictment or not. I'm banking on not.

IMO, that was a proportional response and as a civilian who was just threatened with a deadly weapon I'm not going to take chances on guessing whether I have "neutralized" someone or not.

 

oh no! random stranger on the internet has a problem with my morality and humanity!

 

I never assume someone will adhere to my points. I just express what I believe. Sorry for being blunt.

 

It definitely is not proportional response to put one in the back after removing the weapon from someone while they are lying lifeless on the floor.

Man you people are psychopaths.

 

i wasnt citing his history of violent criminal behavior as justification...i was asking why the hell he was out on the streets in the first place. thats a failure of our justice system.

i wasnt making that argument. i dont believe that "people can do anything to defend themselves". you cant shoot someone because they stepped on your foot and that is not what happened in this case.

thats true. if someone threatens you in anyway then you cant just kill them. if someone says "im going to kill you" then you cant just kill them.

right, but thats not what happened here. throwing a punch is different than robbing and threatening people with a gun.

i think everything up to the final headshot is 100% justifiable. the criminal was already down and the gun was kicked away. and the fact that he shooter left the scene is also a problem. but its doubtful that a grand jury in houston will charge him.

im a victim of armed robbery in my own house. i had a gun pointed at my face and thought i was about to be murdered. the people who did that to me got away with it. with that in mind i have no sympathy for people who get killed while using a gun to rob others. this robber had already done prison time for armed robbery and murder. he clearly had not changed his ways and its entirely possible that the shooter stopped this criminal from killing another innocent person.

 

He's dead. The more pressing issue is a psychopath possibly not having any charges and owning free while owning firearm. I don't trust people like him with firearms. At the very least his firearm owning privileges should be removed.

Your prior experience with a robber shouldn't be an excuse. I've had weapons pointed at me. I've had rounds fired at me. I've literally heard the sharp snap of rounds barely missing me and hitting objects like trees hit next to me. Never felt the urge to put a round into the back of a lifeless body after their weapon was removed.

 

So you're not living life like a Steven Segal movie? I've lost all respect for you now.

 

It is not a guess once you have shot them 8 times and picked up their weapon.

 

Shooter doesn't have to know. I am bringing up his history only to show that the justice system does a poor job of keeping violent criminals behind bars and away from the public. It could have been his first or his 50th violent crime, once the robber threatened people he risks getting killed, plain and simple. Motive doesn't matter either, you threaten with a gun, you risk getting killed.

 

I can point to any sort of individual anecdote to make a argument of too many people being let go due to bail or not harsh enough sentencing.

But I also can look at data and tell you that we a country hold 4% of the world's population and 24% of the world's incarcerated population.

 

Yea…. That was pretty much an execution of the robber….

The robber’s criminal history is pretty irrelevant in this case.

 

Texas has never used the gas chamber for executions.

 

Tell it to the DA I guess.

 

Well we can have a discussion about morality without the DA's opinion here.


Have you ever posted a weapon at anyone before? Do you think you are capable of putting one into the back of someone's head after they are lifeless and you remove their weapon?

 

I won’t claim to be an expert in Texas law and haven’t looked at it recently but from a few years ago it did still say pretty much what I am saying.

So someone unconscious and disarmed isn’t neutralized?

 

So if the shooter doesn’t need to know how can the shooter make a judgement on the criminal history?

And yes if you commit a crime with a gun you risk getting killed. That still doesn’t make a civilian, or an LEO either, judge and executioner. As stated before the initial actions of the shooter are justified and if that was it I would argue that was proportional and reasonable self defense. It’s when the robber is unconscious and disarmed that he decides to execute him is where it crosses line.

 

I’m sorry to disappoint you.

Also Steven Segal does Aikido, not Judo.

 

I don’t think we’re in disagreement. Shooting a robber who is armed is justified under Texas law and that even though it was a fake gun that others were willing to give him money shows that it was a reasonable to assume it was a real gun and a lethal threat. It is once he’s down and disarmed shooting him in the head where it’s the problem.

Sorry to hear about you getting robbed. I’ve Had my house and car burgled before and once punched someone breaking into my apartment. In Beijing I got shook down by some lorry drivers who took me into a back alley and had me outnumbered 6 to 1. They didn’t point a weapon at me but it was clear if I didn’t pay them things would not go well for me. Yes it’s humiliating to be a crime victim that still doesn’t mean we decide to mete out punishment. (Sorry @Xopher).

Yes we absolutely should defend ourselves and protect others who can’t beyond that though we risk becoming criminals ourselves.

 

Sorry I missed post earlier.

yes a civilian should be able to determine someone disarmed and unconscious is no longer a threat. 5 seconds is fast but it’s not instantaneous. If someone is lying down and you’ve felt safer enough to not only approach them and take their weapon from them and then the money they took you’ve already determined they aren’t going to be a threat.

 

It's the movies and tv shows. That's what it is I tell ya. They think it's like some action movie of a dude with his last stand just coming back to life and shooting down a main character from a lifeless position after multiple fatal wounds to create suspense and shock.