[Houston Crime] foiled robbery at S. Gessner taqueria

That’s not how our justice system works
Particularly in self defense. Self defense is based on a reasonable person standard. The question the is at the moment someone is unconscious and disarmed do they still represent a threat that it would be reasonable to use lethal force on them?

 

I presume this is sarcastic but to answer the question for the sake of the discussion the only info you have is that the person was committing armed robbery. Other than that no other information about them.

 

So your answer is yes even though he dropped the gun you should still shoot himz

 

I’m thinking as the thug I would try to trick my opponent with a gun then pick up the gun and shoot him when he lowers his weapon

I will assume evil intent always

 

So you would shoot him even though in that moment he’s disarmed?

 

Fine
John Connor
since you made me feel guilty
I would shoot his hands and knee caps
@Xerobull

 

It was sarcasm, but to your question, you cannot shoot an unarmed person. You can hold them at gunpoint until the police arrive. If you are in fear they may try to retrieve their weapon then you hold them there.

 

There’s also that we’re talking about hypothetical situations on a basketball board
But when the event actually happens people’s adrenaline kicks in and nobody really knows what you or I would do given the split second decisions
You might have blasted him with 10 rounds without realizing it

 

I wouldn't fault the victim for shooting the robber in that scenario. An armed robber appearing to surrender doesn't create an immediate legal force field from self defense, nor does turning your back. The victim doesn't know if the armed robber truly intends to surrender. The robber could have a secondary weapon or waiting for the victim to lower his/her guard. Or have backup that the victim is unaware of, like in the case of a Walmart shooting a few years ago.

And as we saw from a Colorado shooting the good Samaritan drew his weapon and held the shooter at gunpoint only to be mistaken for the shooter by police that shot and killed the good Samaritan. So it's not always a good idea to hold the robber at gunpoint while waiting for police to arrive. I don't blame the victim for leaving the scene.

As for this case, is the final shot to the head a little overboard? Maybe. But I feel it's within a citizen's right to defend themselves. It's not acceptable for police to do that but they have proper training and should be held to higher standards (which we all know isn't reality as police get away with far more egregious violations of the law than actual citizens).

 

So basically the answer from a few of you is yes. You can and should shoot someone unarmed based on speculation that they might have another gun might try to pick up their weapon again or you might get shot by an LEO.

 

I'm not trying to make you or anyone else feel guilty but this is about understanding the issue. Again as someone who does teach self-defense this is an issue I'm very involved with. I will stress I don't teach firearms but I've shot firearms and am not making an argumet that firearms should be banned or that firearms aren't useful for self-defense. With any lethal force, whether firearms, knives or things like choking techniques, these have to be used both responsibly and with care.

Just acting out of personal fear isn't in and of itself justification for use of lethal force but a judgment call has to be made regarding whether a threat is reasonable. That is the crux of the discussion here. Even though clearly a threat did exist initially when does that threat end?

 

This thread really shows the decline in basic empathy society is experiencing.

 

Once a criminal threatens you with force, I believe you have the right to defend yourself with more force. The victim should always be at advantage against the aggressor.

I don't have much empathy for violent criminals. It doesn't bother me that it bothers you, either.

 

I don’t think this is a good example of that. 100 years ago if an armed bandit got shot, most people would have applauded.

 

Yep. I keep reading all of these "in the moment" arguments. You are actually giving people the opportunity to think about this and they are saying they would shoot an unarmed person. They aren't saying. "I would like to think I would not shoot the disarmed robber, but in the heat of the moment, I just don't know." That would be an acceptable answer. No one truly knows what they would do in the situation. However, to say "**** it. I would shoot them." shows a lack of morality and humanity.

 

In this case this threat ended and the guy was clearly angry that he was threatened while eating tacos

 

In Houston around gesner
Yes

 

Just curious what happened to this guy...was he arrested or even identified?

 

I heard he said ‘yippie kai yay mfker’