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Spokane man CC uses his firearm over this weekend

David.Car

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Hopefully more info will come soon. But no one died.

http://www.kxly.com/global/story.asp?s=10337189

"

SPOKANE -- An overnight shooting lands one man in the hospital with multiple gun shot wounds and a normally quiet neighborhood with many unanswered questions.

Police say a Saturday night house party in the 2500 block of W. Courtland got a little heated when one of the party's patrons got in a yelling match with the home's owner and his girlfriend.

Dieter Meyer says he was hosting a barbecue for friends Saturday night when things got out of control.

"One of the people invited a stranger, someone who had never been to the house before," said Meyer.

According to Meyer, the stranger became belligerent, pulled out a knife and threatened Meyer's girlfriend on the front steps of his home. Meyer said he was frightened for both his and his girlfriend's welfare.

Meyer, who holds a concealed weapons permit and always carries his gun, grabbed it and fired several shots at the man.

"I heard three loud bangs," said neighbor Neal Drury. "I ran and looked out the window."

Nearly every house on the block heard the shots.

"It's kind of scary because we live in a quiet, nice neighborhood," said Drury.

Meyer says he's sorry he disrupted the neighborhood, but he's glad he had a gun to defend himself.

"It was self defense," said Meyer. "It probably saved someone's life, it could have very well saved someone's life."

Spokane Police Major Crimes Unit is still investigating the shooting. Police have still not released the name of the victim, they say he is stable condition at a local hospital. "
 

j2l3

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David.Car wrote:
"It was self defense," said Meyer. "It probably saved someone's life, it could have very well saved someone's life."



This line bothers me. IF he really said this, then how can we be sure it was a necessary shoot. If he isn't sure if it saved a life, then was he justified?

Don't get me wrong, probably another moron off the streets for a while because of this, but we have to be sure we are saving a life when we pull the trigger.


I'll be interested in reading more on this as it comes out.
 

heresolong

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j2l3 wrote:
David.Car wrote:
"It was self defense," said Meyer. "It probably saved someone's life, it could have very well saved someone's life."



This line bothers me. IF he really said this, then how can we be sure it was a necessary shoot. If he isn't sure if it saved a life, then was he justified?

Don't get me wrong, probably another moron off the streets for a while because of this, but we have to be sure we are saving a life when we pull the trigger.
OTOH, you have no idea whether the girlfriend would have actually died from this attack. Maybe the guy would have run away, maybe he would have stabbed her but non-fatally. You can never know if you are actually saving a life, but you can weigh the probabilities. If someone is threatening my girlfriend with a knife, I am going to shoot him. I think he was absolutely justified and you are parsing his words way to carefully.
 

DrewGunner

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j2l3 wrote:
David.Car wrote:
"It was self defense," said Meyer. "It probably saved someone's life, it could have very well saved someone's life."



This line bothers me. IF he really said this, then how can we be sure it was a necessary shoot. If he isn't sure if it saved a life, then was he justified?

Don't get me wrong, probably another moron off the streets for a while because of this, but we have to be sure we are saving a life when we pull the trigger.


I'll be interested in reading more on this as it comes out.
x2.

If it was self defense then it DID savesomeones life.

Probably or could have is a poor choice of words.
 

j2l3

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heresolong wrote:
j2l3 wrote:
David.Car wrote:
"It was self defense," said Meyer. "It probably saved someone's life, it could have very well saved someone's life."



This line bothers me. IF he really said this, then how can we be sure it was a necessary shoot. If he isn't sure if it saved a life, then was he justified?

Don't get me wrong, probably another moron off the streets for a while because of this, but we have to be sure we are saving a life when we pull the trigger.
OTOH, you have no idea whether the girlfriend would have actually died from this attack. Maybe the guy would have run away, maybe he would have stabbed her but non-fatally. You can never know if you are actually saving a life, but you can weigh the probabilities. If someone is threatening my girlfriend with a knife, I am going to shoot him. I think he was absolutely justified and you are parsing his words way to carefully.
No argument there. My point is, if he continues to use the words "probably" and "could have", the prosecutor is going to go after that and he will have a really hard time defending it. We have to be sure, and we have to come across to the public as being sure.
 

Metalhead47

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j2l3 wrote:
heresolong wrote:
j2l3 wrote:
David.Car wrote:
"It was self defense," said Meyer. "It probably saved someone's life, it could have very well saved someone's life."



This line bothers me. IF he really said this, then how can we be sure it was a necessary shoot. If he isn't sure if it saved a life, then was he justified?

Don't get me wrong, probably another moron off the streets for a while because of this, but we have to be sure we are saving a life when we pull the trigger.
OTOH, you have no idea whether the girlfriend would have actually died from this attack. Maybe the guy would have run away, maybe he would have stabbed her but non-fatally. You can never know if you are actually saving a life, but you can weigh the probabilities. If someone is threatening my girlfriend with a knife, I am going to shoot him. I think he was absolutely justified and you are parsing his words way to carefully.
No argument there. My point is, if he continues to use the words "probably" and "could have", the prosecutor is going to go after that and he will have a really hard time defending it. We have to be sure, and we have to come across to the public as being sure.
My friend, this guy just SHOT someone who was threatening a loved one (I'm assuming at least:quirky) with a deadly weapon! Kindly pardon him if he's slightly stressed out and not quite thinking 100% when the adrenaline's just worn off and some pushy anti-gun reporter is harassing him for a quote.

Maybe you're the type who can justifiably use deadly force to protect yourself or a loved one and then rattle off a statesman's speech about the incident to the press & police. If you are, then good on you & we need more like you.

Personally, if I ever had to use my gun in defense of someone, I'd be pretty damn freaked out right after.
 

j2l3

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I have no argument with him. Nor with you, I am at a loss as to why you are taking my comments so personally.

He is calm enough to talk to the press, he needs to be careful. That's all I'm saying. The prosecutor WILL use anything he says. THEY will not care what his state of mind was when he said it.

My comments are not intended as a slam on him or anyone else. They are to help us all learn from the situation.
 

Charles Paul Lincoln

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Speaking to the press was a mistake. The most he should have said was "it was self defense." Meyer has left himself wide open to prosecution and a civil lawsuit with his comment. Lesson learned -- shut up and let your lawyer do the talking.

That said, to me it is a good shoot if the assailant was within 21 feet and brandishing a knife. I might have drawn and ordered him to drop the knife, but as far as the assailant being a lethal threat, if it went down as reported it sounds like a good SD shoot.

Charles
 

Weave

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Seems to me that the police didnt feel it was a bad shoot or they would have made an immediate arrest. I suspect the prosecuter will not charge as losing a self defense case costs the state alot of money...of course I concede that many self defense "injustices" have occurred. I hope all the facts will reveal it was self defense.
 

royAG46

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Charles Paul Lincoln wrote:
Speaking to the press was a mistake. The most he should have said was "it was self defense." Meyer has left himself wide open to prosecution and a civil lawsuit with his comment. Lesson learned -- shut up and let your lawyer do the talking.

That said, to me it is a good shoot if the assailant was within 21 feet and brandishing a knife. I might have drawn and ordered him to drop the knife, but as far as the assailant being a lethal threat, if it went down as reported it sounds like a good SD shoot.

Charles
+1 Let the 5th Amendment do the talking. The cops aren't trying to make you look innocent, that's your lawyer's job...
 

Vandal

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Like was preached to me in the military, never, ever talk to the press. They will take your words and use them against you for sales and ratings.
 

sempercarry

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I will give you some definitions so you can see that this was 100% justified

Temper and intent- The attitude and objectives of an individual displayed by his/her actions and equipment (the guy had a knife and was threatening to use it...ie Deadly force)

Deadly Force-That force which a person uses with the purpose of causing death or serious bodily harm, or which a reasonable and prudent person would consider likely to creat a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily harm. (note that bodily harm and deadly force are held to be one and the same)

Bodily Harm- Injuries which have a strong potential to be life threatening. These injuries may result in the permanent loss of use of an organ or limb including: fractured or dislocated bones, deep cuts, torn members of the body and serious damage to internal or sensory organs.

Justifications for the application of deadly force-

1)Extreme necessity

2)As a last resort

3)When all lesser means have failed or cannot be reasonably employed

You will see that inthis instance almost every thing I just listed is met thus....justifying the shooting
 

HankT

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j2l3 wrote:
.

My point is, if he continues to use the words "probably" and "could have", the prosecutor is going to go after that and he will have a really hard time defending it. We have to be sure, and we have to come across to the public as being sure.

As a general principle, I agree wholeheartedly.

Too many missing details to tell whether it was a good shooting or a bad one.

For one thing, I wonder how much alcohol was involved for the shooter, the shootee and the girlfriend?
 

David.Car

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HankT wrote:
Too many missing details to tell whether it was a good shooting or a bad one.

For one thing, I wonder how much alcohol was involved for the shooter, the shootee and the girlfriend?
Agreed. The alcohol question was the first in my mind. Another question to me is if this was a stranger, that he didn't know, why did he allow him to stay at the gathering to the point that he was able to drink himself to that level?

There are always a lot of questions after any of these stories, many of them will never be answered publicly. So we can only do ourMonday morning quarterbacking with what we know.

We know that an individual unknown to the home owner became intoxicated.

We know he became beligerent. We don't know why.

We know he was armed with some sort of knive. We don't know what kind.

We are told he threatened the girlfriends life. From what distance or how we don't know.

From what we do know and are told it sounds like a legitimate shoot.
 

SpringerXDacp

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David.Car wrote:
HankT wrote:
Too many missing details to tell whether it was a good shooting or a bad one.

For one thing, I wonder how much alcohol was involved for the shooter, the shootee and the girlfriend?
Agreed. The alcohol question was the first in my mind. Another question to me is if this was a stranger, that he didn't know, why did he allow him to stay at the gathering to the point that he was able to drink himself to that level?

There are always a lot of questions after any of these stories, many of them will never be answered publicly. So we can only do ourMonday morning quarterbacking with what we know.

We know that an individual unknown to the home owner became intoxicated.

We know he became beligerent. We don't know why.

We know he was armed with some sort of knive. We don't know what kind.

We are told he threatened the girlfriends life. From what distance or how we don't know.

From what we do know and are told it sounds like a legitimate shoot.

Where in the article did it mention that the subject with the knife was intoxicated, or for that matter, even consuming alcohol? The article only mentions the subject became "belligerent."

More likely than not, you're probably correct.
 

David.Car

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SpringerXDacp wrote:
Where in the article did it mention that the subject with the knife was intoxicated, or for that matter, even consuming alcohol? The article only mentions the subject became "belligerent."

More likely than not, you're probably correct.
Sorry, getting my news sources crossed. The drunk statement came from a coworker who actually told me of the story after watching it on the news the night before. No confirmation on the drunk part.
 
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