Spokane man CC uses his firearm over this weekend

imported post

From the Spokesman-Review.
BG was armed with a knife, GG had a .22LR pocket pistol. Not my preference but it seemed to slow the BG down enough that or the BG has seen enough movies to think "Oh crap, I got shot time to fall over"

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/may/10/party-host-claims-self-defense-shooting/

A 24-year-old man said he was defending himself and his girlfriend when he shot another man early Sunday morning after an altercation at a northwest Spokane home.

Dieter Meyer said he and his 22-year-old girlfriend were hosting a barbecue of about 15 people at their home in the 2500 block of West Courtland Avenue Saturday night and into the early hours Sunday, when a man unknown to him became belligerent.

About 1 a.m. the man began arguing with others about “nothing important” and pulled a knife with a four- to five-inch blade. Meyer, a college student, asked him to leave.

“I kept telling him to stop just like an officer would,” Meyer said. The man went outside, and was on the street, when he “flipped,” Meyer said.

“He came running back toward the house,” wielding the knife. That’s when Meyer, who carries a concealed weapons permit, said he pulled out his .22-calber pocket pistol and shot the man multiple times.

According Spokane Police, the man was recovering at a local hospital. Major crimes detectives are investigating, but provided no additional information.

Meyer said his neighborhood is usually very quiet, and has held similar gatherings with no problems. He called Sunday’s events “unfortunate.”

imported post

After further thought I am not so sure this is going to end up being the clean shooting we are all hoping it would be, myself included. It took place at a college party, there is bound to be lots of booze there and I am going to bet the shooter did drink that night. The BG left the house, then came back. Well why not just close the door and call the cops? A man with a knife refusing to leave is a code 3 call out anywhere. Also, why did they not call the cops as soon as the man became "belligerent"? I see possible charges and def. see lawsuits coming at the shooter on this one. Meyer should start writing checks now.

imported post

Yeah Vandal, you have a point. However, there are college students who don't drink This would go a hell of a lot smoother for him if he had slammed the door (provided none of the guests were out side), then ran to his bedroom to get the gun and used it after the guy kicked the front door down.

Unfortunately, as everyone who has ever used deadly force knows there is rarely a situation that occurs from which they do not later derive a better solution. The difference between staying sane and becoming a bleeding heart liberal is the realization that it was the best decision made with imperfect information on a truncated time table.

The fact that he had been drinking doesn't become a problem in my mind until it can be proven BARD that it contributed to him making a bad decision. Not everyone loses their judgment when they drink, some just get relaxed, friendly and a bit of a buzz. Drinking doesn't mean one can not protect themselves. Let's just hope he gets someone on his jury who understands these things.

imported post

I am one of those college kids who doesn't drink, anymore.


I agree though that in rapidly changing events and timelines you have to make the best choice with little time and worse intel. We both know that if he even had trace amounts of alcohol in his system that the local prosecutor is going to play it up and hit that point hard. This is going to be interesting to see how everything plays out. Sometimes I have to play devil's advocate to stir things up a bit.

imported post

The guy relies on a ".22 pocket pistol" for protection? Something is better than nothing but come on man.

As for alcohol. I would say the odds of a sober person getting into a fight with a bunch of people at a party over "nothing" at 1 am and pulling a knife is not very good. Possible? Yes... But I would bet big money on alcohol.


Edit: I also find it very amusing at the neighbors in the first article who all were saying they heard gun shots. 1 am people are usually asleep or watching tv and I don't think 3x .22 shots from outside my house and down the street would be enough to even remotely wake me up or be loud enough for me to barely hear over a tv.

imported post

you guys are missing the facts here.

1)guy pulls knife on girl

2)guy threatens girl

3)other guy shoots knife guy in defense of girl

whether or not alcohol was involved is irrelevant, even if the shooter was drunk, he was still justified.....perhaps not the brightest guy in the world but stilljustified. you can throw a million things out that the shooter did wrong orfailed todo but none of them justify threatening the girl......short of saying "my girlfriend has a knife and is going to kill you" could he or should he have called the cops....yeah, and he is a dumbass for not, but it doesnt meen he loses the right to self defense or defense of others.

imported post

Here are my comments.

First, I live a few blocks southwest (maybe 3) of where this happened. This is a residential neighborhood, and a DECENT ONE. There have been robberies, drug houses, vehicle vandalism, etc. There was even an incident last summer where some kids were driving down our street and "drive-by'ed" my neighbor and his buddy (paintball guns) while they were outside looking at the buddies brand new truck, needless to say, those fellas got an ass kicking. "splat right against a new lincoln blackwood" They chased them down for about a mile.

Anyhow, I am grateful that ALMOST EVERY NEIGHBOR WITHIN 5 OR 6 HOUSES OF ME IS A GUNOWNING NEIGHBOR AND WE LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER.

Now, back to the incident. It sounded to me much more like a 9mm or a 40, rather than a .22.

I was awake and just happened to be outside smoking a cigar on the porch and drinking scotch when it happened. There was a very distinct bang, and then a four to five count, and then a quick double tap. My girlfriend had worked late that night, (bartender), and she heard it from inside the house as she was getting into the shower.

You know, "Bang........................................................................................................Bang, bang"

That's how I train to some effect. If my life is in danger, I want to be certain I will stop the threat. So that is how I usually train, but who knows. (I always try to tighten up the timing while maintaining battle sight"

Maybe he shot the guy once, said "oh @#$%, he's still coming!!" and shot twice more.

It was definitely an interesting thing to hear that late at night though. I noticed when I went outside there was a car alarm going off in that general direction. It stopped and then a few minutes later were the shots. My ears recognized the first shot immediately, like a dog hearing somebody open the screen door, my head quickly perked in that direction. My eyes were pretty intensive about screening the street and between the houses in that direction. I distinctly remember thinking "well that was definitely a gunshot, but not a rifle or shotgun", and then there were the 2 consecutive followup shots.

There was also a vehicle that completely hauled ass outta there within a minute or 2. Beefed up truck or mild musclecar type sound.

I do know there is another board member here who lives a few blocks away as well. Did you hear it?

imported post

Vandal wrote:

After further thought I am not so sure this is going to end up being the clean shooting we are all hoping it would be, myself included. It took place at a college party, there is bound to be lots of booze there and I am going to bet the shooter did drink that night. The BG left the house, then came back. Well why not just close the door and call the cops? A man with a knife refusing to leave is a code 3 call out anywhere. Also, why did they not call the cops as soon as the man became "belligerent"? I see possible charges and def. see lawsuits coming at the shooter on this one. Meyer should start writing checks now.

Click to expand...

Well, I am sure the guy with the knife drank then too, and if that makes the shooting the fault of the guy with the gun, then doesn't it make it doubly the fault of the guy with the knife?
Why didn't the guy with the knife not draw his knife in the first place?
The guy with the knife was outside on the street, why didn't he just leave?

I am sorry, but the questions you asked are exactly the kind of BS that stand-your-ground laws are meant to counteract. Trying to place the blame on the victim is BS. The guy who drew a deadly weapon first is in the wrong, and second guessing the guy who drew last, while being charged, and after trying to get the guy to leave his home without drawing (indicating peaceful intent), is complete BS. If it had been my I would have drawn my firearm the second I saw the knife in the attackers hand and I would have given him to the count of three to drop it before I fired.

Besides, a simple argument a/o being drunk is no excuse for pulling a deadly weapon on someone. I should be able to walk up to anyone and say "You are a worthless pig-faced MotherF&@#er.", or any other insult I please, and not have a knife pulled on me. An argument, being drunk, someone insulting you or a loved one, etc., is NEVER a good excuse for pulling a deadly weapon. People should have SELF RESTRAINT. I do, it isn't hard, why can't everyone else? You can walk up to me, insult the fark out of me and my family, and I will just laugh at you and be on my way. Words mean nothing to me, and anybody who truly respects themself will never let some losers words cause them to commit a crime or harm anyone. The only thing that pulling a knife over a stupid argument proves is that you are a complete waste of space.

As for your specific questions:

If he locked the door when the guy went outside his and his parties property (cars) would likely have been damaged. He has a LEGAL RIGHT to protect his property, including observing a belligerent MWAK to make sure that nothing is damaged.

He might not have called the cops right away because he might have believed the incident would end without any real damage. He may also have believed someone else was already calling them, and for all we know someone had.

It is kind of irrelevant anyway because once the MWAK started running at him in a threatening manner it (almost definitely) became a good shoot. The guy with the knife COULD have left, he choose not to and attacked instead. I am sorry he got shot, but you can't blame a man on his own property for defending himself against someone running at him with a knife.

imported post

arentol wrote:


I believe the shooting was justified in the manner that he shot a man that was charging at him with a knife.

But I question the actions that led up to the incident.

I believe that more than likely both parties were drinking.

And more importantly I believe something was said or done in order to make the man that was already in the street turn and charge back. More than likely, two slightly drunk people, neither wanting to be viewed as backing down or weaker and someone yelled something at the guy even after he was out in the street.

The correct action after a man with a knife that was threatening you goes outside with a knife is to call the police.

Who cares if he damages your cars, they know who he was from the person who brought him along and could get restitutions for that. A few scratches on a car or some popped tires is not worth having to kill someone over. And if you think shooting someone over protecting a vehicle out on the street is a good choice, than I question your logic and reasons for owning a firearm.

imported post

David.Car wrote:

arentol wrote:


I believe the shooting was justified in the manner that he shot a man that was charging at him with a knife.

But I question the actions that led up to the incident.

I believe that more than likely both parties were drinking.

And more importantly I believe something was said or done in order to make the man that was already in the street turn and charge back. More than likely, two slightly drunk people, neither wanting to be viewed as backing down or weaker and someone yelled something at the guy even after he was out in the street.

The correct action after a man with a knife that was threatening you goes outside with a knife is to call the police.

Who cares if he damages your cars, they know who he was from the person who brought him along and could get restitutions for that. A few scratches on a car or some popped tires is not worth having to kill someone over. And if you think shooting someone over protecting a vehicle out on the street is a good choice, than I question your logic and reasons for owning a firearm.

Click to expand...

Not sure what you meant to quote, but I will address what you wrote...

Drinking does not excuse pulling a knife in the first place. Pretty much everything bad that happens is the knife wielders fault at that point.

You may believe what you want, but we don't know why he came back. It could be because he forgot his keys inside (since a car alarm went off right before the shooting). Or he might have attacked a car, setting off the alarm, got justifiably yelled out from the house, and then ran back with the knife out. It could be the GIRL or some other unarmed party attendee yelled at him causing him to run back. If someone yelled but it wasn't the shooter then your point is moot. It could also be as you described, but as I said, if getting yelled at or cursed causes you to attack someone with a knife then it is your own damn problem if the person that yelled at you has a gun.

I care if he damages my car, though I wouldn't shoot someone over it. I would damn sure yell at them though, and I would be prepared to fire at them if they decided attacking me was a good response. But then, as I said, if someone pulled a knife in my home they would not walk away with that knife, and they would be lucky to walk away at all. The homeowner showed a RIDICULOUS amount of restraint by not pulling a gun right away. Someone in a belligerent mood and a knife out is a DEADLY THREAT and should be treated as such until disarmed or incapacitated.

Also, as long as we are making random suppositions, for all we know the backyard was accessible to the knife wielder and people were back there enjoying the party. It was a BBQ after all. Locking the front door wouldn't solve that problem, and who knows how long it would take to get everyone inside and the back door locked. For all the shooter knew the knife wielder had a gun in his car or would be willing to break in through a glass door or window with a tire-iron. I would say keeping an eye on him until he left the area is a much better idea than closing and locking the door and waiting 20 minutes for the police to show up.

As you see, we don't have NEARLY enough information to make a call on all this, and making random suppositions is just plain STUPID. Without more information we are just spitting into the wind, so what is the point?

imported post

arentol wrote:

David.Car wrote:Not sure what you meant to quote, but I will address what you wrote...

Drinking does not excuse pulling a knife in the first place. Pretty much everything bad that happens is the knife wielders fault at that point.

You may believe what you want, but we don't know why he came back. It could be because he forgot his keys inside (since a car alarm went off right before the shooting). Or he might have attacked a car, setting off the alarm, got justifiably yelled out from the house, and then ran back with the knife out. It could be the GIRL or some other unarmed party attendee yelled at him causing him to run back. If someone yelled but it wasn't the shooter then your point is moot. It could also be as you described, but as I said, if getting yelled at or cursed causes you to attack someone with a knife then it is your own damn problem if the person that yelled at you has a gun.

I care if he damages my car, though I wouldn't shoot someone over it. I would damn sure yell at them though, and I would be prepared to fire at them if they decided attacking me was a good response. But then, as I said, if someone pulled a knife in my home they would not walk away with that knife, and they would be lucky to walk away at all. The homeowner showed a RIDICULOUS amount of restraint by not pulling a gun right away. Someone in a belligerent mood and a knife out is a DEADLY THREAT and should be treated as such until disarmed or incapacitated.

Also, as long as we are making random suppositions, for all we know the backyard was accessible to the knife wielder and people were back there enjoying the party. It was a BBQ after all. Locking the front door wouldn't solve that problem, and who knows how long it would take to get everyone inside and the back door locked. For all the shooter knew the knife wielder had a gun in his car or would be willing to break in through a glass door or window with a tire-iron. I would say keeping an eye on him until he left the area is a much better idea than closing and locking the door and waiting 20 minutes for the police to show up.

As you see, we don't have NEARLY enough information to make a call on all this, and making random suppositions is just plain STUPID. Without more information we are just spitting into the wind, so what is the point?

Click to expand...

Dem right! I know some of it is just playing devil's advocate, but some of the responses on this & threads like it seem to be not only looking for but going to great lengths to make up reasons to blame the true victim (that is, the person who had to use their weapon). Like someone else said, it's the easiest thing in the world for us to sit here after the fact with a fraction of the truth and play "Woulda shoulda coulda" when we weren't in the other guys shoes.

imported post

David.Car wrote:

Edit: I also find it very amusing at the neighbors in the first article who all were saying they heard gun shots. 1 am people are usually asleep or watching tv and I don't think 3x .22 shots from outside my house and down the street would be enough to even remotely wake me up or be loud enough for me to barely hear over a tv.

Click to expand...

Yeah the report makes it sound like the neighborhood turned into downtown Fallujah in Apr 04...

imported post

It was rather surreal....I BBQ'ed with the neighbor two houses down and he heard it too. He said he thought it sounded like a 9mm too. It was damn loud for being a few blocks away.

imported post

surfj9009 wrote:

It was rather surreal....I BBQ'ed with the neighbor two houses down and he heard it too. He said he thought it sounded like a 9mm too. It was damn loud for being a few blocks away.

Click to expand...

Maybe the wind carried it? Who knows...I'm done taking stabs at something I know nothing about

imported post

.22s are pretty loud without hearing protection and I think sound somewhat similar to 9mm when using hearing protection shooting a 9mm (or from a distance). At least the guy had a 22 on him that's the beauty of those pocket guns you can carry comfortably anywhere concealed (and lets face it the .22 is still a very lethal round).

imported post

FunkTrooper wrote:

.22s are pretty loud without hearing protection and I think sound somewhat similar to 9mm when using hearing protection shooting a 9mm (or from a distance). At least the guy had a 22 on him that's the beauty of those pocket guns you can carry comfortably anywhere concealed (and lets face it the .22 is still a very lethal round).

Click to expand...

.22 LR is supersonic. The crack from the report of the bullet breaking the soun barrier is just as loud as ANY other supersonic round. It's just the muzzle blast (detonation of air outside the muzzle) that varies with caliber and powder charge.

It makes sense to me.

As for self-defense, a.22 LR to the head is almost always fatal. I'm not confident I can make a well-placed headshot in a stressful situation, so I carry a .45 instead.

imported post

The Spokane CountyDA should know better than to bring charges against Dieter Meyer.

Here's why:

Jay Olsen resigns from Spokane Police Department

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/apr/13/jay-olsen-resigns-spokane-police-department/

A Spokane jury acquitted Olsen of first-degree assault and reckless endangerment for shooting Pete, triggering a public outcry over the exclusion of some evidence from jurors. Olsen claimed he’d caught Pete trying to steal his truck. Pete, who was acquitted of auto theft charges during a trial last year, claimed he simply had asked Olsen for a ride home on a cold winter night. Jurors in the Olsen case never were told that Pete had been acquitted.

Olsen’s attorney, Rob Cossey, had predicted that his client was unlikely to get his job back because he “committed significant violations of department policy,” the night he shot Pete, including getting drunk while carrying a concealed weapon in a bar and failing to call for backup while chasing Pete.

Click to expand...

The precedent is this:

Shoot a man in the head in the streets of Spokane, while under the influence of alcohol, and be acquitted of all criminal wrongdoing. Self-defense? Not a prerequisite for attempted lethal force, it would seem.

I think that's a clear precedent for all defense attorneys to latch on to, don't you?

imported post

I am the man who did the shooting and to clear the air for EVERYONE it was a BBQ. The man drank some but was not intoxicated. I was not intoxicated. I had never met him as he showed up with a buddy's sister. He pulled the knife out after an argument with my girlfriend over music and was asked to leave. While leaving he kept repeating he was going to gut somebody. After he exited the door my small dog ran out as well. As my girlfriend went out on the front porch to retrieve our dog since she was scared he would hurt the dog the man who had reached the street turned around, saw her and ran back to the house at her. The guests who were in the house were coming outside to see what the commotion was about, thus blocking the way into the house. With repeated warnings given the man still charged the house toward my girlfriend with knife drawn. I waited until he was 2 feet from her (who was a foot from the front door with me trying to pull her inside past everyone) to FINALLY fire on him. In my statement the words "probably saved a life" meant just that. I know her life was in danger and my actions may have saved her life or others had he gone off on someone else. I don't think anyone would argue that a man who has just pulled out a knife, had a clear exit to leave but willingly chose to run back to the house with knife drawn after reaching the street had intentions to do harm. I am happy that I had a .22. A bigger caliber was not needed because it did it's job, it stopped the oncoming attack. The point of self defense is to do just that, prevent harm not to kill the attacker. I don't believe talking to the media was bad at all because all the police gave them was "shooting at college party" which is completely off base and imagine the posts that would be on here had that story aired with no mention of a knife or self defense. The knife was found as the guy tossed it into a neighbors truckbed. It was a locking blade knife that had a 5 inch blade.

imported post

Thanks for your input, but unless you are 100% sure that you are not going to be involved in a civil or criminal case I would delete everything you just posted unless a lawyer cleared you to post it. It could really come back to bite you in the a$$ in court.