The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Paraguy on January 04, 2012, 09:28:56 AM
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My heart goes out to this woman on so many levels. So glad she will be around for her child thanks to her courage and being prepared.
A young Oklahoma mother shot and killed an intruder to protect her 3-month-old baby on New Year's Eve, less than a week after the baby's father died of cancer.
Sarah McKinley says that a week earlier a man named Justin Martin dropped by on the day of her husband's funeral, claiming that he was a neighbor who wanted to say hello. The 18-year-old Oklahoma City area woman did not let him into her home that day.
On New Year's Eve Martin returned with another man, Dustin Stewart, and this time was armed with a 12-inch hunting knife. The two soon began trying to break into McKinley's home.
As one of the men was going from door to door outside her home trying to gain entry, McKinley called 911 and grabbed her 12-gauge shotgun.
McKinley told ABC News Oklahoma City affiliate KOCO that she quickly got her 12 gauge, went into her bedroom and got a pistol, put the bottle in the baby's mouth and called 911.
"I've got two guns in my hand -- is it okay to shoot him if he comes in this door?" the young mother asked the 911 dispatcher. "I'm here by myself with my infant baby, can I please get a dispatcher out here immediately?"
The 911 dispatcher confirmed with McKinley that the doors to her home were locked as she asked again if it was okay to shoot the intruder if he were to come through her door.
"I can't tell you that you can do that but you do what you have to do to protect your baby," the dispatcher told her. McKinley was on the phone with 911 for a total of 21 minutes.
When Martin kicked in the door and came after her with the knife, the teen mom shot and killed the 24-year-old. Police are calling the shooting justified.
"You're allowed to shoot an unauthorized person that is in your home. The law provides you the remedy, and sanctions the use of deadly force," Det. Dan Huff of the Blanchard police said.
Stewart soon turned himself in to police.
McKinley said that she was at home alone with her newborn that night because her husband just died of cancer on Christmas Day.
"I wouldn't have done it, but it was my son," McKinley told ABC News Oklahoma City affiliate KOCO. "It's not an easy decision to make, but it was either going to be him or my son. And it wasn't going to be my son. There's nothing more dangerous than a woman with a child."
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"McKinley said that she was at home alone with her newborn that night because her husband just died of cancer on Christmas Day. "
What an absolutely terrible way to start the year for this poor girl.
At least she and her son are uninjured.
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McKinley was on the phone with 911 for a total of 21 minutes.
That's just insane. The article said she was from the Oklahoma City area but not necessarily in the city. I can kind of understand it taking a deputy a while to transverse a large rural county but anywhere near a major metropolitan area this is inexcusable.
I'm glad she had the sand to do what she needed to do.
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I'm glad she had the sand to do what she needed to do.
Amen and God bless her.
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Hi;
I did read this story first on the AOL Huffington Post section. All of the replies to the story were positive in the wording. That suprised me from the Huffington people.
21 minutes on the phone. I live near a large city in PA. In my township we rely upon the Keystone Kops. Their "barracks" is @ 20 miles from me. IF they respond immediately - it takes them @ 1/2 hour to get here IF they know the location. The last time I called them the guy could not find my house IN THE DAYLIGHT and Left the area. I had to call them back and darn near beg the guy to come back.
And by the way; according to the Keystone Kop, Defiant Tresspassing is NOT against the law !
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20 minutes and still no LEO? Reminds me of the joke about the old man and burglars in his shed, called 911 and told them it'd be 30 minutes to an hour. Called back and said don't worry about it I shot them both, LEOs were there in 5 minutes to find the burglars alive and well. "I though you said you shot them?" Old man replied, "I thought it'd take you 30 minutes to a hour to get here?"
A sherrif's deputy got a call this week from a remote section of the county when a guy teaching his girlfriend how to drive in the snow found himself in the ditch. Took the deputy 2 hours to get to them with lights going...
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It's sad that it took that long to get help there but it is good that she was still on the line with the operator because her call was being recorded! Helps the Prosecutor make an informed (CORRECT) decision.
Richard
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Hi;
I did read this story first on the AOL Huffington Post section. All of the replies to the story were positive in the wording. That suprised me from the Huffington people.
21 minutes on the phone. I live near a large city in PA. In my township we rely upon the Keystone Kops. Their "barracks" is @ 20 miles from me. IF they respond immediately - it takes them @ 1/2 hour to get here IF they know the location. The last time I called them the guy could not find my house IN THE DAYLIGHT and Left the area. I had to call them back and darn near beg the guy to come back.
And by the way; according to the Keystone Kop, Defiant Tresspassing is NOT against the law !
different states, different rules. But when the defiant one is brandishing a weapon it is a lot more than trespassing.
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Here's a good video (considering the source) on it.
http://news.yahoo.com/mom-calls-9-1-1-permission-shoot-intruders-201305024.html (http://news.yahoo.com/mom-calls-9-1-1-permission-shoot-intruders-201305024.html)
My question: What the hell was the dog doing during this time?
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20+ minutes = When seconds count the police are only
minutes hours away.
I don't care how far away a deputy was, in a situation like this there are many agencies than can jump in and assist. You can't tell me that there were no law enforcement officers in that area that could not have made it to her quicker.
If this had happened at our house we would have had city cops on our yard in less than ten minutes - We live 7.5 from one PD office and 12.5 from another. Our Sheriff makes sure that all departments work together, and in a situation like this we would have had both PD's on the place even if the deputy had been at the end of the driveway when it happened. I think the Sheriff of this Oklahoma county needs to examine his response plans.
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She didn't mess around...12g...."The" uber choice of Home Defense,...Lou Dobbs radio show, quoted she had a pistol as back up also, after she tucked the baby in the upstairs bedroom...she did what had to be done.
My heart goes out to her, and her 3 month old..
Mama Bear, was not screwing around... Please fwd. to the Brady Bunch, because THANK GOD SHE HAD A FIREARM!!!!
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She has my vote for Mother of the Year!
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Sarah McKinley is only 18 years old... very young and amazingly strong. She and her child will be in my prayers.
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Her husband and father of her child died just a week ago.
I have to think that her son helped her bear it because he was a living part of her husband along with being part of herself.
She was protecting her son and her strongest link to her deceased husband.
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I was thinking about this on the drive home from work today. At 18 years-old she has lost a husband, defended herself, her child, taken another human's life and learned you can't rely on law enforcement for your safety-she has a HUGE head start on her peers! Not that many would change places with her.
If it don't kill ya, it just makes you stronger. I just hope she doesn't succumb to the nanny-state temptations and waste the costly lessons she has learned.
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I was thinking about this on the drive home from work today. At 18 years-old she has lost a husband, defended herself, her child, taken another human's life and learned you can't rely on law enforcement for your safety-she has a HUGE head start on her peers! Not that many would change places with her.
If it don't kill ya, it just makes you stronger. I just hope she doesn't succumb to the nanny-state temptations and waste the costly lessons she has learned.
BS, some times it just f*cks you up really badly.
She has avoided that part, so far.
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BS, some times it just f*cks you up really badly.
She has avoided that part, so far.
Very true. She may want to either get some counseling or some training. I read somewhere that a major cause of PTSD was the lack of planning ahead of time (wife has a childhood friend, LEO, that shot & killed a guy a few years ago and he's still struggling with the what if's) , too late for that, but it would seem that some training and planning afterword would be helpful.
I dunno, just wish I could wave my magic wand and make it better for her.
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I saw this on the news today. I am glad that it turned out the way it did. I understand that her asking the operator if she could shoot him is probably a good practice legally, but it frustrates me that our culture is such that she felt the need to ask someone if she could defend herself. How absurd is that?
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Very true. She may want to either get some counseling or some training. I read somewhere that a major cause of PTSD was the lack of planning ahead of time (wife has a childhood friend, LEO, that shot & killed a guy a few years ago and he's still struggling with the what if's) , too late for that, but it would seem that some training and planning afterword would be helpful.
I dunno, just wish I could wave my magic wand and make it better for her.
I've said this in another thread. The time to evaluate your response to a threat that might require lethal force and result in your killing someone needs to be done well in advance of the event.....both for your improved response to the threat and for your well being afterwards.
This woman seems to have made her choices ahead of time...maybe only a few minutes ahead of time, but she acted as if she had a it all well planned out....she did have quite a while for it before she needed to take action.
She put her baby in as safe a place as she could, locked in a room with her, prepared herself with a shotgun and a pistol both. That shows some thought about backup plans and acknowledgement that it might be a long fight. She called 911....no doubt to get any police support that might arrive...which it did not...but also to check on her legal rights in the situation...sure sounds like she was into evaluating all aspects of this.
The 911 operator didn't directly tell her to shoot, instead the operator said "I cannot advise you to shoot, but do do what ever you need to do to protect your baby.
That amount of moral, if not legal, support should go a long way towards helping her deal with the aftermath.
I think she is one strong lady and will do ok.
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Here is the official word that no legal action will be taken against her, it was clearly self-defense.
BLANCHARD, Okla. (AP) — Authorities don't plan to file charges against an Oklahoma woman who fatally shot a New Year's Eve intruder at her house while she had a 911 dispatcher on the phone, but the intruder's alleged accomplice has been charged in the death.
A 911 tape released to Oklahoma City media outlets Wednesday reveals that 18-year-old Sarah McKinley asked a Grady County dispatcher for permission to shoot the intruder. McKinley's 3-month-old son was with her when she shot Justin Shane Martin, 24, at her Blanchard mobile home.
"I've got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in this door?" McKinley asked the dispatcher.
"Well, you have to do whatever you can do to protect yourself," the dispatcher is heard telling McKinley. "I can't tell you that you can do that, but you have to do what you have to do to protect your baby."
Oklahoma law allows the use of deadly force against intruders, and prosecutors said McKinley clearly acted in self-defense. According to court documents, Martin was holding a knife when he died.
"Our initial review of the case doesn't indicate she violated the law in any way," Assistant District Attorney James Walters told The Oklahoman newspaper.
However, prosecutors have charged his alleged accomplice, 29-year-old Dustin Louis Stewart, with first-degree murder. According to authorities, Stewart was with Martin but ran away from McKinley's home after hearing the gunshots.
"When you're engaged in a crime such as first-degree burglary and a death results from the events of that crime, you're subject to prosecution for it," Walters said.
Stewart was arraigned Wednesday and was being held in the Grady County jail. A bond hearing was set for Thursday. His attorney, Stephen Buzin, did not immediately respond to a message left at his office Wednesday night.
According to court documents, Martin and Stewart might have been looking for prescription drugs. McKinley said it took the men about 20 minutes to get through her door, which she had barricaded with a couch.
She said her husband had died about a week earlier — on Christmas Day — after being hospitalized with complications from lung cancer earlier that month.
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A tough lady....first I heard she barricaded the door.....just another step she took in doing it right...
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:) WAY TO GO, YOUNG LADY!!! TOOK OUT THE TRASH & SAVED US A BUNCH OF $$$ !!! VERY TOUGH GIRL. MAKES ME PROUD TO BE AN OKIE :)
YA'LL SHOULD BRING HER ON DOWNRANGE TV & RADIO TO BE AN EXAMPLE FOR ALL THE LADIES STILL ON THE FENCE
IN REGARDS TO SELF-DEFENSE!! 8) 8)