The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Defense and Tactics => Topic started by: long762range on September 15, 2009, 08:18:17 PM
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Old School self Defense Tactics.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-15-samurai-sword-death_N.htm?csp=34
College student with sword kills burglary suspect
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a suspected burglar in a garage behind his off-campus home early Tuesday, hours after someone broke in and stole electronics.
Some shocked neighbors said they heard bloodcurdling screams in an area just blocks from the university. Police held the student, a junior chemistry major who turns 21 on Sunday, for several hours, but he was not charged with any crimes Tuesday, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
Around 1:20 a.m., the student heard noises behind the home and noticed a door to the garage was open, Guglielmi said. He grabbed the sword and confronted the intruder — identified by police as Donald D. Rice, 49, a habitual offender who had just been released from jail.
Rice was crouching beneath a counter, police said. The student asked him what he was doing and threatened to call police.
"When he said that, the suspect lunged at him, kind of forced the kid against the wall, and he struck him with the sword," Guglielmi said.
Rice's left hand was nearly severed — Guglielmi described it as "hanging on by a thread" — and he suffered a severe cut to the upper body. He died at the scene.
On Monday, two laptops and a Sony PlayStation were stolen from the student's home, which he shares with three other students, but police were not sure whether Rice was responsible, Guglielmi said.
There was a pool of blood Tuesday morning in the brick courtyard between the back porch of the home and the garage. The courtyard was strewn with debris, including what looked like broken glass.
Guglielmi did not know why the student kept a sword. He said he may have had some martial arts training, but was not an expert.
Rice's criminal history includes more than two dozen arrests for burglary, breaking and entering and auto theft. According to court records, he was charged in 2007 after he pulled a gun on a police officer, though prosecutors placed those charges on hold because the officer was on military leave.
Rice was convicted in 2008 of unauthorized removal of property and sentenced to 18 months. He was released Saturday from the Baltimore County Detention Center.
Several nearby residents said the community has experienced a rash of petty crimes in recent months, including home, garage and vehicle break-ins. Many homes have bars on windows and stickers advertising alarm systems.
The diverse neighborhood includes a mix of students, professors and families, said Hughes, who lives with his wife and young children and works for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which is on another campus across town.
"There seems to be a noticeable increase in crime in the neighborhood," Hughes said. "I am concerned for my family's safety."
Kenny Eaton, 20, a junior political science major at Hopkins who lives nearby, said there was some tension between students and lower-income residents of nearby communities. The private Johns Hopkins is known for its health and science research and has about 4,600 undergraduates on its main campus.
"You take kids who are paying $50,000 a year (in tuition) and then put them out in a very dangerous city environment, it's almost like a clash of civilizations," he said.
Guglielmi said police would consult with prosecutors about whether to file charges against the student. As in most U.S. states, self-defense in Maryland is defined by common law rather than by statute. People who confront intruders inside their homes have a greater degree of latitude to use force, and prosecutors consider whether to file charges in such incidents on a case-by-case basis.
"One can genuinely and reasonably be in fear of one's own safety even if the burglar is unarmed," said Andrew D. Levy, a Baltimore defense attorney and an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. "But nonetheless, it would be something that a good prosecutor would consider."
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Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Well, It's a *Form* of Surgery:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_13-2009_09_19.shtml#1253049435
"Johns Hopkins Med Student Kills Thief With Samurai Sword," reports
[1]NBC Washington:
[T]he student said that he heard a commotion in the house and went
downstairs with the samurai sword. The student said he told the man
to leave, but the suspected burglar lunged at him instead. That's
when, according to [a police spokesman's account of the student's
statement], the student defended himself, cutting off the man's
hand and causing a severe laceration to the man's upper body.
A student asked me whether the student would be criminally or civilly
liable. My quick look suggests that in Maryland, one may only use
deadly force -- even in oneâs home --â if one reasonably believes that
one is in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. (That's
the rule for both the criminal law self-defense defense and the tort
law defense.) If the student is accurately reporting that the burglar
lunged at him, while the student was holding a sword, that might be
enough to reasonably fear imminent danger of serious bodily injury. If
someone attacked me when I was visibly armed with a deadly weapon, I
think I could reasonably believe that he must be very dangerous
himself. To be sure, I wouldn't know it with complete certainty, but
the law only requires reasonably belief.
On the other hand, if the prosecutor concludes that the student didnât
reasonably fear death or serious bodily injury, but feared only slight
injury or loss of property, then the prosecutor might well charge the
student with murder or manslaughter, and if a jury agrees then it
might convict. (The crime might be manslaughter, even if the student
didn't reasonably fear death or serious bodily injury, either if the
student was so angered by the lunge that he acted under provocation of
the sort that might lead a reasonable person to kill, or if the
student sincerely but unreasonably believed that he was in danger of
death or serious bodily injury.)
In some states, special statutes provide that one may categorically
use deadly force against unlawful intruders, without having the
prosecutor and jury decide whether one actually feared serious bodily
injury. But I believe Maryland is not one of those states.
References
1. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Hopkins-Student-Stops-Kills-Thief-With-Samurai-Sword-59329902.html
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He cut the hand off of the thief--justice was served.
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a sword? during my teens i kept my dads old beater sawn off shotgun under my bed, kids today eh?
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The bg broke into someone's home and paid for it........'nuff said.
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"It is unknown why he kept a sword"
Do those people know how may guys in that age group are into samurai swords? A LOT. I know a few myself. One less thief in the world.
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Hassan, CHOP!
An old cartoon reference. ;D
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"It is unknown why he kept a sword"
Do those people know how may guys in that age group are into samurai swords? A LOT. I know a few myself. One less thief in the world.
I've been thinking about a Calvary sabre for years, but IF I couldn't get to a .45 but could get to my KBAR same result as this kid.
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Before I was old enough to have access to the shotgun, I was known to keep a Bowie knife or other fixed blade hunting knife at hand.
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Before I was old enough to have access to the shotgun, I was known to keep a Bowie knife or other fixed blade hunting knife at hand.
I've been looking for a good traditional style Bowie too
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The one that Case made was the most accurate reproduction of the knife Jim Bowie had made.
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um, maybe its just me, but if I see a guy with a sword, the last thing I'm going to do is rush them.
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um, maybe its just me, but if I see a guy with a sword, the last thing I'm going to do is rush them.
Escpecially if his last name is McCloud.
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of the clan McCloud
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of the clan McCloud
Hell, he can be of the clan Levenstein, I'm still keeping my distance.
FQ13 Of the clan McCullough, but we generally just argue with folks, and if that doesn't work we use guns, but hey, we have zero respect for tradition. ;D
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Because your damned chainsaws won't start before noontime >:( ;D
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmJTYfhBiP4
I'll take this one if it comes with Ulma
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmJTYfhBiP4
I'll take this one if it comes with Ulma
So...yer into pretty swords and ugly women?
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So...yer into pretty swords and ugly women?
She's no fashion model but I do like her.
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So...yer into pretty swords and ugly women?
Ugly?? Are you stoned or gay Haz? Honestly dude, you seriously need to rethink what part of hot chicks with very cool weaponry you fail to understand.
FQ13
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I wouldn't kick her out of bed, but I wouldn't buy a beer at a bar for her either.
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Man.......you guys are tough. She's hot and one hell an actress. IMHO
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(http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac157/johnnybravo7/ninja.jpg) ;D