Constabulary:
Shoot First, Ask — Oops!

Oklahoma, like a number of Wild West states, has a “stand your ground” law that permits homeowners (or homesteaders) to use whatever force they think necessary to defend their property against intruders — violent intruders, anyway. So Donna Jackson, 57, is not going to be charged for killing Billy Reilly, 53, after Reilly broke down a door and entered her house, while she was on the phone with a police dispatcher.

Jackson: “Oh ma’am, I shot him.”

Dispatcher: “It’s OK ma’am. It’s OK.” 

The real problem with this scenario — not a Wild West type of problem, though — is that we’ll never know why Billy Reilly broke into a house that was lit up like a Christmas tree so that he could see Ms Jackson on the phone.

Since the Oklahoma law was enacted, a number of alternatives to lethal weapons have been developed for these situations. Time for a re-think? (via  The Awl)

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 11:59 pm and is filed under Constabulary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “Constabulary:
Shoot First, Ask — Oops!”

  1. Dale Gribble says:
    13 December 2009 at 6:36 pm

    I think Bill desrved what he got. And bravo to Donna for using her God given right to protect herself. True, we will never know why Bill wanted to get into the home. But I am sure it was not to give her cookies. He smashed in the door while yelling. I would have shot him as well.

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