Is this a “the kids aren’t alright” reference, or am I missing something.
[op not poster]
The guy can’t put his hands on his head until he puts the milk down. Also she’s kind of panicky. Hence the increasingly clipped speech and the shaking.
[poster not op]
- No evidence that the intruder is dead yet.
- Please explain how Jodie should have shot to disable. Where do you want her to aim? What does “shoot to disable” even mean, outside of Star Trek?
That is…outrageously foolish. You think it’s better NOT to think things through in advance? NOT to have a plan?
Can you envision a probable scenario in which the man has not entered the house intending violence? If so, please share it with us.
Her key worked. She carries a gun partly because she lives in a sketchy neighborhood. You think she and Éimi don’t lock their doors? Or that she wouldn’t have noticed if the door was unlocked?
Damn, I just broke my rule against asking rhetorical questions. Now I have to deny myself any lemon meringue pie. Stoopid rule 97.
That’s one possibility, but I can think of at least two others.
α) On the night Éimi was conceived, Jodie and her high-school boyfriend who attacked at gunpoint or knifepoint and the BF was killed.
ii) On the night Éimi was conceived, Jodie returned home from a date to find that either or both of her parents had been murdered by an intruder.
There’s also this to bear in mind. From the linked article:
[QUOTE=what, you’re too good to click the link?]
Consider this. How long does it take for you to draw your handgun and place two center hits on a man-size target at seven yards? Those of us who have learned and practiced proper pistolcraft techniques would say that a time of about one and one-half seconds is acceptable for that drill.
> With that in mind, let’s consider what might be called the “Danger Zone” if you are confronted by an adversary armed with an edged or blunt weapon. At what distance does this adversary enter your Danger Zone and become a lethal threat to you?
We have done some testing along those lines recently and have found that an average healthy adult male can cover the traditional seven yard distance in a time of (you guessed it) about one and one-half seconds. It would be safe to say then that an armed attacker at 21 feet is well within your Danger Zone.
[/QUOTE]
Jodie’s already drawn her weapon, true, but the guy’s ten feet or less away. And he’s much bigger. If he gets within arm’s reach of her it may not even matter if he’s holding the knife; odds are good that he’ll be able to take her gun away. And turning to run is obviously dumb.
Of course she is not OK. Her drama teacher just got shot in her kitchen and she will not play Ophelia in Hamlet since the play will now be cancelled, and she is quite likely to get kicked out of drama class altogether.
Mom just ruined her life! Like most mothers of teenage daughters often do.
I’m from San Francisco and have never even been within sight of a gun that wasn’t in the possession of a soldier or a police officer, and I think the shooting was justified.
If it turns out that the intruder had no evil intent and a legitimate explanation for his presence, it’s a very sad situation, but that doesn’t make it unjustified.
Absolutely justified. She gave multiple warnings, and the guy came at her.
I’m not trained to use a firearm for self-defense, and so I’m hoping others will weigh in on this point - but my understanding is that “shooting to disable” is generally frowned upon, and that police and military personnel are generally trained to aim for one’s center of mass (that is, chest). The reason is that if I’m aiming at the center of your chest, I can miss and still hit something that will stop you quickly - but if I’m aiming at your leg and miss, I’m likelier to hit nothing at all. And under stress, my aim is likely to be shit.
There’s no such thing.
And yes, she was fully justified in shooting.
Man, no one wants to make late night runs to the store. :mad:
And yes, she was justified. Someone invades your home, you feel threatened, they’re bigger, close, have a knife near, and they don’t do everything within their power to do as you say? Sorry, bub. If you live, maybe you’ll do the B&E thing better next time.
The only variable was the guys intent. In best case scenario, he was innocent, but either drugged up or completely stupid to act that way. In which case that might be doing others a favor. Giving a serial killer smile to someone who obviously doesn’t want you there is a clear warning sign. I am imagining his voice in a patronizing with an accent. New Orleans, maybe. Either way I agree, not using a glass = death.
IANAL, but this would be a clear-cut justifiable homicide in California. Even they have the Castle Doctrine.
Which is why police officers are trained to aim for the legs, and then turn their head away and close their eyes while pulling the trigger and telling the bad, bad man to go away. That’s a lot of faith putting into stopping a guy almost within arms reach with a medium-small caliber.
Don’t attack its weak spot for massive damage.
Agreed.
She could be mistaken, but it’s a very reasonable mistake to make.
If I were in the guy’s situation and there was a reasonable explanation, my hands would be in the air, the milk would be on the floor, and I would be blubbering my explanation as I expected to get shot (not saying a shooting would be justified under those circumstances, but it almost certainly happens).
Bullshit. She’s not Roy-Fucking-Rogers, and this ain’t a TV show. She’s a single woman alone in her home, with her child believed to be present, facing an unlawful intruder. Only a fool would try some stupid ass “shoot to disable” trick in these circumstances. Had I been in her shoes, I’d have done the same thing.
- Seriously, dude, do you listen how to anything I say? LEARN HOW TO USE A GUN.
- The term “shoot to disable” is meaningless. A shot to the shoulder or leg can make you bleed to death quite easily.
- Even if it StD weren’t a meaningless concept, it’s not clear what jtur88 means by it Jodie couldn’t the weapon out of the intruder’s hand; it wasn’t IN his hand. She believed that he was reaching for it. And to shoot it out of his hand without danger to his life, she’d have to be at an angle, not right in front of him. Also, as pointed out above, the intruder is well within her danger zone. If she’d faffed about, his greater size and reach, and probable greater strength and speed, would have meant that he’d be grappling with her. As there is no evidence she is a vampire slayer that would mean she’d lose.
- And even if all that weren’t true–Jodie not only isn’t Buffy, she isn’t Annie Oakley either. She misses the first of her five shots. If she’d gone for the mythical disabling shot to the shoulder or knee rather than shooting for center of mass as Athena teaches, she’d would likely have missed all five, and this story would have a traumatic and sad ending rather than a traumatic and happy one.
Fully justified.
However, she should have shot his knees or ankles.
Also she should have heard him out, although he may have been bluffing and buying time in order to reach the knife.
NM
That’s why I went ahead and voted - my guess was that something would have tipped her off that she was in the wrong place before we got to the moment of truth. 100% justified, no question.
So, she was fully justified so long as she did it really badly and waited until too late.
But otherwise fully justified.
As others have said, the reaction is all wrong and CREEPY. Someone points a gun at most people and the reaction is more like “Jesus christ, lady, don’t shoot me!” He should have complied.
– gun owning bleeding heart liberal here
ETA - shot his knees or ankles, hah. Not that easy to do, even when you have practiced. Practicing in a range is not the same as facing down a potentially armed opponent.
Far too likely to miss, as has been pointed out above. If you’re going to shoot someone, you shoot to kill them.
You skipped a step… after “not the next four,” it should say, “she then pulls the trigger four or five more times, and when she realizes it’s not making loud noises any more…”
Fully justified. I can only hope I would be as calm if it ever happened to me.