MILWAUKEE -- Confusion looms after a robbery was stopped by a concealed carry permit holder Thursday night, July 26. A man shot his attacker outside a Milwaukee gas station near 34th and Silver Spring. It was all caught on surveillance.
The wife of the man who shot his attacker, says her husband is being held by police. She's frustrated because she says what he did was in self defense, and she just wants answers.
Click on the link above to read the rest of the story. Here is the video of the incident:
After watching the video, is deadly force justified? As a reminder, the justification for the use of deadly force is any behavior that has caused, or imminently threatens to cause death or great bodily harm to you or another person/s. An imminent threat means that the behavior is happening now, in the moment. Finally, we must consider if deadly force was used as a last resort (preclusion).
This is a great example of how a situation can change rapidly, and the justification for the use of deadly force changes within an incident. When the victim is knocked down to the ground and on his back being hit, it is reasonable to believe he is in imminent fear of death or great bodily harm. Deadly force is justifiable at that point in the interaction.
However, without knowing all of the details of this particular case, the video then shows the victim chasing the suspect around with the gun. The presumption, based on the video, would suggest that the victim is trying to hold the attacker at gunpoint until law enforcement arrives. The attacker is now trying to run away from the scene and is shot. Is the attacker now an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to the victim? As much as we all think the attacker deserved it...Based on the information we have available now, Deadly force is now NOT justifiable.
There are other circumstances which could make a situation like the one above justifiable. For example, if this suspect just killed a bunch of people in the convenience store, witnessed by the CCW permit holder and was now trying to escape....Deadly force could be justifiable under the premise of defending the community at large from an "active shooter / killer". This is usually something law enforcement would deal with a lot more, but a CCW licensee / permit holder could find themselves in that situation.
