Man held for killing intruder

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Celine

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http://news.iafrica.com/sa/851116.html

A Durban man was taken into custody after his warning shot ricocheted of his kitchen wall and killed an intruder.

The incident occurred on Sunday when Dennis Webster noticed a noise in the kitchen after he had woken up early to let his dog out of the house.

Webster claims to have seen the intruder run through a room towards the kitchen. Webster said that he was concerned that the intruder would steal his gun, which he kept in a cabinet drawer in the kitchen.

"I lunged across to open the drawer and got the firearm out, but as I was doing that this guy came at me with a knife," Webster told The Mercury.

He managed to get a warning shot off and noticed that it had hit the kitchen wall.

"It didn't occur to me that the shot had ricocheted because the guy just kept coming at me and fighting me."

Webster managed to subdue his attacker and called the police. He said he noticed that the bullet had lodged in the intruder's shoulder.

"We phoned the cops who were there in about 30 minutes, but they would not declare the guy dead until an ambulance arrived. We could see he was gone," Webster said.

Webster was taken into custody after the shooting.

Police have been criticised for their actions but DA police spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard commended the police.

"If a person kills another person the police have to arrest them and then they appear in court when they can apply for bail.

"They did the right thing."




this time there was indeed an intruder. true story.
 
If you shoot someone surely you still need to appear in court and an investigation still needs to happen?

I mean even if the courts simply drop the charges straight off the bat surely whether it constitutes a case of self defence or murder or whatever should be decided by the justice system and not be left up to the police?

or am I wrong in thinking this way?
 
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porchrat said:
If you shoot someone surely you still need to appear in court and an investigation still needs to happen?
Click to expand...

Killing someone by any means should require some investigation, sure. I'm not sure the oke should be arrested though...
 
porchrat said:
If you shoot someone surely you still need to appear in court and an investigation still needs to happen?
Click to expand...

Yep. He's probably gonna get questioned about the "bag of money" on the table too :D What was he a drug dealer?
 
I was always under the assumption that guns had to be kept in safes.
 
Budza said:
Killing someone by any means should require some investigation, sure. I'm not sure the oke should be arrested though...
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You think the police should just let people go when someone gets shot?

I know it is an inconvenience if this was a legitimate case of self defence but to me it seems that it isn't up to the police to assume it was a case of self defence and so the guy therefore doesn't need to be arrested, they could be dead wrong.
 
porchrat said:
If you shoot someone surely you still need to appear in court and an investigation still needs to happen?

I mean even if the courts simply drop the charges straight off the bat surely whether it constitutes a case of self defence or murder or whatever should be decided by the justice system and not be left up to the police?

or am I wrong in thinking this way?
Click to expand...

Of course, otherwise everyone will just claim their warning shot ricocheted and hit the person or claim self-defence.
Without an investigation and court case how would anyone know they were telling the truth or not?
 
abzo said:
I was always under the assumption that guns had to be kept in safes.
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sure - just hold on intruder while i get my gun out of the safe to shoot you. hope you feel safe abzo while you keep your gun locked inside your safe as per the rules and regulations guide. i'm sure you need to keep the gun in a safe if it's not in use or something to that effect. but if you need to keep it near for protection or something, surely keeping it in a safe isn't going to be advisable.
 
porchrat said:
I'm pretty sure it is the law.
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According to this site it has to be kept in a safe place, not necessarily an actual safe
The law states specifically that your licensed firearm must either be kept in a safe place or carried with you - and it is worth noting that a motorcar or its boot, attachè case or toolbox, whether locked or not, may not, depending on the circumstances, be considered a safe place.

Failure to ensure the weapon's safe-keeping may result in a tragedy if it falls into the hands of a child or intruder. If a gun has been stolen from you, the police may refuse to grant you another firearm licence and, indeed, may even charge you for not having taken reasonable steps to safeguard your gun, or for being negligent.

Keeping a gun high in a cupboard or on a wardrobe may put it out of the reach of children, but police will tell you that it is here, or in a bedside cupboard or under the mattress (a dangerous place to store a firearm) that a gun thief will look first.
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http://www.legalcity.net/Index.cfm?fuseaction=RIGHTS.article&ArticleID=8812261
 
porchrat said:
If you shoot someone surely you still need to appear in court and an investigation still needs to happen?

I mean even if the courts simply drop the charges straight off the bat surely whether it constitutes a case of self defence or murder or whatever should be decided by the justice system and not be left up to the police?

or am I wrong in thinking this way?
Click to expand...

It does not even have to go to court, usually the NPA investigates and makes the decision to take things to court or drop it.
 
The guy came at him with a knife and he fired off a warning shot first?

In that situation I would have aimed & shot for the head or the chest, multiple times. The only good attacker-with-a-knife is a dead attacker-with-a-knife!
 
who is this stupid DA spokeperson. Hope somebody does a home invasion at her or her family. Just another reason why I wont vote for them.
 
porchrat said:
That article is from 1997 :erm:

I'm pretty sure the new Act states that you need to keep the gun either concealed on your person or in a safe.
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Yes^^^ That. Concealed on person could also be in your back pack as well. It must also be your own safe or in a gun shop. (i.e. not the safe of a friend/relative etc)
 
A recent event with immediate family has me seriously considering getting myself a firearm but I don't know what that entails as I hear it is way too much of a process. But the danger is very real and I cannot allow myself to be defenceless. These days it seems nobody knows anyone who hasn't been a victim.

The problem is I am also under the impression that, should the occasion arise and I were to use a firearm, I would most certainly go to jail anyway.

I honestly don't know what to do :( stories like this thread has me second guessing as well.

My life vs jail time seems like an easy choice though.
 
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