Another one bites the dust! Would-be carjacker shot dead in Memphis by CCW Holder

[JimR]

Comments in boldface.

Would-be carjacker shot dead
Armed man opens fire when robber demands SUV keys

By Yolanda Jones
yjones@gomemphis.com

By Alan Spearman

A carjacker was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of Southland Mall by a man he tried to rob, police said.
The would-be robber was identified by police as Kenneth J. Brigance, 21. He was shot several times and died underneath the vehicle he attempted to steal, police said.

"This is a carjacking gone bad," said Maj. Jerry Lawson with the Memphis Police Department South precinct.
Actually, this sounds like a carjacking gone good!

Family members identified the man who shot the robber as Percell Perry, 22.

Police said he had a license to carry the weapon he used in the shooting.
But no one needs to own, let alone carry, a dangerous, bad, nasty, evil handgun! [/ sarcasm]

Perry and his 18-year-old girlfriend, Sharnell Chester, were not injured in the attack.

Lawson said a man and a woman got out of their 1998 Mercury Mountaineer around 12:48 p.m. to go into the Whitehaven mall when a man grabbed the woman, put a gun to her head and demanded the keys to the sport utility vehicle.

"The man with her got out of the vehicle and pushed her out of the way and fired shots at the robber," Lawson said.

The suspect tried to escape the gunfire by diving under the SUV, but was shot several times and died under the vehicle with his revolver a few feet away on the pavement.

Police said the incident is under investigation and did not release further details. Homicide detectives plan to meet with state prosecutors today to determine whether the shooting was a justifiable homicide.
From the account offered here, they damn well better consider it justifiable!


"I was at work when I received a call that my daughter was carjacked," said Sharnell's father, Lee Chester. "I rushed over here to see if she was OK."

When he arrived, he found his daughter and Perry in the back of police cars, being questioned by officers.

Chester said his daughter called him earlier in the day and said she was going to cash her check and then head to the mall to do some shopping.

"I am just glad she is OK because this thing could have easily turned the other way, and she or her boyfriend could have been on the ground over there," Chester said.

As police put crime scene cards on the dozen bullet casings on the ground and covered Brigance's body with black plastic, mall customers gathered around the crime scene.
I'm glad the citizen wasn't hamstrung by the limited capacity magazines with which we peons are now saddled.

Dawn Hamilton, acting manager of the mall, said the shooting was an isolated incident.

"We have security patrolling the mall at all times," Hamilton said.
Yeah, I'm sure the dreaded Mall Ninja is on duty. I bet the mall security isn't even armed.

Edited to add picture:

Yikes! - I didn't notice at first that the source publication had this picture with the deceased perp still under the SUV:

Crime scene cards mark a pistol and shell casings Wednesday in the parking lot of Southland Mall. "This is a carjacking gone bad," said Maj. Jerry Lawson of the Memphis Police Department.




[Edited by JimR on 03-29-2001 at 08:33 PM]

 

[Christopher II]

Sounds like a good solution to a difficult tactical problem. Nice work.

Pack heat!

Later,
Chris

 

[WAGCEVP]

just another version of the same story

Crime/Corruption News Keywords: CAR-JACKING CURE; MEMPHIS
Source: WorldNow/WREG News
Published: March 29, 2001 Author: April Thompson
Posted on 03/29/2001 17:04:10 PST by 45Auto



An attempted car jacking turns deadly at a mall in Whitehaven. It happened
in broad daylight. But this time the tables turned leaving the man, police
say was trying to commit the crime, dead.

It's not what you expect to see in a mall parking lot...crime tape
surrounding cars. But this green mercury mountaineer is where it started.
Police say the truck drove up and parked..and even before the female driver
could get out of the vehicle...she was approached by a gunman...telling her
to give him the keys.... But what the car jacker apparently didn't see
behind the tinted windows was that someone else was inside the vehicle with
the woman...and that person had a gun.

Major Jerry Lawson with the Memphis police told News Channel 3, "Her
gentleman friend who does have a license to carry a pistol threw her out of
the way and did shoot the robber he was DOA on the scene here." Police say
the suspect may have tried to get away...but ended up dying underneath the
same S-U-V he allegedly tried to car jack.

Police didn't immediately identify the female or her friend who did the
shooting. But her mother who arrived on the scene, and didn't want to be on
camera, told us about the frantic call she got from her 18 year old
daughter. Queenie Chester says, "She said he walked up behind her and said
B**** give me the keys...she said she didn't look back...she just started
handing him the keys and he didn't know he was on the other side of the
truck."

The whole thing surprised shoppers at the mall. Sandra Johnson told us,
"That's why I don't do a lot of shopping...I don't send my daughter for
that very reason because you can't go out in broad daylight...it's
ridiculous." The father of the female driver says it's all very scary..and
shows why you can't approach just anybody. Lee Chester says, "Be
careful...be careful...you never know what the next man may have..it's not
worth it." and this time the person who apparently wanted to get a
vehicle...in the end got something he never expected.

 

[Bam Bam]

I hope the potential victims' hearing is not damaged, but better than being kidnapped or shot by the 'jacker'.

 

[Brian Gibbons]

I would like to hear a legal opinion on this one. Does anyone know how it would be possible that the shooting could be considered anything other than "justifiable"?

 

[Sodbuster]

The Bad Guy may have been trying to get away, in which case he was no longer a threat and deadly force would not be justified. More info is needed to determine justification in this case. The BG may have received what he deserved, but the law works in mysterious ways.

 

[Bam Bam]

Mr. Gibbons, with all due respect, don't you KNOW that said car-jacker was SELF-EMPLOYED IN THE PURSUIT OF HIS OCCUPATION and the defendants were denying him the right to practice his profession? Are you one of those crazy law-and-order guys, get with it this is the 21st Century. Feel his pain, baby. He was just doing his job. Really, after he stole the vehicle he was going to pay Teddy Kennedy's new "It-Fell-Off-a-Truck Windfall Tax".

I am not picking on you. Honest to God this headline was used by a newspaper to describe a burglar or some such who was shot while hiding under a bed.

Anyone remember the thread? Let's exhibit some institutional memory for Mr. Gibbons.

 

[AndABeer]

I am afraid that Sodbuster has it right. When I saw this on the evening news I was outraged that charges were even being considered. Surprisingly the local news I happened to catch also seemed confused that any charges against the "victim" (strange to call him that since he refused to be a victim). However, if the authorities show that the dead one has bullets in his back or had given up and was trying to get away as it looks at this time, Mr. Perry may be in for some severe trouble. In no way am I saying I agree with that. Being a resident of Memphis, I applaud Mr. Perry and will pray that the justice system treats him as they should, a hero.

 

[David Scott]

Hey, folks, the police have to investigate all such incidents, and they really should not give out opinions before a conclusion is reached. I have little doubt that this one wil be called a justified shoot. The perp was armed, he was physically assaulting the woman, committing a violent felony. He did not try to escape until after he was shot.

I hear Tennessee is pretty CCW-friendly. I don't know their laws, but if this happened here in Florida (and such things have happened here), I would expect a no-bill decision.

Mr. Perry is to be commended for his quick response in this dangerous situation.

 

[Byron Quick]

As long as the revolver remained in his hand he was a threat even if his back was turned...even if he was running away. He might stop, turn around, and open fire. Likewise, if I shoot him, he goes down and drops the revolver. He's on his stomach crawling toward the revolver. I'm shooting him in the back until all movement toward the revolver ceases. But then I'm in Georgia.


"If you think you can find twelve men and women in the state of Georgia to sit on a jury and vote to convict me-you go right ahead." My father to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation officer. Circa 1985

 

[thumbtack]

I just hope that Percell Perry is not sued for violating Kenneth's civil rights or some crape like that.

 

[utvols]

My cousin is a police officer in memphis and he sent tis article to us. He didn't seem to think anything would happen to the ccw holder. He also said that not to long after this happened someone entered an auto zone to rob it with a gun and an off duty officer shot and killed him. Memphis really is a warzone. It also contains the most ccw's in the state with over 17,000

 

[stuckatwork]

Chalk on up for up for the good guys. One more malfactor removed from the gene pool.

People sometimes wonder why I get so worked up when I read about a citizen defending themselves in situations like this. Thank God, no one in my family or circle of friends ever had a situation like a car jacking. But, we had our more than our fair share in the local papers a few years back. And these were not the give me your keys and get out of the car type. They were the highly violent type of car jackings. There are two that stick in my head. One involved a woman, mother of three little ones, and wife. She was car jacked at a local mall. Taken by the animals to the desert raped, beaten, tortured and then executed while pleading for her life. They did catch these mutants. They will die at the hands of the state. Lethal injection, no discomfort. Put to sleep like a beloved pet. My opinion, HANG THEM! Let the last thing they hear be the sound of their necks breaking.

The other was again a young woman who was pulled from her car. Beaten while trying to pull her fifteen month old out of the back seat. The car jacker took off with the car and the baby. They found the baby along the interstate where the son of a bitch threw it out of the car at high speed.
Never found him.

The police called for calm, give them you keys, the typical yada. Suddenly car jackers were getting shot by their intended victims. One eighty year old man darn near beat the tar out of one with his cane. The BG ran to the police when they showed up to get away from the old guy. Guess what people, car jackings stopped happening. Never hear Dan Rather tell you about that, now will he.

 

[Gunslinger]

Just as an up date to this, for those that have not already heard; After considering all of the facts it was decided by the prosecutors office not to file charges.

 

[Mark D]

Just proves what I've always said...

Laws don't stop crime, consequence does.

Bummer for those who get the hollowpoint version of consequence.