Off-duty officer kills intruder in his Fernwood backyard An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed a man he caught trying to steal from his backyard in the Far South Side Fernwood neighborhood this morning, police said. The alleged burglar was a man in his 40s, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
On the one hand, the officer was off-duty, in his own home. He wasn't acting any differently than any other person - how he is treated by the IL legal system will be different, that much is certain, but the facts of the shooting remain the same. Wouldn't have mattered if he were the Chicago Police Chief or John Doe homeowner.
On the other hand, this is Chicago, where for years and years only the cops were allowed to have handguns - an outright ban on them for the average person was in place up through the McDonald ruling. A year ago this one wouldn't qualify for the DGC - since the non-LEO public was prohibited from owning handguns, they wouldn't have had the same outcome. Since McDonald, though, it's a little murkier.
I'm going to let it stand (I *did* say they were guidelines!), since it was an off-duty cop on his own property.
Dead Goblin Count: 143
That is all.
10 comments:
Outside the House in the Backyard confronting a Thief? Does Illinois have Castle Doctrine? If Not, why did not the Cop do what the Chicago Police tell everyone else to do, and that's to go into the House, lock yourself in, and call 911. Sounds like if he was a ordinary Citizen, he'd be looking at 3-5 in Joliet.
I don't think it should stand because if the guy was in the back yard and not in his home then it was not a justifiable homicide. If this were Joe Schmoe, he'd be in jail awaiting trial.
I have to agree with the 'no' votes. From the description, it certainly sounds like a good shoot - except that it's Illinois, and (I assume) a Chicago suburb. Joe Citizen would be looking at a murder rap because he went out to the backyard to confront the thief. This guy isn't facing criminal charges because, as a cop, he (probably) has a legal duty to intervene in any felony he sees - or at least the legal power to do so - and the same legal power to investigate any suspected crime, off duty or not.
He's getting an "only one" exemption. It shouldn't count.
Read the article. Perp was shot for striking John Law Home owner with a cutting instrument, not for stealing.
IL law allows for self defense between the hours of 10-12:00 on every other Monday.
Gerry
As far as I can find Fernwood is a neighborhood within the city of Chicago. The new firearm laws that were put into place after the MacDonald ruling restrict you from having your handgun outside of the living area inside your home. Not in the garage, not on the porch, and definitely not in the backyard. If this were Joe Citizen he'd be charged.
But I forgot the twist the state legislature put into things a while back that makes a self defense shooting an affirmative defense for violating local gun ordinances thus overriding those local ordinances. He wouldn't be charged because the prosecutor won't want his ass handed to him in court.
"Read the article. Perp was shot for striking John Law Home owner with a cutting instrument, not for stealing."
I did, which is why I said it sounds like a good shoot. But he went outside to "confront" the thief in the first place. A non-LEO in Chicago who did that rather than cowering in his home waiting for the cops to show up would be sitting in jail charged with murder right now, despite being attacked.
Maybe I'm being too cynical... but this is Chicago we're talking about.
This man is not Chicago. He's just a man who happens to be a cop. The laws are not his to make. He did what man should do, if the law chooses to treat him differently than others, that is not in his control. We want men to be men, we need to recognize them when they measure up. I would say it stands, if you were to be asking.
Yep, I can't argue with that. Even if it were a citizen, if he'd gone to prison for defending hisself and the goblin were in the dirt, would he still get a DGC entry?
I was raised by two cops. One night someone broke into my mother's house and the prosecutor refused to press charges. He told my mother that, "these things are expected to happen to police officers, and should be viewed as just a result of your job."
I say it should stand. "Only One" or not, the officer was on his own time, looking out for himself, regardless of what would happen to someone else.
Post a Comment