What “gun safety” law would have prevented this?
Donquarius Davon Copeland, 19, acknowledged that he fired the .357 semiautomatic pistol that killed Rayjon Gomez and said he knew he’d hit somebody.
“I shot two times,” Copeland said under questioning by his defense attorney, Eric Hawkins.
Copeland’s admission Thursday came in a plea bargain in the Aug. 24, 2011, death of Gomez, whose death shocked Minneapolis. The victim was riding piggyback on a friend’s bicycle when he was shot.
Remember that? A completely random killing of a kid, for no reason whatsoever. It was a “revenge” shooting, done by people too stupid to know that “revenge” is supposed to mean “against the people who supposedly wronged you in the first place”.
They were cruising around in a van registered to a church pastored by the Taylors’ father.
“We were going to go down there and shoot at people,” Copeland responded to Hawkins when asked why they were driving around.
Just “shoot at people”.
Now, here’s the part I’d like to bring to the attention of all of you ‘gun safety” advocates. I’ll add some emphasis:
Prosecutors said that as Taylor drove, Copeland and Catchings passed a .357 SIG semi-automatic handgun back and forth.
“Taylor suggested that Catchings and Copeland stop ‘talking’ about shooting someone and ‘just do it,’ ” Mabley wrote in an order last year.
Now, all you “gun safety” advocates; “.357 SIG” is a type of ammo, not a gun. But it is, generally, found in higher-end firearms. Not your cheapo guns. Not the kind of firearm a typical 19 year old can buy – at a gun show, anyway. The article is silent on where the gun came from – but I’m going to go out on a limb and say a couple of 19 year olds playing with a gun that probably didn’t go for less than $600 probably had a stolen firearm.
Pick any one of Michael Paymar, Ron Latz or Alice Hausman’s proposals from the last session; which one would have prevented this?
I’ll give you a hint. None.
34 and 38 year sentences??!! That, of course, will likely end up being less. Why not life without parole for these three lumps of excrement??!!
And the family of the POS has the audacity to attack the family of the boy they snuffed out in an act that shows complete disregard for an innocent life, AND play the victim??!! These bastards belong in there with him.
I know, not the point of the post. Yet it cleary illustrates the necessity for all who are willing and able to do so to arm themselves, and to do so as hevily as feasible.
For who knows when the shots started flying, and a strategically placed permit holder might just have been able to save a thirteen year old boy, and save the taxpayers a lot of money in the process.
The fact that such behavior passes without question amazes and frightens me.
I have wondered, like Adrian, about the presence of permit holders at such deadly crime scenes. Then I wonder about how, in many of these incidents, a permit holder may have been present, but chose not to engage the murderers for fear of Zimmermann-like retaliation from both the law and the lawless.
Until recently, CO was traditionally a gun friendly state. I doubt that all gun carriers subscribe to the new normal and don’t continue to quietly follow the old norms. However, “Gun Free Zones,” negative media attention, and the probability of financial ruination by lawsuit, even if found innocent, may make carriers reluctant to step in unless theirs or their loved ones are in danger.
This story, like most of them, seems to justify this kind of activity and relegate it to specific areas and type of people. It’s as if this behavior is considered to be a cultural norm, thereby lessening its impact. And they call US racists …
Joe, I envision (sometimes hopefully, sometimes pessimistically) enactment of not only a Castle Doctrine, but also a Good Samaritan type of law that would ensure against criminal as well as civil action against a permit holders use of deadly force to prevent a crime with the exception of obvious abuse or neglect. And that the benefit of doubt be on the side the law abiding and not the criminal.
This would make complete sense, except to the senseless gun-grabbers whose mindset can only be assumed to be in favor of criminals over victims, or the obvious citizen disarmament by the power hungry.
Statistics bear out a greater percentage of unnecessary deadly force not at the hands of legally carrying permit holders…but of law enforcement. So one is complete justified in questioning the state of mind of, or what reality the likes of Michael Paymar and Heather Martens exist in…it certainly cannot be described as rational.
For who knows when the shots started flying, and a strategically placed permit holder might just have been able to save a thirteen year old boy, and save the taxpayers a lot of money in the process
Twenty years ago this fall, I covered a story that directly speaks to this.
When a deranged Gulf War vet killed St. Paul cop Paul Ryan Jr. out on the East Side back in 1994, a citizen in his home heard the shots and saw what was going on – the shooter got in his car, and then started driving toward a witness, clearly intending to kill her.
The citizen – an extremely proficient marksman – grabbed a pistol (a .357 SIG, as luck would have it). For whatever reason, the piece had three rounds loaded. The citizen took aim at the killer…
…and thought “I bet if I kill him, the county attorney (Tom Foley, at the time) will come after me”. So instead of killing him, he opted to put two rounds through the killer’s back window and into his glove box – to mark the car and to scare him away from murdering the witness. He saved one shot in case the killer decided to go for him instead.
It worked – the killer gunned his engine and drove away, leaving the witness alive. And the cops did eventually find him due to the shot-out window.
Citizen had his kids (IIRC) call 911, and ran down to the scene to give first aid (unsuccessfully) until the rest of the SPPD arrived.
The killer went on to kill another SPPD cop, Officer Johnson, and a police dog later that day before being apprehended.
I interviewed the citizen not long after the incident. It left him shaken until he died, a few years later.
Two points:
1) Worry about being prosecuted allowed the death of Officer Johnson (and the dog) to happen.
2) The citizen was right – Foley did in fact try to prosecute him. He was saved a malicious, immoral prosecution only because SPPD bluntly told the City Attorney they would not cooperate with the prosecution, so Foley backed down (after four days of making the citizen’s life a living hell). Had the victims not been cops, it’s anyone’s guess whether they’d have been quite so understanding.
One thing that struck me (and said “don’t try this at home!) – before Foley dropped the prosecution, citizen was able to shut down the idea that he’d fired wildly by telling the investigators exactly where to look for the bullets – in the firewall on the right side. His bullet placement was that accurate. At (IIRC) 70 yards. With a handgun.
Wow!! 70yds with .357 Sig bullets is downright world class shooting.
A classic illustration of why left wing idealogue morons shouldn’t be lawyers, let alone prosecutors.
Boss: Yep.
Scott: The guy was (IIRC) a very successful competition marksman, and (again, IIRC) had been some sort of sharpshooter in the service.
Still, that kind of shooting – at a moving target, under life-or-death stress – is pretty amazing.
Now – if he’d done it with .45ACP? (ducks)
Amazing? Downright impossible! .45 would just leave a bigger hole, and definitely not any more lethal nor accurate since .357 is faster.
I wouldn’t also mind criminalizing malicious prosecution. I remember, Mitch, that story well…the only thing that might have made it more pathetic would be were it a civilian instead police officers involved the POS Foley might have been successful.
Not at all to diminsh the loss of life of law enforecement personel…I was a same year classmate of Sgt. Joe Bergeron.
JPA: I was speaking mostly tongue-in-cheek. .45 would be theoretically harder to score that kind of hit with; lower muzzle velocity, more bloopy trajectory. I said harder, not impossible. .357 SIG – a .40 S&W cartridge necked down to a 9mm bullet – is a hotrod of a round, better adapted…
…to sniping with handguns.
Somewhat related, under the category “All the news that fits the meme…and nothing that doesn’t”:
http://mobile.wnd.com/2014/01/the-incredible-shrinking-maryland-mall-shooter/#4cSTSfHPgGfUbhm0.01
The discussion reminds me of the fact that it’s not as much the reality of innocents shooting back as it is the threat of the same. Along those lines, my brother suggested to me that if I were ever in a bad area and were being followed, duck into a porn shop or liquor store. Two reasons: he’s probably armed, and could use the good publicity.
Have never had opportunity to use that advice, but it makes sense.
Night Writer – Thanks for the informative article. I had been wondering why this story first garnered so much attention when, while tragic, it seemed to be some kind of intentional act.
I swear that when the killer’s photo was first released it showed a blond/ light-haired young white man, in some type of reclined pose with his head on his forearm. He was clearly white-looking, too. Then the second group of photos showed what was definitely a young black man. Am I hallucinating?
I agree with the malicious prosecution suggestion. It is far too common for law enforcement entities and prosecutors to put someone through the prosecution process when an incident generates significant public outrage, with or without merit. Obviously Zimmerman comes to mind.
However, I can’t help but put Jim Carlson, Duluth MN “headshop” and synthetic MJ/ bath salts seller in the same category. His products were not clearly illegal. He mainly generated outrage from local businesses for the group of derelict druggies who hung out in front of the place, scaring tourists, urinating at will, and hurting businesses.
They finally did get him, but not after numerous attempts, the confiscation of his significant firearms collection, and tons of his cash in profit and legal fees. He also faces a stiff prison sentence.
Perhaps it was his “Guns Welcome Here” store sign that motivates my sympathy, but I suspect that if the unsightly bums stayed out of sight, Carlson’s activities wouldn’t have been so heavily scrutinized, since they and not “nice mainstream (white) kids” were his main customers. Malicious prosecution, in my opinion.