A Good Guy With A Gun – Vindicated
By Mitch Berg
A few weeks back, we discussed the July 31 shooting of Lavauntai Broadbent by a carry permittee whom Mr. Broadbent was apparently attempting to rob. The shooting took place on the western end of Summit Avenue, above the Mississippi River.
About a week after the decision was expected, the Ramsey County Attorney’s office has announced they will not file charges against a law-abiding citizen:
St. Paul police have said that Lavauntai Broadbent, 16, was killed on July 31 after he brandished a handgun at two people at Shadow Falls Park. The man, whom police have not named, drew his own gun — for which he had a permit to carry — and fired at Broadbent.
The man’s actions were legally justified under Minnesota statute 609.065, based on police evidence in the case, the county attorney’s office said in a news release Wednesday.
So John Choi’s office got one right.
By my count, after 12 years (with a year off as a hack judge paid off a chit to his DFL masters), that’s four shootings by post-2004 permit holders that’ve been ruled justified, against one that wasn’t.
And I’m guessing the robbery rate at Summit and East River Road has dropped off a lot.
August 21st, 2015 at 8:50 am
Have to say local media did a pretty good job with this one.
I fully expected someone print the guy’s picture with a map to his house.
August 21st, 2015 at 9:31 am
Yep. In this case, as well as the Evanovich shooting, the prosecutors (Ramco and Henco, respectively) didn’t release the shooter’s name, pending charging (which never came) due to threats the police had received against the shooters.
Yes, I’m amazed too.
August 21st, 2015 at 11:33 am
I wonder if the Good Guy retained counsel to help protect his rights during the investigation, and what that might have set him back.
October 7th, 2016 at 10:43 pm
[…] a political decision; a DFLer will often file charges (although we’ve been surprised in the past), while a DA in Kandiyohi or Pennington counties will hail the shooter as a […]
February 2nd, 2017 at 12:14 pm
[…] obvious point – the Good Samaritan in the Evanovich case, as well as the Broadbent shooting in 2015, involved citizens who followed the rules; after shooting, they called the police and tried their […]
June 9th, 2017 at 11:01 am
[…] I mean, has anyone tried to rob anyone on East River Road by Saint Thomas lately? […]
June 12th, 2017 at 9:23 am
What NW says. I thankfully don’t have a TON of experience with this, but what I’ve read and seen is that “why don’t you talk to my lawyer?” really has a bracing effect on bullies. It’s amazing.