Henco has affirmed that a Minnetonka man shot an attacker / stalker in self defense, and all but carried him down Excelsior Boulevard on their shouders:
Following the strong recommendation of investigators, the Hennepin County attorney’s office said this week that 65-year-old James LaCount, of Minnetonka, will not be prosecuted for fatally shooting Thomas Luetzow on June 23 at the Public Mini Storage in the 2800 block of Hedberg Drive.
LaCount “described elements consistent with heroic actions of self-defense” when he shot the 58-year-old Luetzow with a facility employee close by, police Sgt. Troy Denneson wrote in a summary of his department’s 20-page report submitted to prosecutors. “Physical evidence and eyewitness recollections appear to confirm LaCount’s explanation of events.”
Given that it took place in Henco, that’s bureaucratic shorthant for “Mr. LaCount’s actions were pure as the driven snow”.
He was one of the good guys:
The retired refrigeration technician also credited his being able to legally carry a gun in public with sparing him more serious injury, or worse.
“If I hadn’t had [the gun], I’d probably be dead now,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
It absolutely is.
Minnesota put its permit-to-carry law on the books in 2003, but not until after substantial public debate about whether the streets would become more dangerous.
“Substantial” meaning “A lot of it”, not “of intellectual heft”.
And after the Castile incident, the LaCount episode shows a very different result when interacting with the police:
Police Chief Scott Boerboom also credited an exhausted and bloodied LaCount with properly interacting with officers as soon as they arrived on the chaotic scene in order to help them properly assess the situation.
“From the onset, when we approached Mr. LaCount, he immediately said it was self-defense and he had a permit to carry,” Boerboom said. “He wanted to make sure, and it helped us initially get an idea about what was going on here.”
The case file also disclosed that LaCount, weakened from abdominal surgery, was sitting down and leaning against a vehicle when police arrived. He also made sure to not have his handgun on him, leaving it on the ground for officers to recover.
That’s another good Minnesotan with a gun alive today.
Wes Skogland? You’re still a lying sack of garbage.
Mr. LaCount has been added to my “Good Minnesotan with a Gun” archives. It’s up to six justifiable homicides now – and that doesn’t include who episodes from the late ’00s that involved bouncers shooting lethally-aggressive patrons (if you can find the link, shoot it over to me…)
A replay of the Trayvon Martin shooting, but without the racial overtones. So the race victim industry isn’t interested.
“I don’t want people to be justified in shooting just because you’re being assaulted.” – Police Chief Scott Boerboom
Yeah, it’s still HennCo. Yeah, you can keep it, preferably very far away from me.
I saw that as well, Nerdbert. If the CC person was a bystander, would they have to note how badly the victim was being beaten?
” . . . Shot to the eye, probably not life threatening, Okay, he’s got his hands around her throat, but she hasn’t turned purple yet, so I can’t shoot . . .”
Assault is a serious crime. You can probably find thousands of cases where a single punch to the head killed or crippled a person for life.
Shot to the eye, probably not life threatening, Okay, he’s got his hands around her throat, but she hasn’t turned purple yet, so I can’t shoot . . .”
Under MN case law, it pretty much depends on the zealousness of your prosecutor.
Assault is a serious crime. You can probably find thousands of cases where a single punch to the head killed or crippled a person for life.
In, I think, 2014, at least five of Minnesota’s 81 unjustifiable homicides were “one punch kills”.
“While LaCount broke no laws, Boerboom said, “I don’t want people to be justified in shooting just because you’re being assaulted.” The chief went on to note LaCount’s age and physical limitations from major surgery.
Again, why Minnesota needs Stand Your Ground legislation – to remove the subjective and discriminatory parceling out of fundamental rights.
Under the Chief’s analysis, you are legally entitled to shoot someone who’s kneeling on your chest trying to claw your eyes out – but only if you’re old and had surgery. So what, Chief: self-defense isn’t for everyone, only People Whose Lives Matter? Who are those people? A young female half-marathoner? A trans-gendered college student with eczema? An obese middle-aged bureaucrat? Do Their Lives Matter and if not, what are they supposed to do – die quietly, to avoid making a scene?
JD, according to chief Wiggums, yes. That way he will have less paperwork to file and one less perp to worry about (presuming the perp kills and runs away and chief is certainly not going to go after a vicitmized underprivileged perp lest he be judged racissss).
Interesting thing is that I cannot find an obituary for the man. Found one for his sister and his dad–it’s apparently been a rough year for the extended family–but not for him. Not quite sure what that means. It does appear he was a man of means with anger control issues. Looking at pictures of a Model T, he was apparently ready to kill a man over a bent running board or fender. Say what? You unbolt it, pound it back into shape, put new paint on it, you’re good to go, no?
I’m going to chalk the police statements down to “if we encourage this sort of thing, we’re going to get cases that are a lot harder to figure out.”