MILTON, FL — A Florida homeowner must have breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday when the State Attorney’s Office announced that they would not be pressing charges against him, stating that they believed he was following the stand your ground law.
The situation would certainly seem to lend itself well to such a conclusion.
As the NWF Daily News reports:
(I)nvestigators determined through several witness interviews that Patterson was asleep on his couch about 12:30 a.m. when he was awakened by screaming and banging on his front porch near the door. His elderly parents and 16-year-old son were also in the home at the time… The man at the door was 39-year-old Marcus Indigo Mulinix… Patterson and Mulinix had gone to grade school together but had not seen each other since then and were virtually unknown to one another.
Patterson approached Mulinix at the door but could not understand what he was saying. Mulinix then began shaking the door knob and trying to enter the home. Patterson’s elderly mother woke up and dialed 911.
Patterson went to a bedroom and retrieved a 30-30 rifle, stepped out the back door and walked around to the front of the house. He saw Mulinix in his front yard holding a baseball bat and trying to get into his home. Patterson yelled at the man to stop, but instead Mulinix “raised the bat and began to walk towards Patterson,” according to the report.
You can guess what happened next.
Patterson fired a single shot at his former schoolmate and knocked him flat backwards. Patterson and his brother gave the man first aid until emergency services arrived, but the would-be intruder died on the way to the hospital.
Patterson might not have been carrying concealed, but he stood his ground, and he protected his family.
Hopefully he’ll take the opportunity to invest in a more wieldy home-defense platform than a deer rifle — although 30-30 will always be one of my all-time favorites.
What do you think about this story? Please share this on Facebook and Twitter and let us know!