RIVERDALE, GEORGIA — One teenager was fatally shot during a home invasion in an otherwise quiet neighborhood around Atlanta. His accomplice was charged with his death after they both fled the scene and the teen collapsed in a neighbor’s driveway.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta News, the deceased and his accomplice were identified by Riverdale police following the shooting. The homeowner called police and neighbors in the area came out of their homes by the sounds of the shooting. John Dexter Williams, 19, is believed to be the deceased party and Patrick Kemp, 22, is his accomplice that will be charged with his murder.
A neighbor talked with FOX 5 Atlanta and reported that she saw two young men walking by her home before the shooting.
“I hate that they got shot, but you go in someone else’s property, hey, you get what’s coming to you,” a neighbor said.
Another man, who’s parents live in the neighborhood, believes that the would-be burglars misidentified the home as empty.
“They assume that nobody’s at home. So a lot of the neighbors they came together like, ‘Well we may have to get armed, you know. Just to protect ourselves and protect our families.’ I guess that’s what happened today,” said one person, whose parents live in the neighborhood. “Somebody lost their life trying to take somebody else’s goods.”
It seems few in the neighborhood were distraught with the act itself though they appeared surprised that it finally happened.
This is becoming a more common tale as neighborhoods band together to face the encroaching menace of criminals moving further out into the suburbs. While inner city violence goes on unabated, people who moved away from that environment are increasingly preparing themselves in case they are targeted for home invasions, robberies, and violent crime.
A state of preparedness has always been in the natural lexicon of American culture. From the inception of our country’s foundation to present, an individual’s ability to protect himself and his home from unlawful intrusion has proven useful. These home invasions are nothing new to those following the news. What has changed is more homeowners are taking their own safety seriously. Versus sitting back and passively waiting to become the next victim of a home invasion, homeowners are arming themselves.
In instances like this one, it pays off.
