GREENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA — Pitt County Sheriff’s Office responded to a late night domestic dispute that spilled over into a neighbor’s yard. The neighbor, seeing a man beating a woman on his property, tried to step in and break it up. He got assaulted for his troubles. Realizing simple diplomacy doesn’t work so well against a man unafraid of beating him and the woman, he got his gun to demand that the man — at the very least — get off his property.
According to the Reflector, that homeowner ended up shooting the intruder in his leg. That got the message across well enough. Pitt County Sheriff’s Office transported Tyree Raheem Barksdale, 30, to a nearby hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg.
The joys don’t end there, folks. Pitt County is currently investigating who gets charged for what. The Prosecutor’s Office will make the final distinction. As for Mr. Barksdale, his chances of getting out of this clean is pretty slim to none. However, the Prosecutor’s Office is also going to look at the homeowner’s actions.
Here’s the simple truth: there’s no such thing as shooting someone and walking away. It doesn’t matter if it’s on your property and you were already assaulted. My suspicion is that Pitt County isn’t going to go after the homeowner for defending himself and that woman but that’s something that’s determined in a legal sense.
Did this homeowner do anything wrong? Eh, we can split hairs but overall, he exercised force appropriate to defend himself while he was on his property and interceded on behalf of a third party that was being assaulted.
I’m sure a good attorney will figure all of that out. However, not a single moment before a significant amount of money changes hands.
We really need to get over this mythology that a gun is a magic fix to a situation. Can it be used to defend your life while you’re on your own property? Absolutely. Should you use it to do so? If you see the situation warrants it.
Don’t expect it to just end there.
We write extensively on these issues because if there’s a chance we can educate someone on the realities of defensive gun use, that’s helping out one more law-abiding citizen. The last thing I want to see happen is a good man lose his home to court costs and attorney fees because he defended himself.
Be smart about these things. Know your state’s law or hire a competent attorney that does.
Absolutely the right action — and now we’ll see how it plays out in court.
Responsible, accountable gun use — it’s how concealed carry and gun ownership works. Bad guys don’t worry about it. They’re not worried about doing six months in the klink over domestic abuse. You, however, probably want to go to work in the morning.