Man shot during home invasion
Published: October 20, 2008
Police said a man shot in the head during a home invasion in Dumfries last week walked to a nearby fire station for help.
Detectives believe that the man who was shot was one of three armed men who forced their way into a town house in the 2900 block of Buell Court at about 8:25 p.m. Thursday, said Erika Hernandez, Prince William police spokeswoman, in a release Monday.
The victims, a man and a woman who were in the house at the time of the intrusion, called police and reported a burglary in progress.
The three gunmen forced the man and the woman to the third level of the town house where the shooting occurred, Hernandez said.
Police did not release details of the how the shooting unfolded.
The gunmen, including the one who was shot in the head, jumped from the third floor window to escape.
A police canine unit found another of the men hiding a short distance away, with an injured leg. Police could not find the third man, Hernandez said.
The man who was shot was later flown to an area hospital with non life-threatening injuries, Hernandez said.
Police said the identities of the gunmen are “being developed.” No arrests had been made by Monday.
The victims were not injured, Hernandez said.
Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.
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JoeDaBeast
point well taken, i hope your right
Michele,
Use of deadly force is authorized in the commonwealth to preserve life. You can use deadly force if you feel that your life, the life of your family or the life of a third party is in peril and that you have no option other than to use deadly force.
So, if someone comes at you with a knife, you can shoot (to stop) the threat. If someone comes at you with fists it’s going to be hard to justify using a handgun against that person.
If you use a firearm to save a third party you also have to be careful that your ‘saving’ the right person and in any case you can still be charged with assault by brandishing your firearm if there was no reason to.
You could technically also use a firearm to resist an unlawful arrest but you better be VERY sure that the officer is trying to effect an illegal arrest because this is Virginia - your going to get the needle if your wrong.
Best advice I can give is, ask a lawyer for legal advice regarding use of force and self defense in our Commonwealth. A course for concealed carry permits usually has a primer on legalities but it’s best to research the issue on your own and not trust someone (including myself!) on the internet.
And, above all, use of deadly force is NOT authorized to defend property (home, wallet, car, etc.)
Hope that helps!
Like any profession, there are professional associations of police chiefs and other law enforcement officers. Chief Deane has national stature and prominence.
Experience counts. Why would you want to hire a neophyte? The only reason I can think of is to save money and to be able to boss him around.
I’m fairly new to the state and have a question. Is it legal in Virginia to shoot an intruder in your own home? I know that in some states, it is illegal.
Joe I am not leaving out any truth in my statement. Seems to me that you are not a hispanic that lives in the middle of it. I am actually in the military as an MP and training to become an officer when I graduate from college. So do not be too quick to judge me as someone who is iffy Ann. Oh yeah thats right I am a hispanic so dont get quick to judge that I am an illegal too.
I knew it would not be long before I could retract my pervious statement about blue_doggette. Even though I agree that the PWC Police Chief is doing what he can do, “has an excellent reputation and national ranking in the world of police chiefs.“ What polls are YOU looking at? I did not know that many Police Chiefs talk about each other. Maybe you have an “in” that nobody else does. “Why on earth would we want to take someone with less experience and national respect?“ Don’t you think that fresh ideas are necessary or do you want their jobs to be like the Supreme Court Justices; they either retire or pass away prior to being replaced?
Now what would changing Chiefs do? I can’t think of a thing. Chief Deane is serving the community well. He has an excellent reputation and national ranking in the world of police chiefs. Why on earth would we want to take someone with less experience and national respect?
do the right thing - “When you see 6 PWC police cruisers at the local Red
Robin restaurant out of service having lunch, that gives citizens the wrong
impression of the efficiency of their police.“
I am sure that you were sure that there was no special function going on that allowed some of the officers to take a break together, but of course, who would do THAT at a Red Robin. Would Old Country Buffet be more to your liking?
New leadership at the top of the PWC police would be a step in the right direction with fresh ideas and innovative measures in solving this growing crime problem.
It his healthy and necessary for a police department to change police chiefs and their commanders every five years to allow younger officers the opportunity for advancement and to break up the “good ole boy system” that is alive and well in the PWCPD. The surrounding police jurisdictions understand the need to do this.
I encourage all PWC residents to visit Fairfax County Police department’s website. It is striking the difference in the information provided to their residents. PWCPD are behind in various fronts involving modern day police efforts. Were you not surprised that your police department did not already have in-car cameras in their police cruisers, when surrounding police jurisdictions already had, and when this technology and funding have been out for over twenty years?
Adding more police officers is not the solution as the DC police found out when they had upwards of 5,000 officers and still had the highest murder rate in the nation. When you see 6 PWC police cruisers at the local Red Robin restaurant out of service having lunch, that gives citizens the wrong impression of the efficiency of their police.
I usually do not agree with blue_doggette, but this time I do.
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