Man Shoots Lost Alzheimer's Patient Thinking He's A "Prowler"

[Gravekeeper]

Here we go again.

I don't even know what to say with this one. Christ almighty. ><

[crashhelmet]

/sigh

So many things about this either don't make sense, hit me in the feels, or completely infuriate me.

I'm sad that this man lost his life and his family lost their husband, father, and grandfather.

A cop found him trying to get the mail from a mailbox he used to use? Did they never change out the key? Did the cop not realize he might've been having problems either with the key itself or his Alzheimer's?

The shooter fired 4 shots at the silhouette of a man walking, quite possibly with 2 dogs, after allegedly giving verbal commands.A 72 year old old man, especially one with Alzheimer's, doesn't walk like he did in his youth. Add in two dogs on leashes, and it may look like someone just out walking their dogs.

This guy just moved into the house a few weeks prior. This could've very well been a neighbor letting his dogs do their business in the middle of the night.

I really hate to say this, but the only good thing about this entire ordeal is that everyone involved is white.

[Greenday]

Add in two dogs on leashes, and it may look like someone just out walking their dogs.

This guy just moved into the house a few weeks prior. This could've very well been a neighbor letting his dogs do their business in the middle of the night.

Who walks their dogs in their neighbor's backyard?

No, no sane person would have just been "out walking their dogs" in someone else's backyard.

[crashhelmet]

Who walks their dogs in their neighbor's backyard?

No, no sane person would have just been "out walking their dogs" in someone else's backyard.

Ever walked dogs? Ever walked more than one dog? They tend to get curious and sniff out various areas, especially if they get the scent of another dog. They also prefer to piss and shit on trees, fences, rocks, etc rather than just on the ground.

From the picture in the article, there's no fence enclosing the yard. That backyard could very well make contact with more than one yard.

[Greenday]

Ever walked dogs? Ever walked more than one dog? They tend to get curious and sniff out various areas, especially if they get the scent of another dog. They also prefer to piss and shit on trees, fences, rocks, etc rather than just on the ground.

From the picture in the article, there's no fence enclosing the yard. That backyard could very well make contact with more than one yard.

Yes I've walked dogs. I'm on my second and third dogs right now. They are both beagles. They LOVE sniffing. I don't let them go wherever they want. I walk them, they don't walk me.

[Salted Grump]

Are you also In your 70's with a degenerative mental disease that also affects physical faculties? Y'know, just asking and all.

[Gravekeeper]

And half dressed wearing a straw hat, don't forget that part. I just don't see how a half dressed confused 72 year old could advance on you fast enough to be threatening.

And why did you grab a gun but not a flashlight?

[Greenday]

And half dressed wearing a straw hat, don't forget that part. I just don't see how a half dressed confused 72 year old could advance on you fast enough to be threatening.

And why did you grab a gun but not a flashlight?

Great, now you make it sound like an old rapist instead of just a burglar.

And remind me of how great of protection a flashlight is from someone with two dogs?

[kamn]

A sufferrer of alzheimers is NOT a zombie or a cripple.
He or she can still walk. Can still run. Can put up a fight (and sadly, often do, when unneeded). Can appear threatening. More often do, than they don't.

Put yourself in the man's shoes. An unkown entity is walking on your property, you called the police, but assume they won't be here soon enough. Logical decision (though brash and aggressive) would be to grab a weapon and defend your person and property. Preferably jsut scaring the intruder. You notice the person is in your backyard, no light, no nothing. You're full of adrenaline, can't exactly think straight yourself. You hear (foreign) dogs as well, alarmingly close. The person starts walking in your general direction. You tell them to stop. They don't. You say it again, emphesised by your weapon of choice. They still don't. They keep walking toward you. You shoot in their general direction, in fear that they are just positioning and are about to leap at you.
This was dramatization, based on information given.
The man shooting had no way of knowing who the person he shot was. Or what his current medical condition might be. Alzheimer patients don't have a giant neon sign above their heads. Low visibility, and an alarming presence of foreign dogs don't help matters either.

Im not saying I like the outcome, or that it couldn't be handled better. I AM saying that given the circumstances, I can understand the man's choices and cannot fault him for taking them.

[Andara Bledin]

While Alzheimer's wouldn't make him slow or unsteady, being 72 most likely would.

In the man's shoes I have damn well made sure there was light before I would ever think to go out to where the assumed prowler might be.

Going outside when you think there's someone trying to break into your house when you don't have enough light to see the person is just fucking stupid. He never should have gone out without some source of light, gun or no gun. What if the person in his backyard had a gun and just decided to shoot him first?

[BlaqueKatt]

In the man's shoes I have damn well made sure there was light before I would ever think to go out to where the assumed prowler might be. <snip> What if the person in his backyard had a gun and just decided to shoot him first?

Yup, basic firearm safety, Know your target, AND what's beyond it. What if right behind(lateral distance) the "prowler" was a couple with a small child in a stroller walking home? Some local endangered species? or any other innocent? Sorry but I see this as horrifically negligent.

[siead_lietrathua]

Logical decision (though brash and aggressive) would be to grab a weapon and defend your person and property.

while i dig the grabbing the gun part.... how in holy hell is going outside into a dark yard with an unknown disturbance outside (he couldn't have known if it was 1 guy or 5!) in any sane 'verse logical? staying inside, so if someone comes barging in you can defend yourself, sure. but going outside? hell no.

i swear, guns must give people a false sense of security. whenever an article comes out like this, it smacks of some dingbat wanting to be a hero by stopping the bad guy. but they never seem to really stop and think about what it could be they're walking in to. be it an innocent person, or a gang of armed thugs.

then someone panicks. someone gets hurt or dies. no wonder so many gun deaths happen.

[Greenday]

then someone panicks. someone gets hurt or dies. no wonder so many gun deaths happen.

Because it's okay to protect your family and property. Shitty situation all around, but he was fully within his rights to protect someone advancing on him.

When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

[BlaqueKatt]

Because it's okay to protect your family and property. Shitty situation all around, but he was fully within his rights to protect someone advancing on him.

In some states using deadly force to protect mere property isn't legal, and most of the people that panic and shoot an innocent are ones that either have zero clue, or totally disregard basic firearm safety. Anyone can purchase a firearm*, not everyone knows or cares to learn how to properly use one. Which causes the stereotype of "redneck bubba with a beer in one hand and a rifle in the other" to gain traction.

*barring certain criminal convictions or mental health issues

[Rapscallion]

Because it's okay to protect your family and property.

When did it become acceptable for the death sentence via vigilante for petty theft?

Rapscallion