Criminal misuse of guns in Ohio – and the failure of gun control to stop it
5:05am Saturday, April 02, 2005
Gun control has failed to make our streets safe, and funding cuts are forcing police departments to downsize. It is time for a new approach to crime deterrence.
It wasn't a good Friday for two young wannabe robbers last week. Two Bucyrus boys, 15 and 16, tried to rob a 16-year-old classmate at gunpoint but got away, temporarily empty-handed. According to Bucyrus police Chief Ken Teets, the boys pulled a BB gun on the girl who was walking in the 500 block of South East Street around 10:30 a.m. "They asked her for her money and she said she had none, then they asked her if she had any drugs on her," Teets said, adding the girl said no. Police were called to the area and the girl said the gun looked like a 9mm. A Crawford County Sheriff's Office deputy saw the two boys who matched a description the girl gave police and officers converged on the two who gave up without any resistance. Both boys were taken to a Marion juvenile facility pending a Juvenile Court appearance. The incident was the [city’s] second armed robbery attempt in the city within the week.
We were told these types of crimes would happen after OhioCCW became law...but of course, it is a near 100% certainty her attacker wasn't a CHL-holder.
Officials are investigating a report of a shooting in Over-The-Rhine Monday afternoon, News 5 reported. Details are sketchy, but investigators said a disabled woman was shot in the left thigh at 1523 Race St. at about 1 p.m. They believe the suspect was shooting randomly. The suspect was described as a black male. Witnesses said he was tall and slim. He was last seen wearing a black skull cap, gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. The victim said he fled westbound on 15th Street. The victim was identified as Yvonne Williams, 39. She said the suspect shot at her three times, hitting her once.
Ohio State Highway Patrol bureaucrats say this man should have been able to "just drive away" from his attacker.
A 53-year-old Columbus driver was beaten and left on the side of the road last Friday night. As it turns out, his attackers were after more than just the man’s car. It was a routine drive to the grocery store for Oscar Baylor. But before he could make it home, Baylor got carjacked. “It just happened so fast," Baylor described. “I was more shocked. I never thought nothing like this would happen to me." "Two guys just jumped in the car and started beating me,” Baylor said. Then, they dragged Baylor out of his 1991 red Pontiac Sunbird and left him lying on the ground with a broken nose and other fractures in his face, along with a sore hip. He was able to walk home, and then Baylor immediately went to the hospital. But Oscar says is the most frustrating part of being carjacked isn't that they took his car. He told 10TV the worst thing stolen in the altercation was his hearing aid, because now he can't hear. Oscar says hearing aids are expensive. He wonders if he'll be able to afford a new one. He says despite what happened, he's working on forgiving his attackers, even though he won't be able to forget.
Statistically speaking, the only thing more dangerous than fighting back with anything other than a gun is to fight back with nothing at all. These people were lucky.
Owners of a south side tobacco store put business aside and rushed outside to save the life of a man who got shot just steps from their door. It was a routine night at the Lockbourne Smoke Shop when the two brothers who own the business had a customer come in and alert them about trouble out front. "The guy who sells CD's outside… he just got shot!” Mahmoud al-Mahmoud described. “And he needs help, because they’re fighting outside!" The owners then heard a gunshot and, along with their cousin, ran outside to save the sidewalk vendor. "He tried to shoot a couple of bullets to scare us, but we were quicker. And I grabbed the gun from him, and we beat him down," al-Mahmoud explained. He and his brother held the shooting suspect down until police arrived. Investigators say the man not only shot the victim in the stomach, but was also trying to rob him. The attack was something the two men said they would not tolerate. "We want to keep our neighborhood safe,” Mohammed al-Mahmoud said. “And we can't let anybody get away with something like that." The man who was shot in the stomach was taken to Grant Medical Center. Columbus Police said he was in stable condition. Police arrested 19-year-old Shonte Alexander Gordon at the shooting scene. Robbery squad detectives were charging Gordon with aggravated robbery and felonious assault with a firearm.
Human beings understand reason, compassion, and dignity. Predators understand strength.
It's an unthinkable tragedy that outrages neighbors when a man is robbed of his wallet right in front of his home but then beaten and left for dead. 60 year old Fitz Payne was in the same block as his home when three teens accosted him and violently beat him. After a night at the hospital, Payne died. A police officer happened to be driving by at the time of the assault. He jumped out along the 2400 block of West Third to help Mr. Payne. While medics rushed him to the hospital police arrested three teens -- a 15 year old and two 16 year olds. They were arraigned on aggravated robbery charges Saturday in Juvenile Court. But now that Payne is dead they could face murder charges in adult court, a punishment that fits the crime, according to Payne's friends. “Out of control, what they did to him was senseless, and I don’t even call them kids, because you have to be an animal to do what they did,” said Efrim Goldsmith. “If you’re man enough to do the crime, you should be man enough to do the time. Don't be crying now, cause you should have known better before you even did it,” said Charles Lucas. Friends tell 2News that Payne was a Vietnam vet, a former member of the Black Panthers and a huge advocate for kids and teens in the area. That's why they find this crime so shocking. They say Payne probably knew and helped the very teens that are responsible for his murder.
Company policies rendering employees defenseless keep the workplace safe, right?
The owner of Wine Cellar Innovations is in University Hospital today after being shot this morning as he arrived at work. Jim Dekenbach got to the office on Eastern Avenue a little after 7:30 a.m. Police say the gunman was waiting for him in the garage where Dekenbach parks. Dekenbach went inside the business, where someone called 911. He was shot in the stomach. His condition is not available. The business makes custom wine cellars and wine racks.
The state says she is too young to be trusted with her right to bear arms for self-defense, but she wasn't too young for a predator…
Oxford police are investigating a report of a rape Monday, News 5 reported. Officials said a 19-year-old Miami University student was inside the Stadium Bar, which is about one block from campus, with her attacker. The victim told investigators she had not met him before Saturday night. Police said as he was walking her home, he allegedly raped her in a nearby alley.
When confronted by a dangerous criminal, it's safer just to run away, not try to protect yourself, right?
A Toledo man was shot in his left leg last night during a bungled robbery attempt at the Southgate Circle Apartments on Southgate Circle Drive in South Toledo, police said. Joe Holston, 27, the victim of the robbery attempt whose address was not released, drove himself to Toledo Hospital, where no information about his condition was available last night. Mr. Holston told police he went to the apartment complex about 8 p.m. to visit a friend, but was confronted by an unknown man before he could get to the friend's apartment, Detective Lawrence Anderson said. The man reportedly told Mr. Holston to "give it all up," then drew a gun and shot Mr. Holston as the latter was backing up in order to run. The gunman then fled. Police had no suspects last night, Detective Anderson said.
But what about the gun control laws that said he couldn't be in possession of a gun?
A Zanesville man has been arrested in connection with a murder in South Carolina, and two other local residents were arrested as accessories in the fatal shooting. Jeremy S. McGilton, 24, was charged Tuesday with murder for the fatal shooting of James Young, 24, of 2766 Oak Bay Drive, in Horry County, S.C. According to Sgt. Maurice Jones of the Horry County Police Department, the murder occurred around or after midnight Saturday at Young's residence. Jones said Young's fiancee returned from work around 2 a.m. Sunday, found Young dead and called the police. The investigation led to McGilton. Locally, McGilton was sentenced to seven months in prison in June 2004 for having a weapon under disability.
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