At WalMart-82-year-old woman alive because

[bdickens]

Rob Pincus defines combat accuracy as "any shot that significantly affects the target's ability to present a lethal threat." I'd say that by that definition, the lady's shots were combat accurate.

[seamusTX]

When I see stuff like this - it makes me wonder why we don't have vigilante groups just climbing out of the woodwork trying to get their hands on this guy.

Mob rule has never worked out well. It takes almost no time at all for the mob to become a protection racket and start demanding "street taxes."

- Jim

[ddstuder]

They should tie him up and let her whip him with her cane. See how he likes it.

[davidtx]

Compvest,

Don't the same (large parking lot environment) conditions apply to just about anyplace you go to buy whatever it is you need?

The HEB I go to is part of a larger shopping area and thus the parking lot is quite large.

The same parking lot conditions exist if I go to Home Depot or Academy even when they're a stand alone business - that is, the parking lots are enormous providing ample ambush for predators.

Or, do you think that Walmart especially attracts low life's more often than other shopping venues?

I have a business in one of the newer HEB Plus's. We have several LEO's as customers and we hear about problems from them. Several armed robberies over Christmas holidays. Daytime armed robbery a couple of weeks ago. Until I started hearing these reports, I would have thought it was a very safe place. Camera's everywhere - doesn't seem to slow it down.

[ericlw]

when I worked at a credit union all of the old ladies carried a gun. they looked like a super old granny but you didnt want to mess with them.

[Abraham]

davidtx,

Which is why I keep my head on a swivel as I make my way to and from the various places I go. (Sure Walmart parking lots aren't safe, but that's true for any of the large retail shopping / parking lots)

Doing so not only helps prevent being taken by criminal surprise, but has also kept me from being run over by those who think nothing of flying through a parking lot like it's the freeway.

[TexDotCom]

davidtx,

You illustrate perfectly my point that signs reading, "Protected by surveillance cameras" are ridiculous. Unless the cameras are shooting laser beams at the perps, they're just recording the malicious activity.

[Kythas]

The victim said owning a gun isn't for everyone but added with the proper training it's a good idea particularly for elderly people like her that are becoming victim's more and more often.

Really? The news article itself pluralized the word 'victim' with an apostrophe? And no copy editor caught that?

What are they teaching in school these days? Never make a word plural by using an apostrophe. That's NEVER right.

Sorry, but this is one of my pet peeves.

/off soap box

[seamusTX]

How many s's does the word Mississippi contain?

It was a TV web site, not a newspaper. Many of these sites get people who are barely literate to transcribe oral reports into text.

There's a whole subculture of humor based on errors in closed-caption TV broadcasts.

- Jim

[CompVest]

davidtx,

Which is why I keep my head on a swivel as I make my way to and from the various places I go. (Sure Walmart parking lots aren't safe, but that's true for any of the large retail shopping / parking lots)

Doing so not only helps prevent being taken by criminal surprise, but has also kept me from being run over by those who think nothing of flying through a parking lot like it's the freeway.

All parking lots have the potential to be unsafe but all parking lots of large retail stores are NOT created equal! WalMart is more crime ridden than other stores by a factor of 10. A shopper is ten time less likely to be targeted by bad guys (pardon the pun) than WalMart shoppers.

[Abraham]

CompVest,

O.K. - Any idea why Walmart is so much worse than the rest of the large retail parking lots.

I'm not disagreeing, but I am baffled why you know them to be so much worse.

Statistics or ...

[Keith B]

I don't think one store lot is any safer than the next. The only difference is you get mugged by a higher class of robber in the Needless Mark-up's parking lot. They bad guy there wears Dockers, Izod polos and a Rolex watch (which he probably got off the last BMW driver he robbed in the same lot.)

Actually, we have had more serious car jacking, mugging and robbery attempts at NorthPark Center in our area. That mall has high-end stores, and upper crust clientèle as it is near the Park Cities area. I feel the BG's have determined they can get a better vehicle, more cash or high end jewelry if they hit someone in the lot there than the poor working schmuck (like me) that shops at Wally World and drives a beater car.

[outdare]

I am glad the old lady is ok, but has any one considered where her shots ended up? Just curious, I think she did the right thing.
Think about how you would feel if you walked out to your car and find bullet holes. Opens up a whole new liability question, is she responsible for the imagined damage, the criminal or the store for lack of security?

[bdickens]

No liability as long as she didn't act in a reckless manner.

[seamusTX]

My guess is the shots hit the pavement and broke up or embedded in asphalt, as no one was injured and no one reported damage. (I would not have noticed bullet holes in some of the cars I owned.)

BTW, shooting low (as at a 45° angle) is common when people suddenly have to shoot with no preparation.

As a general issue, if a defender causes injury to an innocent party or damage the property of a third party, the defender is liable for it (PC 9.06).

The criminal is legally responsible for all the consequences of his criminal action, but that doesn't relieve the defender of civil liability.

Wal-Mart, in this case, probably would have no liability. Wal-Mart has been sued many times for crimes that occurred on its property -- even inside stores -- and nearly always wins (that is, the store is found not to be at fault).

- Jim