Stand Your Ground: Now You Can Shoot The Handicapped!

[Gravekeeper]

Stand Your Ground. Again.

Guy accidently almost runs over a mentally handicapped man and his dog. Man becomes upset at almost being run over and "waves his hands in the direction of the vehicle" while yelling. Guy in car fucking shoots him in the heart. Without even getting out of the car. No charges.

The shooter told police that Adkins "air swung" his hands in the direction of the SUV, but acknowledged he never hit him or his vehicle. Still, he said, he was afraid of what Adkins might do with the weapon he believed he was carrying. Although a weapon was never found, the shooter described it as a 3-foot metal pipe or bat.

When Adkins lifted his hands in the air again, the driver drew his Smith and Wesson .40-caliber handgun from his sweatpants. He pointed the barrel at Adkins from inside his car and racked the slide of the gun, putting a bullet in the chamber. Then he pulled the trigger.

Though the best part:

While the shooter said he did not believe Adkins would have killed him and his fiancée had he not fired, he also said he feared Adkins was trying to hurt him.

Remember, this fucker is still in his SUV too, and no there was no weapon. The guy he shot was still holding onto the leash of his dog when they found him.

So apparently you can just straight up shoot people because they're mad at you for almost running them over.

Good to know!

My favourite part is the guy's dad pulled a gun on CNN too ;p

[Greenday]

This guy really is going to have a hard time proving how the guy in his wheelchair was really a threat to him or his property (Causing damage because you ran into a person does not fall under that category).

[ExRetailDrone]

So, the fucker admits that he did not see the victim as a threat to his life, yet still thought it was perfectly fine and dandy to pull his weapon and shoot the guy in the fucking chest. Right. Self defense. Of course. I'll remember that next time someone flips me off while we're both driving down the highway...I can just say that I felt that his actions meant that he might cause me harm and I can shoot him in the face

I'm really ashamed of my country >.<

[Anthony K. S.]

CNN was unable to locate the shooter but spoke with a man who identified himself as his father. The man didn't want to be named and stood behind the door of his home, warning that he had a gun in his hand.

Oh, yeah, that's going to help your son's case.

I see that good thinking processes run in the family.

He said witnesses at the scene told him that Adkins "went beserk" on his son, raising his hands and yelling: "What the hell, you almost hit me" and to "watch where the f*** you're going."

Really? A guy was pissed off and yelling because a car nearly ran him over?

You don't say!

This man is certainly not unbiased, since he's the shooter's father, and even at that, he's not really offering much of a defense.

The shooter's father worries that his son will be seen as another George Zimmerman."This is not like that case," the father said. "This guy was attacking my son."

What, by yelling at him?

Screaming at somebody is now considered cause to use deadly force?


After admitting that Adkins never actually hit him or his car and that he didn't really believe Adkins would kill him or his fiancee, plus that whole bit about the imaginary weapon ...

The shooter's case wasn't looking good to begin with, and his father is definitely not helping.

[Andara Bledin]

It'd be funny (in a demented not humorous manner) to see the guy slapped with a reckless driving charge, since he admits that he almost ran over a pedestrian.

That, in addition to the murder 2 charge.

It's interesting to note that the case that sparked the creation of the SYG law in Florida was actually due to the police failing to take another crime seriously: The man shot in that incident was suffering from a fractured skull and had called 911 to report a domestic dispute, but when police found him acting "very jumpy" and "unable to stand still," and having "trouble completing his sentences," and "difficult to understand," they just left him like that. Considering the circumstances, I suspect they were a spread thin, but the entire situation could have been prevented with just a little bit more interest in the man's condition.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

How much do you want to bet that the long object used as a weapon was a cane?

[DrFaroohk]

So it happened at the drive thru at a fast food place.

From what I read, the driver didn't "almost hit someone!!!!111!!". Adkins "Almost got his ass hit because he's hanging out in the drivethru lane on foot."

If the shooter's side of the story is true, can you imagine just being at mcdonalds and some psycho who was standing in the road suddenly starts yelling at you? I can, because it's happened, and it's fucking scary. I hate to be "that guy" here, but when it's someone with a mental disability you have NO FUCKING CLUE what he might do next!!!! Maybe he forgot where he is. He's in the middle of 'nam and you're charlie! oh shit! Or suddenly he's a ninja turtle and you're the shredder! You just never know.

The only real problem I have with the shooter is it doesn't seem like he really gave the guy a good warning. Like "Get out of my way or I shoot you". Something like that to let the guy know he was about to be shot dead.

[Rapscallion]

So it happened at the drive thru at a fast food place.

From what I read, the driver didn't "almost hit someone!!!!111!!". Adkins "Almost got his ass hit because he's hanging out in the drivethru lane on foot."

If the shooter's side of the story is true, can you imagine just being at mcdonalds and some psycho who was standing in the road suddenly starts yelling at you? I can, because it's happened, and it's fucking scary. I hate to be "that guy" here, but when it's someone with a mental disability you have NO FUCKING CLUE what he might do next!!!! Maybe he forgot where he is. He's in the middle of 'nam and you're charlie! oh shit! Or suddenly he's a ninja turtle and you're the shredder! You just never know.

The only real problem I have with the shooter is it doesn't seem like he really gave the guy a good warning. Like "Get out of my way or I shoot you". Something like that to let the guy know he was about to be shot dead.

I'm trying to believe you just typed that.

Rapscallion

[crashhelmet]

To rile up the conspiracies further, the victim was latino.

The police are refusing to reveal the name of the shooter, since he hasn't been charged.

How much of a shitstorm will be created when it turns out this guy is white in a State that's already proving how much they "love" their latino population?

[DrFaroohk]

I'm trying to believe you just typed that.

Rapscallion

I did just type that. If you can't believe it, here it is again:

So it happened at the drive thru at a fast food place.

From what I read, the driver didn't "almost hit someone!!!!111!!". Adkins "Almost got his ass hit because he's hanging out in the drivethru lane on foot."

If the shooter's side of the story is true, can you imagine just being at mcdonalds and some psycho who was standing in the road suddenly starts yelling at you? I can, because it's happened, and it's fucking scary. I hate to be "that guy" here, but when it's someone with a mental disability you have NO FUCKING CLUE what he might do next!!!! Maybe he forgot where he is. He's in the middle of 'nam and you're charlie! oh shit! Or suddenly he's a ninja turtle and you're the shredder! You just never know.

The only real problem I have with the shooter is it doesn't seem like he really gave the guy a good warning. Like "Get out of my way or I shoot you". Something like that to let the guy know he was about to be shot dead.

[Andara Bledin]

Except that the shooter, who is in control of a 2-ton potential death-machine, has an obligation to not run over people in what may or may not have been a pedestrian walkway - a large percentage of the fast food places I've visited have crosswalks across the drive thru, and not just at the entrances/exits, but crossing in areas that are between the order point and the pay/pickup point. We know he turned a corner, so if he nearly hit someone, then he was going too fast for the conditions.

As for feeling threatened, the victim didn't even hit the truck, so I can't say it's reasonable for anyone to believe that the pedestrian would have somehow launched himself from in front of the vehicle all the way to inside the vehicle without the people inside the vehicle being able to lock their doors, roll up their windows and drive away.

He claims that he couldn't drive away because the dog was in front of the SUV, so shooting the dog's owner was the only option. How fucked up in the head do you have to be to think that shooting a man is somehow preferable to possibly running over a dog?

^-.-^

[DrFaroohk]

We know he turned a corner, so if he nearly hit someone, then he was going too fast for the conditions.
^-.-^

Well, "nearly" hit someone means he "didn't" hit someone. There tends to be a very loose definition for "almost" hitting someone. Just walking down the street you can say that every driver "almost" hit you because he comes within a few inches of you.

I just wonder how many of us would be so clear headed in this situation. "Hey honey lets go get some cheeseburgers and...oh shit, honey? this guy standing in the drivethru doesn't seem to want to let us go thru. AND he's throwing a massive fit. Jesus, I hope he doesn't bite us..."

[Duelist925]

Well, "nearly" hit someone means he "didn't" hit someone. There tends to be a very loose definition for "almost" hitting someone. Just walking down the street you can say that every driver "almost" hit you because he comes within a few inches of you.

I just wonder how many of us would be so clear headed in this situation. "Hey honey lets go get some cheeseburgers and...oh shit, honey? this guy standing in the drivethru doesn't seem to want to let us go thru. AND he's throwing a massive fit. Jesus, I hope he doesn't bite us..."

"Hey, lets, I dunno, drive the fuck away in our two ton tank of a car. We can go in reverse! Or hell, go forward slowly so the dog moves out of the way!

NAh. Ill just shoot the dude."

[Andara Bledin]

The article says that according to the police report the driver "slammed on his brakes" to not hit the victim. Anyone who has to slam on their brakes in a drive thru to not hit someone is driving recklessly.

Having actually been in far more threatening situations (where people actually did hit my much-smaller vehicle), I can say without a doubt how I would react, and at no time did I not think that a pedestrian attacking a person in a car was an idiot. A single person with a dog and even with a pipe or knife is not a real threat unless the person in the car loses their shit. Considering that "the two men exchanged words," I think it's much more likely that the shooting was done in rage rather than fear.

^-.-^

[crashhelmet]

So it happened at the drive thru at a fast food place.

From what I read, the driver didn't "almost hit someone!!!!111!!". Adkins "Almost got his ass hit because he's hanging out in the drivethru lane on foot."

If the shooter's side of the story is true, can you imagine just being at mcdonalds and some psycho who was standing in the road suddenly starts yelling at you? I can, because it's happened, and it's fucking scary. I hate to be "that guy" here, but when it's someone with a mental disability you have NO FUCKING CLUE what he might do next!!!! Maybe he forgot where he is. He's in the middle of 'nam and you're charlie! oh shit! Or suddenly he's a ninja turtle and you're the shredder! You just never know.

The only real problem I have with the shooter is it doesn't seem like he really gave the guy a good warning. Like "Get out of my way or I shoot you". Something like that to let the guy know he was about to be shot dead.

Seriously?

First off, EVERY fast food drive through I've EVER been in or even seen has had plenty of distance and lighting for a driver to see a pedestrian in standing at the window. The only way this guy could've almost hit him is if he wasn't paying attention to where he was going (Which would make it his fault, regardless of a pedestrian being there) or if he intentionally tried to hit/scare him.

Secondly... he wasn't crazy. He had the mental capacity of a 13 year old. He wasn't delusional.

Thirdly, If this article didn't say he had a mental disability, would you know? How did the driver know? This was just someone yelling "Hey, watch where you're going!" it says nothing about him yelling gibberish or screaming "God Damn you Skeletor! I will protect Castle Grayskull!!!!!"

The biggest line of bullshit in this story is this quote right here:

He told police he had no choice but to shoot. He said he couldn't drive away from Adkins because the dog was in the way and he "thought he had no other options," according to the police report.

He was in an SUV and the other guy was on foot. Shooting him in the chest was a better option than driving forward and making him move out of the way? taking a life was a better option than getting a scratch or dent on the precious truck?

ETA
Not to throw further conspiracy-like assumptions here, but this happened in Laveen, Arizona. Laveen is in Maricopa County. AKA Sheriff Joe Arpaio's kingdom.