In this case I don't know how much race played in this instance. If I, as a business owner, was looking down the barrel of a gun I would shot the culprits too. But I'm a bit torn on this story because the pharmacist shot the unarmed 16 year old would-be robber once initially and then went back to pump five more shots in him as he laid unconscious on the ground and UNARMED...
I am all for people protecting themselves, their property, their loved ones and whomever else they need to protect when faced with imminent danger. But this was not the case. After the first shot put down the 16 year old, the 14 year old armed co-culprit (Jevontia Ingram) ran out the front door of the business.
Jerome Ersland, 59, justified his additional shots by stating that the would-be robber still posed a threat to him and his two co-workers. Thousands of people have signed petitions asking Governor Mary Fallin to pardon Ersland or at least ease his sentence....
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Because here's my problem. He shot the kid in the head the first time and the kid fell unconscious to the ground, unarmed. The 14 year old kid who was not shot was actually the one with the gun and he also was the one that got away. So, there was no threat of harm to Ersland because the guy with the gun ran off & the other one was on the ground, unconscious, but still alive. He was not justified in killling him. He would've only been justified in shooting that kid and killing him had all five or six shots been consecutive. At least then he could've said well, I shot at him because he posed a threat and his partner had a gun so I was shooting at them both or something to that effect. But, when he had an opportunity to call the police and an ambulance he instead opted to go behind the counter, grab a different gun, come back, stand over the kid lying on the floor and pumped five more shots into him for good measure. I have a problem with calling that self-defense.
That is not self-defense. You are not defending against anything! You are enraged and shooting in cold blood. If this were a wetback I would not have a problem with this. But I have a problem with THIS- because the kid was Black, young, possibly made a mistake, possibly went along with his friend to see if they could pull the caper off and ended up getting his life taken away by an overzealous pharmacist that very possibly had pre-existing animosity toward Blacks....
But guess what else I have a problem with? The mother of the dead would-be robber now wants to sue the pharmacist!
1) This man is going to jail for life. How is he going to pay her? 2) How much responsibility lies with her 16 yr.old son who knew what he was doing was wrong? 3) How much of this lies at her feet? Afterall, where was she when he was running the street? Why didn't she have a tighter grip on him?
According to the probable cause report, Ingram (the 14 yr. old) said he was contacted by a friend of his mother's and a cousin of that man, both later identified as Emanuel Mitchell and Anthony Morrison. If your child is hanging around people like this YOU are responsible for keeping an overly watchful eye on your child and if need be stop that child from hanging out with those types of people PERIOD.
I'm so sick of people trying to find someone else to blame for their shortcomings. She failed as a parent, she failed as a protector and she will fail in this civil suit as well. She's a three time loser. Her son greatly contributed to his own demise and the fact that this pharmacist was obviously out to kill does not take away from the fact that her son was shot in the commission of a criminal act!
Like I said, I am torn because there was wrong from all parties. I believe the pharmacist should've been armed and used his gun when faced with the armed would-be robbers, but I do not believe he should've went and shot the kid AFTER the kid was down, not to mention UNARMED. The kid was wrong for trying to rob these people and surely contributed to his own death just by being there under those circumstances. And the mother of this kid has a cross to bear as well because of the company she allowed her son to keep.
It's a fucked up situation all around, because now you have a man in prison for life who was, at least at first, just trying to protect his store and co-workers. You have yet another Black male gone and will never see graduation, prom or his first child. And you have a mother who will never watch her son grow into manhood, go off to college or have a family of his own....
No one wins. It's all bad. It's all bad ya'll.
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