This is BAD

[dave86]

A woman hit a man carrying a toy gun with a car because of what she thought he might do. The DA will not charge her because of what the police thought he might be ready to do. The media spins the story to make her a hero.

EDIT. One hour later. The linked story was changed quite a bit after I made this post. Many details were added that provided justification for her actions. The story originally said that she ran the man over just because she thought he was going to shoot the kids. It made no mention of him pointing the gun at her.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/08/09/police-aliquippa-woman-thwarts-robbery-by-running-over-suspect/

Beaver county DA http://www.beavercountypa.gov/district-attorney
Aliquippa Police http://www.aliquippapa.gov/aliq_city_police_dept.php

[Jed Meyers]

Quick question: why did he remove the orange tip and also made it look like a sawed off?

[ramathorn]

He cut off the colored tip that help identify it as a toy. Even with the tip, any forward thinking individual would toss it in a bag just to avoid these situations. The guy is luck he only got hit by a car and not shot. His fault imo.

[Rickrock1]

No brains No headaches

[broofy]

It's a bunch of FUD.

The story states that the police think the guy was going to rob a convenience store. It doesn't say why they think that. Time will tell if this guy was a sketchy character that was thwarted, or an innocent person run over because of Hoplophobia.

I wouldn't give it too much credence unless it starts to blow up into a bigger story.

[scarville]

There is a lot missing from this story. Why did the woman suspect he was going to shoot the kids? Is it legal in Pittsburgh to use lethal force because you suspect someone may be up to no good?

[Dee_Dub]

toy gun without orange tip can look like a real gun... Im surprised that woman tried to run him over. How bout dont engage and just make a phone call.

[dave86]

It could be you.

He cut off the colored tip that help identify it as a toy. Even with the tip, any forward thinking individual would toss it in a bag just to avoid these situations. The guy is luck he only got hit by a car and not shot. His fault imo.

Think about the next time you are carrying a gun while breaking no laws. You will be lucky to live though the experience.

Is that what you are trying to say? That merely having a gun is grounds to be killed?

[dave86]

It doesn't matter.

Quick question: why did he remove the orange tip and also made it look like a sawed off?

We have a right to bear arms. The driver had no right to run him down. She should be facing 20 years for attempted murder.

[broofy]

We have a right to bear arms. The driver had no right to run him down. She should be facing 20 years for attempted murder.

You might want to wait until the rest of the story comes out before saying that. You might change your mind if it turns out he was a 9 time felon who had robbed that same store twice before and left his get away car in a handicapped spot.

Now, if he turns out to be some college kid on his way to a friend's house, then yes, she should be charged with attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon.

[Hoooper]

curious what the headline would have been if the woman had shot him with her legal concealed carry weapon.

civil court that guy can get paid for sure, it would be a shame if she is not arrested as its pretty obvious you cant just attempt to murder someone because you think they might be planning to commit a crime. If there was/is more evidence to support why she would think he was targeting the kids then I can actually see the path for her to not be arrested. If her only evidence is that there was some guy walking down the street with a gun, she needs to have soap on a rope.

[Hoooper]

You might want to wait until the rest of the story comes out before saying that. You might change your mind if it turns out he was a 9 time felon who had robbed that same store twice before and left his get away car in a handicapped spot.

Now, if he turns out to be some college kid on his way to a friend's house, then yes, she should be charged with attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon.

how does that change anything unless she knew that? Chances are she had never seen the guy before which means he was no different to her than you, me, or Bill Nye and she ran him over based on POTENTIALLY very little reason. Maybe she is a bloomberg troll though and is trying to give a new angle on why open carry should be outlawed.

[Jed Meyers]

You might want to wait until the rest of the story comes out before saying that. You might change your mind if it turns out he was a 9 time felon who had robbed that same store twice before and left his get away car in a handicapped spot.

Now, if he turns out to be some college kid on his way to a friend's house, then yes, she should be charged with attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon.

Those facts should not matter as they were unknown to the woman who ran the guy over. What matters is whether or not you are allowed to carry that type of weapon at that location or not. If not, then the next question should be whether or not it was reasonable for her to suspect it was a real gun and was he doing something that justifies self-defense (or defending others).

[ChrisC]

You might want to wait until the rest of the story comes out before saying that. You might change your mind if it turns out he was a 9 time felon who had robbed that same store twice before and left his get away car in a handicapped spot.

Now, if he turns out to be some college kid on his way to a friend's house, then yes, she should be charged with attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon.

Doesn't matter what a person has done in the past, she had no right to run him over. She should be in jail for attempted vehicular manslaughter.

[morfeeis]

You might want to wait until the rest of the story comes out before saying that. You might change your mind if it turns out he was a 9 time felon who had robbed that same store twice before and left his get away car in a handicapped spot.

Now, if he turns out to be some college kid on his way to a friend's house, then yes, she should be charged with attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon.

THAT WOULDN'T MATTER AT ALL!!!! Unless she saw him commit a crime and she was acting to stop said crime she should be in jail on attempted murder charges. Had it been a different gun he could just have been open carrying.

edit

The spin by the paper makes me sick. headline should have read "local woman runs down unarmed man due to paranoia". I'd like to find out if she was on drugs of any kind.