Oklahoma pharmacist sentenced to life for killing would-be robber

[rancher of monsters]

Okay, here's the story. So two teenage guys try to rob a pharmacy when one of the pharmacist, Jerome Ersland, pulls out a gun and shoots one of them in the head. Sounds like self-defense, no one would argue against that. The story changes when Ersland, after driving the other robber out of the store, returns to the pharmacy, grabs a second gun, and proceeds to walk over to the first robber, Antwun Parker, and shoot him five times while he was on the floor unconscious. Some are saying it was self-defense others are claiming murder. Ersland was given a guilty verdict and sentenced to life in prison.

Personally, if Ersland had pleaded temporary insanity then I might have at least understood him. Emotions run high during that kind of situation and no one is going to react perfectly. But his claim that an unconscious person with a head wound was still a threat is beyond sketchy to me. So what do you think Escapist?

Link to the article
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43710936/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?GT1=43001

video report

 

[snowpuppy]

That's a tough one, too tough for this early in the day.

 

[Harn]

Murder is murder. Just because a (formerly) innocent man kills a guilty man, it doesn't change that fact.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Shooting someone who is trying to harm you = OK by me. Go for the head.

Shooting someone on the ground who no longer poses a threat = Not cool, bro.

Really, at least where I live, if someone is running from your home, you aren't allowed to shoot them. But if they are an imediate threat, then you are allowed to. Oh well.

No sympathy for the robber though.

 

[vxicepickxv]

If he had time to run and grab another gun, it's no longer actually the heat of the moment. Plus if he's not able to fight back, he's not a threat.

 

[goldfalsebond]

when i first read the title, I was like, oh god, not another one of these. but then i saw that he did go past that thin line of self defense. He was right for defending himself with that first shot, but that was it. once they are on the ground and are not gonna get up anytime soon, thats when you stop and get help.

 

[CD-R]

It was self defense up until the point where he went back into his store grabbed a different gun and shot the kid while he was unconscious on the ground. I'm all for self defense an the right to own guns, but it doesn't mean you get to execute criminals.

 

[Dense_Electric]

I don't really give a flying shit if the guy was an immediate threat or not, if you choose to rob someone you do so knowing there's the possibility the guy you rob is going to pull a gun and blow your head off - and it's no one's fault but yours. Now I'm not for letting the owner of the store off the hook completely, he definitely crossed a line and should have showed more restraint, but life in prison for what some punk kids pushed him into is bullshit. This is why I live in Florida, where when someone attacks you you're free to blow them away.

 

[Free Thinker]

Verdict is right. Self-defense is a given. But there's a reason Sgt. Overkill never became a G.I. Joe. I mean yeah they're Cobra soldiers, but damn. Gauss rounds to a dead body until its only a soggy pile of meat.

 

[Aerodyamic]

Taking the robber out of the fight initially is one thing, but shooting him repeatedly after you've already eliminated any threat he posed is reasonable grounds for at least a manslaughter charge. I feel bad for the old guy, but he crossed the line from self-defense to vigilante, when he went and got a second gun and finished the kid off.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I don't really give a flying shit if the guy was an immediate threat or not, if you choose to rob someone you do so knowing there's the possibility the guy you rob is going to pull a gun and blow your head off - and it's no one's fault but yours. Now I'm not for letting the owner of the store off the hook completely, he definitely crossed a line and should have showed more restraint, but life in prison for what some punk kids pushed him into is bullshit. This is why I live in Florida, where when someone attacks you you're free to blow them away.

This quote + your profile pic = hilarious.

OT: Of course he should get life. He killed that guy in cold blood for basically no reason.

 

[Hitokiri_Gensai]

He over stepped self defense line like crazy there. He was obviously in clear thought as he went back to get ANOTHER gun and shoot him when he was already down.

that said, i remember a story of a woman who had her purse snatched. She realized as the guy was running that she still had her 9mm pistol in her hand. She fired 7 shots and killed the guy, and when asked why she shot him 7 times she respond "because the 8th time i pulled the trigger the gun went click". She was released without charge.

 

[Dags90]

when i first read the title, I was like, oh god, not another one of these. but then i saw that he did go past that thin line of self defense. He was right for defending himself with that first shot, but that was it. once they are on the ground and are not gonna get up anytime soon, thats when you stop and get help.

We actually had a thread about this exact person only a month or so ago.[footnote]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/528.288383-Self-Defense-Story-over-in-OK?page=1[/footnote]

 

[rancher of monsters]

I don't really give a flying shit if the guy was an immediate threat or not, if you choose to rob someone you do so knowing there's the possibility the guy you rob is going to pull a gun and blow your head off - and it's no one's fault but yours. Now I'm not for letting the owner of the store off the hook completely, he definitely crossed a line and should have showed more restraint, but life in prison for what some punk kids pushed him into is bullshit. This is why I live in Florida, where when someone attacks you you're free to blow them away.

This quote + your profile pic = hilarious.

OT: Of course he should get life. He killed that guy in cold blood for basically no reason.

lol, I guess they take robbery very seriously in Equestria.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

He over stepped self defense line like crazy there. He was obviously in clear thought as he went back to get ANOTHER gun and shoot him when he was already down.

that said, i remember a story of a woman who had her purse snatched. She realized as the guy was running that she still had her 9mm pistol in her hand. She fired 7 shots and killed the guy, and when asked why she shot him 7 times she respond "because the 8th time i pulled the trigger the gun went click". She was released without charge.

Snoops says that ain't a true story [http://www.snopes.com/crime/justice/click.asp], sad to say.

OT: Life seems a bit harsh though.

 

[Dags90]

This is why I live in Florida, where when someone attacks you you're free to blow them away.

Oklahoma has some of the loosest self defense laws in country. It's Oklahoma.

The person he was convicted of murdering was lying face down, and unconscious in a parking lot. Nobody forced him to get another gun and shoot the guy again. Castle doctrine only applies to the residence you're defending.

 

[rancher of monsters]

when i first read the title, I was like, oh god, not another one of these. but then i saw that he did go past that thin line of self defense. He was right for defending himself with that first shot, but that was it. once they are on the ground and are not gonna get up anytime soon, thats when you stop and get help.

We actually had a thread about this exact person only a month or so ago.[footnote]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/528.288383-Self-Defense-Story-over-in-OK?page=1[/footnote]

I did a search, but nothing came up. But now I'm curious, were there new details in the case or was msn news just that far behind the story.

 

[Hitokiri_Gensai]

He over stepped self defense line like crazy there. He was obviously in clear thought as he went back to get ANOTHER gun and shoot him when he was already down.

that said, i remember a story of a woman who had her purse snatched. She realized as the guy was running that she still had her 9mm pistol in her hand. She fired 7 shots and killed the guy, and when asked why she shot him 7 times she respond "because the 8th time i pulled the trigger the gun went click". She was released without charge.

Snoops says that ain't a true story [http://www.snopes.com/crime/justice/click.asp], sad to say.

OT: Life seems a bit harsh though.

hmmm sadly thats what i get for reading through the editorials in gun magazines well, eitherway, the guy in OK is getting what he deserves. Sorry but thats so far beyond excessive force.