The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
When Mayla Hernandez saw news of a double homicide Friday night, the circumstances seemed too familiar.
She told the Sheriff's Office her boyfriend John Dorsey called her to pick him up around 12:30 a.m. Saturday on Sycamore Drive. He had blood on his forehead, was upset and wouldn't explain what happened.
By 8:30 a.m. Saturday, police arrested Dorsey and charged him with two counts of second-degree murder. His girlfriend played an instrumental role in his capture, the Sheriff's Office said.
Dorsey shot and killed Stephen Bunting, 20, and John Lott, 19, Friday night at a keg party in The Acreage, police said.
Rory Hewitt said his son Derek, 18, was having a small party in the back of the house.
"There was no loudness and all of a sudden I started hearing yelling and screaming," he said. "I came out and there had to be at least 40 people out here."
Dorsey and a friend arrived in his 1992 green GMC SUV and parked in an open lot next to the house where several other revelers mingled.
Witnesses told police Lott and Bunting came up to Dorsey and they got into a fight.
"He was punched and hit and then pulled out a gun," Hewitt said.
Dorsey fired twice, hitting Lott and Bunting once each in the chest, police said. They died on the scene.
Police said Dorsey escaped in his car even after one witness chased him and punched the rear window of his truck. Then, they said, he ditched his car and called Hernandez for a ride.
She told police that when she saw the news the next morning she recognized his car, drove to his home and confronted him. He told her, "I did it in self-defense," police said.
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Sounds like self-defense.
He'd have more of a case had he called the police immediately (IMO). Also what counts as self-defense depends upon the state and what is reasonable. I had a friend who pulled out a shotgun when a road rage guy drove him off the road. (He didn't shoot it) Yet this was considered illegal because it wasn't clear his life was in danger.
You can't get in a fight and then simply pull a gun. It's almost better to get hurt and then simply charge the folks with assault. Further if you were involved in starting the fight then you really don't have a leg to stand on. If the gun was illegal (i.e. you don't have a carry license) then you really are in a whole world of hurt. And deservedly so.
There's a huge difference between shooting an intruder to your home or someone trying to rob you and whipping out a gun in a bar fight.
If the gun was illegal (i.e. you don't have a carry license) then you really are in a whole world of hurt. And deservedly so.
I don't think this is correct. IIRC, in many if not most places in the USA, if you use an illegally carried gun in a clear case of self defense, you typically will not be charged for having the illegal weapon. There's a term for that, but I can't recall what it is.
That brandishing really worked, didn't it?
Section 776.012, Fla. Stat. (2006): "...a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if... [h]e or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another..."
This law is a defense lawyer's wet dream.
What's the moral here, speak no ill of the tricky?
Passing judgement from no more than a news article is a dubious excercise at the best of times. The unfortunate coincidence of the same family name for one of the deceased and that of a champion of the right of US citizens to bear arms and the use of deadly force to defend themselves doesn't seem sufficient for the (to me) less than appropriate title above.
Ken
John Lott is not dead!
And John Lott will never die -- no, not as long as the spirit of sockpuppetry continues to inspire every new generation of writers ...
I dreamed I saw John Lott last night, alive as you or me ...
"I dreamed I saw John Lott last night, alive as you or me "
Post of the year nominee
Passing judgement from no more than a news article is a dubious excercise at the best of times.
Lighten up, Francis.
In a broader debate I have to say I think a lethally armed populace is not a recipe for personal safety, rather it's a recipe for disagreements to end up with people seriously injured, maimed and killed. Accidents and misunderstandings are more likely to have dire consequences. And racial and other stereotypes will lead to spur of the moment decisions to use lethal force.
From what I've read of John Lott, his dubious studies and his opinions about gun control, I'm left in agreement with Tim Lambert. Whether or not there was a genuine fear for life and the actions taken in this specific incident were justified or alternatively were excessive and amount to murder, is best left to a court where I hope all the relevent facts are put clearly and heard without prejudice.
nanny_govt_sucks wrote, Sounds like self-defense.
Not really. IIRC basic standard is that you may use deadly force if you're shown deadly force.
While the newspaper account is of course sketchy, "punched and hit" doesn't sound like deadly force. (Things like kicking someone in the head could qualify, though.)
"Sounds like self-defense."
And, oddly enough, had Lott and/or bunting shot Dorsey instead, that would have sounded like self-defense too.
Accidents and misunderstandings are more likely to have dire consequences. Certainly they will be more likely, but will they be likely. I don't think so, and there is no evidence for that either.
Pardon the expression, but WTF! Blog Dude is in Australia! He lives in another world and if I recall, thanks to his politicians and lack of a Bill of Rights, cannot own a gun.
Also a few facts... The folks all under 21 are prevented from owning or possessing a handgun under current laws in US. (stupid, but then again, all youngin's aren't Audy Murphy)
The mistake this Dorsey made was pulling the trigger IMHO. He may have a hard time proving he feared for his life. Running after the fact is not so uncommon even in cases where the shooting is justified. Little in life prepares one for the aftermath of taking another life and people panic.
Autralia is hardly in another world than the US. And it is possible to own guns in Australia, there are just more restrictions than in the US.