Gun incident near President Bush's ranch

[JonInNY]

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) — A Danish journalist came this close to getting shot Saturday by an elderly woman packing a pistol near President Bush's ranch here in what was easily the strangest incident I've ever witnessed covering the White House.

It all started so innocently as I sat with a group of Danish journalists just down the street from Bush's ranch during a visit by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The two leaders were having lunch on the ranch, so I was waiting at a nearby historic one-room schoolhouse with White House staff to interview Rasmussen after the meal. Then the prime minister was going to do a brief press conference with the Danish press corps.

Terkel Svensson, a writer for the Danish News Agency, could not get wireless Internet access at the schoolhouse to file a story. But Svensson could get his cell phone working so he called his editor in
Copenhagen and started wandering across a quiet country road as he chatted away.

"I was just so occupied dictating my story that I didn't really see where I went," Svensson told me later. "I was just walking and talking."

What Svensson didn't realize was that he had stopped walking a couple hundred feet away, on the front lawn of an elderly woman. An elderly woman who looked through her window and didn't like that a strange man was standing outside her house. An elderly woman who had, um, a gun.

Next thing you know the woman is outside, no more than a few dozen feet from the journalist, demanding that he leave. "Suddenly she comes out and she says, 'Get off my property. You're trespassing,'" recalled Svensson.

Svensson was too preoccupied to notice the pistol, and was not aware that Texas law gives homeowners leeway on using a weapon when someone is trespassing on your property. All of us journalists across the street were too far away to see the pistol at first, until a Danish photographer with a telephoto lens announced to a bunch of us that there was indeed a weapon in the elderly woman's right hand.

As word spread that the lady had a gun - which she did not use - I can tell you it's a severe understatement to say White House and Secret Service officials were a bit concerned about the fact that they had just dodged an international incident. Ditto for Svensson, who was alarmed when he safely crossed the street and was shown dramatic still photos of the lady holding the gun.

"I will show the photos to my wife and children," Svensson told me. "They thought I was on a safe trip."

CNN was not able to reach the woman for comment.

–CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Ram Rod]

Wow! Wonder what would have happened had he thrown a gum wrapper on the lawn?

[FN1910]

"I will show the photos to my wife and children," Svensson told me. "They thought I was on a safe trip."

Somehow walking around, crossing streets, talking on a cell phone totally oblivious to his surroundings, all in a foreign country doesn't seem very safe to me. Take the gun out of the picture and he is still a dumbarse. Maybe the lady overreacted but I can't say a whole lot. I imagine she is tired of the press taking over here property acting like they have the right to do whatever they want to.

[mojust]

She's probably got her husband in the freezer.

[David in FL]

She's probably got her husband in the freezer.

[DaveH]

an elderly woman packing a pistol

Any time a story starts with "packing", "toting", "gunman", or another code word of the antis, you know that the story is designed to cast a bad light on guns, gun ownership, etc.

Some (as this one) are more skillfully written/camouflaged than others.

But IMHO, this whole deal was well designed to cast a bad light on gun ownership and on the Texas' Castle Doctrine -- the real message was "See what damage a dumb gun owner and/or the stupid Texas Castle Doctrine could have done -- caused "an international incident."

As far as I can tell she was just discreetly carrying for her own protection, as she asked the reporter to leave. Had she been more open or threatening, you can bet the paper would have been all over it.

Doubt if the paper would have published, "Dumbarse foreign reporter scare a local elder woman by trespassing and nearly caused an international incident."

If you have ever had reporters mob your property, with there "we are the press and we have a right to be here" attitude you might suspect the other untold side of this story.

[PackerBackerToo]

The journalist was so absorbed in his dictation that he did not notice where he was walking? He crossed the road and ended up in the yard, without noticing? Do you think the elderly woman was capable of fighting off the intruder? She carried the pistol as a deterrent and for self-defense. Isn't that why WE carry?

I would think that the elderly woman did speak to the journalist and in his distracted state, he did not respond. How would you interpret a nonresponse from someone tresspassing in your yard? I mean she did not shoot and the journalist never saw the weapon. He was shown pictures - after returning to the car.

If you live near the president - wouldn't you challenge someone in your yard? I don't live anywhere near the president and I challenge people in my yard. Around here we look out for the neighbors and "greet" visitors wandering around our neighbors yards.

My pistol is holstered during a greeting, but maybe she is still waiting for her holster from Brommeland, Sparks, or...

[Kerbouchard]

But IMHO, this whole deal was well designed to cast a bad light on gun ownership and on the Texas' Castle Doctrine -- the real message was "See what damage a dumb gun owner and/or the stupid Texas Castle Doctrine could have done -- caused "an international incident."

We don't take to reporters down here...especially them foreeners who tresspasses upon our land.

Doubt if the paper would have published, "Dumbarse foreign reporter scare a local elder woman by trespassing and nearly caused an international incident."

I bet the local gazette says something very similiar.

If you have ever had reporters mob your property, with there "we are the press and we have a right to be here" attitude you might suspect the other untold side of this story.

Sure they have a right to be there, and we have the right to shoot 'em if they don't leave. Gotta love Texas.

But seriously, if it had been a BG casing her house, and she hadn't of prepared herself and had been the victim of a home invasion, we would be saying, 'well, I hope she learned from this and will be prepared next time'.

She was prepared, the guy who was trespassing left, and nobody got hurt. All in all, pretty good outcome. If the reporters hadn't of had a slow news day we wouldn't have even had this reported.

[retsupt99]

We don't take to reporters down here...especially them foreeners who tresspasses upon our land.
I bet the local gazette says something very similiar.


Sure they have a right to be there, and we have the right to shoot 'em if they don't leave. Gotta love Texas.

But seriously, if it had been a BG casing her house, and she hadn't of prepared herself and had been the victim of a home invasion, we would be saying, 'well, I hope she learned from this and will be prepared next time'.

She was prepared, the guy who was trespassing left, and nobody got hurt. All in all, pretty good outcome. If the reporters hadn't of had a slow news day we wouldn't have even had this reported.

In this world, you can't trust anyone...the woman was properly prepared...that's all there is to the story...
Next?...

[DaveH]

My comment to them never got posted to the CNN site -- albeit was sent earlier than the last one they did post.

Wonder how many others comments, which CCN didn't like, were held up in the true censor/moderator stack before they pulled the plug and cut off comment?

[Janq]

Somehow walking around, crossing streets, talking on a cell phone totally oblivious to his surroundings, all in a foreign country doesn't seem very safe to me. Take the gun out of the picture and he is still a dumbarse. Maybe the lady overreacted but I can't say a whole lot. I imagine she is tired of the press taking over here property acting like they have the right to do whatever they want to.

Agreed.

Bush's neighbors the past 5 yrs. have been through hell with all the protests and such that have gone on in Crawford and specifically at Bush's ranch and along the road leading to it.
Any journalist should know that area has been a hot bed of activity _and_ that his neighbors have not been happy about it. This has been featured multiple times in national and international news.
Also, this ain't Denmark...it's Texas. Common sense and property rights prevail. Trespass is trespass even if you are some odd looking foreign tongue speaking professional friendly on a cell phone.
Pay attention to what you're doing, where you're going, where you walk, and to where you stand. Being a grown man and travelled person he should know this already.

When in Rome do as the Romans do, and be observant of Roman ways including Roman rights and laws.

- Janq

[bobcat35]

brings new meaning to the phrase "git off my lawn, ya dumb kids"

[mcp1810]

So who are these irresponsible idiots sending these people to Texas without giving them a safety briefing?

[packinnova]

Safety briefing? We don't need no stinking safety briefing. Who raises people to be irresponsible id10t's? People just need to learn a simple concept called Personal Responsibility. Wander onto my property and you're going to either:

A) come to some sort of agreeable terms with the dog:
--> 1. Dogs definition of Agreeable - Afternoon snack
--> 2. Your definition of agreeable - slowly back away and move your non-paying attention arse off said property
B) get eaten
C) If you manage to get by the dog or disable the dog in some fashion - You get shot
D) if A, B, and C didn't work the first time...get shot some more and then get eaten...preferably alive.

[MR D]

where did the link to this story go??

I know I linked to the site from this post - I am actually referencing the story in a paper I am writing...

How companies and organizations respond to publicly disseminated information...