Good: Hopkins student kills intruder with samurai sword

zackintosh · September 15th, 2009, 11:57 AM

Johns Hopkins student kills intruder with samurai sword, police say -- baltimoresun.com

Quote:

A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a man who broke into the garage of his off-campus residence early Tuesday, a Baltimore police spokesman said.

According to preliminary reports, a resident of the 300 block of E. University Parkway called police about a suspicious person, department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. An off-duty officer responded about 1:20 a.m. to the area with university security, according to Guglielmi. They heard shouts and screams from a neighboring house and found the suspected burglar suffering from a nearly severed hand and lacerations to his upper body, he said.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

The student told police that he heard a commotion in the house and went downstairs armed with a samurai sword, Guglielmi said. He saw the side door to the garage had been pried open and found a man inside, who lunged at the student.

Detectives were still interviewing the student and his three roommates Tuesday morning, Guglielmi said. Burglars had already stolen two laptops and a Sony PlayStation from the student's home Monday, according to Guglielmi.

Dennis O'Shea, a spokesman for Johns Hopkins, said all four residents of the house are undergraduate students at the university.

The suspected burglar, whose name was not released pending notification of next of kin, had prior convictions for breaking and entering and had just been released Saturday from a Baltimore County facility, Guglielmi said.

TerriLi · September 15th, 2009, 12:07 PM

I think someone needs a sign "Warning Samurai on Duty"
Nice job on the students part.

packinnova · September 15th, 2009, 12:12 PM

Quote:

The suspected burglar, whose name was not released pending notification of next of kin, had prior convictions for breaking and entering and had just been released Saturday from a Baltimore County facility, Guglielmi said.

Nice...so he had a history of B&E...they released him on Saturday and by early Monday AM he was already at it again...

farronwolf · September 15th, 2009, 12:24 PM

Well it looks like the sentence for this one is terminal. He would have served himself by staying in the lockup. Oh well.

zackintosh · September 15th, 2009, 12:29 PM

Quote:

found the suspected burglar suffering from a nearly severed hand

Looks like they caught him red handed!

edr9x23super · September 15th, 2009, 12:33 PM

Wow, that's pretty cool. From the nearly severed hand, I would guess the guy halfway knew what he was doing. Too bad he didn't go for the head.

MattLarson · September 15th, 2009, 12:50 PM

Being Maryland, you can expect charges to be filed against the guy defending his property.

Matt

InspectorGadget · September 15th, 2009, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattLarson

Being Maryland, you can expect charges to be filed against the guy defending his property.

Matt

The NSA (National Sword Association) lawyers must be stopped, there is too much Sword Violence, We must control and register all swords, we do not want to take your swords we just want to know who has them. All blades MUST have their serial number on the blade so the victims of sword violence have the serial numbers imprinted into their skin, allowing the police to look in to their sword database and identify the owner of the sword. Also we need sword locks that you must remove before you can use the sword on an intruder, this will only take a minute or two to remove the sword lock if someone breaks in your door, just tell the violent criminal to wait until you unlock your sword they really wont mind.

Seriously, Matt is right they will probably charge the victim/victor with attempted murder since he could have just fled out off his house instead of attacking the BG. I would be disgusted but not surprised.

Janq · September 15th, 2009, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattLarson

Being Maryland, you can expect charges to be filed against the guy defending his property.

Matt

Yep. ^^

As well he'll not be eligible for any self defense exclusion under castle laws due to item four (4) of the applicable MD law;

Quote:

Self-defense is a common law doctrine that has been addressed by Maryland courts on
numerous occasions. Included in the doctrine of self-defense is a duty to retreat, that is, a
duty by the individual claiming self-defense to retreat and escape the danger if it was in
his power to do so and was consistent with maintaining his safety.

See Sydnor, 365 Md. at 216, 776 A.2d at 675.

In order to succeed on a claim of self-defense, the accused must have: (1) not been the aggressor or provoked the conflict; (2) had reasonable grounds to believe that he/she was in apparent imminent or immediate danger of losing his/her own life or incurring serious bodily harm from his/her assailant or potential assailant; (3) actually believed at the time that he/she faced this type of danger; and (4) not used more force than the situation demanded.
See Marquardt v. State, 164 Md. App. 95, 140 (2005). See also Sydnor v. State, 365 Md. 205, 216, A.2d 669, 675 (2001).

Traditionally, under common law, the right to the use of deadly force in self-defense did
not apply until the claimant “retreated to the wall.”...

Other states, like Maryland, have adopted an exception to the duty to retreat known as the “castle doctrine.” Under the castle doctrine, “a man faced with the danger of an attack upon his dwelling need not retreat from his home to escape the danger, but instead maystand his ground and, if necessary to repel the attack, may kill the attacker.”
See Burch v. State, 346 Md. 253, 283-4, 696 A.2d 443, 458 (1997) quoting Crawford v. State, 231 Md.
354, 361, 190 A.2d 538, 541 (1963).

Source - http://house.state.md.us/2007RS/fnot...001/sb0761.pdf

Further he went to danger seeking it out and thus placing himself into danger at the garage, even as it might have been an attached structure.

There is no duty to retreat in MD, but there is an expectation to not engage and expose ones self to danger...which he did, directly resulting in "more force than the situation demanded".

Severely severing the hand is enough to _STOP_ a threat and render him a non-threat.
Continuing motion and activity to follow up with a slice to/across the body, which no doubt was his mortal wound, that secondary action in the immediate is manslaughter...if not a second degree murder charge.

He had better secure a very good attorney, stat.
Folks with lesser issues in MD have been charged, tried, and imprisoned. Seriously.
This is Maryland (!).

Yet another example of why and how _measured_ action AND reaction is a requisite as related to self defense be one at their home or elsewhere.
Also it is critical that folks understand their own state laws as not all or even most states allow taking of human life as to defend property.

- Janq

dldeuce · September 15th, 2009, 01:56 PM

Compliments of the freerepublic.com:

Charges for what you ask?

“Unlawful interference with involuntary wealth redistribution”.

September 15th, 2009, 12:07 PM	#2
TerriLi Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 829	I think someone needs a sign "Warning Samurai on Duty" Nice job on the students part. __________________ I know not what this "overkill" means.

September 15th, 2009, 12:24 PM	#4
farronwolf VIP Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 2,604	Well it looks like the sentence for this one is terminal. He would have served himself by staying in the lockup. Oh well. __________________ Just remember that shot placement is much more important with what you carry than how big a bang you get with each trigger pull.

September 15th, 2009, 12:33 PM	#6
edr9x23super Distinguished Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 1,733	Wow, that's pretty cool. From the nearly severed hand, I would guess the guy halfway knew what he was doing. Too bad he didn't go for the head. __________________ "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined". - Patrick Henry

September 15th, 2009, 12:50 PM	#7
MattLarson Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Central Florida Posts: 2,849	Being Maryland, you can expect charges to be filed against the guy defending his property. Matt __________________ Hope is not a plan.

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September 15th, 2009, 01:56 PM	#10
dldeuce Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 438	Compliments of the freerepublic.com: Charges for what you ask? “Unlawful interference with involuntary wealth redistribution”.