Homeless Man Stops Shotgun-Wielding Attacker In California Encampment

The Second Amendment was written for all of “the people,” not just those who have enough money to own a sizable gun collection or the latest concealed carry rig. In fact, Americans living in homeless encampments just might be more likely to need to practice their right to armed self-defense more often than those living in gated neighborhoods with expensive security systems.

By Mark Chesnut for The Truth About Guns

Such was the case recently when a homeless man shot another homeless man who was coming at him with a shotgun in a California homeless encampment.

According to media reports, a man shot and killed another man at the Chico Homeless Alternative Camping Site in Chico, California. Upon arriving at the scene, officers found 53-year-old Donald Laroy Stevens dead from gunshot wounds. He had been shot by another man living in the encampment, 51-year-old Gerald Michael Thompson, who fled the scene after the shooting.

Chico Police reported that detectives initially investigated the death as a possible homicide and interviewed several residents of the camping site. Residents told them Thompson and Stevens resided in neighboring tents, and one of Thompson’s dogs had severely attacked one of Stevens’ dogs earlier in the day.

Numerous witnesses said that Stevens was very upset and was yelling that he was going to kill Thompson, Thompson’s dogs, and Thompson’s family while racking the action of a shotgun at his tent, which was directly across a walkway from Thompson’s tent. Thompson grabbed a .22-caliber revolver out of his tent in case things got worse.

Seeing Stevens was the aggressor, another resident tried to stop him by reaching for the shotgun. Thompson later told officers that when he saw the motion out of the corner of his eye and saw Stevens flinching, he reflexively pulled the trigger, dropping Stevens with one shot.

According to Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, under California law, self-defense is justified when an individual, who is not the initial aggressor, reasonably believes they are in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily injury. Multiple parties, including Thompson, told detectives that Stevens was known to be dangerous and irrational when upset, and that Stevens had threatened other people before.

Ultimately, investigators and prosecutors concluded that Thompson had a reasonable self-defense claim, so no homicide charges were filed against him. However, he has been charged with possessing a firearm as a felon, which could land him in prison for several years.

Read the original article in its entirety at The Truth About Guns.

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