Daily FGS
District attorney rules fatal shooting at Walmart was self-defense
by Jaime Adame
The man who shot and killed a 21-year-old Springfield man in the parking lot of a Walmart in Eugene did so in self-defense, Lane County District Attorney Christopher Parosa said in a statement Thursday, Nov. 20.Jaime Javier Lagarda-Govea died Sept. 5 after being shot in the parking lot in the 4500 block of West 11th Avenue. Police said the shooter remained on the scene and cooperated with investigators.
Parosa identified the shooter as Elijah Lais. His place of residence was not available.
The finding of self-defense came after “interviewing unrelated eyewitnesses, employees of Walmart, reviewing of video, forensic evidence, scene evidence and statements of those involved,” according to Parosa’s statement.
Lais and his son were inside Walmart when they were “accosted by a group of three young men, including Mr. Lagarda-Govea,” according to the statement.
The district attorney’s statement says that when Lais realized he and his stepson were being pursued outside the store, he told his stepson to run ahead to their vehicle, a truck.
As Lagarda-Govea ran by, Lais pushed him to the ground and began to run to the driver’s side of the truck.
“Mr. Lagarda-Govea got up and continued to pursue Mr. Lais, and Mr. Lais saw Mr. Lagarda-Govea drawing a firearm, which police later determined to be loaded, from Mr. Lagarda-Govea’s waistband. Mr. Lais opened his driver’s door, giving him access to his own firearm, which he retrieved and used to shoot the fast-approaching Lagarda-Govea,” according to the district attorney’s statement.
Lais’ stepson told investigators, “Lais would ultimately shoot Mr. Lagarda-Govea when as close as an arm’s length apart” from Lais, according to the district attorney’s findings.
The district attorney’s statement also notes an encounter three days earlier, at the Lane County Courthouse, where two men in a black SUV approached Lais and his stepson. A man exited the SUV and “verbally accosted them, stating something like, ‘I’m gonna blow your head off.’”
On the day of the shooting, one of the men in the black SUV, along with Lagarda-Govea, accosted Lais and his stepson at Walmart, according to the district attorney’s findings.
The district attorney’s statement doesn’t say what the dispute involved. While Lais stayed at the scene, the other two men said to accost Lais and his stepson fled but were later identified, according to the district attorney’s office.
Lagarda-Govea, who was known as Jimmy, once worked at the Walmart in Eugene where he was killed, his cousin, Diego Fierro, said in a September interview.
“I am so torn, my cousin’s life was taken from him so young,” Fierro said in September.
No Score
Look Out Eugene
Let’s all squeeze out a tear for dear departed Jimmy.
He wrapped himself in quotations – as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of Emperors.
-Rudyard Kipling
Category: Feel Good Stories
Well his association with Walmart has finally come to an end.
Walmart likes it video cameras. I watch crime shows and most of the videos used to catch the perps are from Walmart.
I haven’t seen wall martian pics of wall martians in wallmart lately.
A great example of FAFO.
Agreed.
Well, I tried to squeeze out a tear, but all I managed was a burrito fart.
Diego Fierro needs to fierro-out the poor life choices he and his cousin made, and change his ways.
Jaime Javier Lagarda-Govea was a laime example to regarda or go-via.
Yeah, no tears here por su amigo, Diego.
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/walther-arms-suspends-production-of-ppk-line/ old timers here just know this is gonna break Graybeard’s heart.
You forgot the /s tag for the newcomers, David.
Let’s hope the “modernization” includes “reliable right out of the box” and something better than a lawyer-proof trigger.
And that repair services improve.
I always leave my carry weapon in the truck while shopping.
Especially when entering the post office, bank or any other
place where not allowed by law or requested by the owner.
Good on Lais for being “prepared’ as one of our recently
departed commenters often said.
I have to leave mine when I go in the post office, hospital, or medial facilities associated with hospitals. By law.
Fortunately my bank allows concealed but not open carry (understandably).
If the store has a Texas 30.06/30.07 sign up, I go somewhere else.
Otherwise, I’m too old to run out to the truck for my gun, so it stays close.
There, fixed that!
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (10/12) Movie CLIP – When You Have to Shoot, Shoot (1966) HD
I wonder, what was the citizenship status of Lagarda-Govea’s companions? His status has been noted, not that it matters now.
He was deported to Hell.
Should they follow?
What status is that—deceased?