Tuesday morning feel good stories

From Titusville, FL

Florida armed bystander stops gunman at crowded back-to-school event at park, police say.  An armed bystander shot a man who opened fire at a Florida park filled with over 100 people — including children — for a Saturday back-to-school cookout, officials said. The Titusville Police Department said in a news release the man was involved in a fistfight with another person at the Issac Campbell Park and left around 5:20 p.m. — only to return with a gun minutes later and start shooting.

A bystander, who was lawfully licensed to carry a firearm, then shot the gunman. “We are extremely grateful that nobody else was injured in this incident,” Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson said in a statement. “This suspect opened fire at a crowded public park. This could have been so much worse.”

From Charlotte, NC

A 20-year-old man was shot and killed in southeast Charlotte Monday morning after he allegedly broke into a business, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.  The owner of the American Beauty Garden Center, a gardening center on East Independence Boulevard, called 911 to say he was responding to an alarm at the store around 4:30 a.m., about the same time as officers responded to a call from the alarm company.  A few minutes later, the owner called back and said he had shot someone, according to a CMPD press release. The owner, who has not been identified, was still at the scene when officers arrived.

Justin Tyler Anderson was found behind the store. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  Police believe Anderson smashed the glass front door of the gardening center and ran back out through that door when the owner arrived. That’s when he was shot, police said, and then he ran around to the back of the store.

From CITRONELLE, AL

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and Citronelle Police are investigating a homicide that happened early Sunday evening. Police say an argument between two men led to the shooting at a residence on Walter Stewart Road in Citronelle.  The Sheriff’s Office at on Monday said the homeowner and shooter is Robert Wesley Ezell. The man who was shot was Yusuf Jerome Mabry.

The Sheriff’s Office said Ezell shot Mabry as he entered Ezell’s residence armed with a revolver. Ezell was detained on the scene, authorities said. “What basically happened was as far as we can gather right now is there was a quarrel amongst them, and it escalated to a gun being produced,” said Citronelle’s acting police chief, A.J. Moore. “Once that occurred there was a struggle over the weapon and the shot was fired and the individual wound up getting shot.”

The Sheriff’s Office provided the following: “Ezell told MCSO Investigators that he recently met Mabry through mutual friends.  Two days prior, Mabry brought an ATV to Ezell’s residence to be worked on.  When he returned to residence on August 5, the ATV had been moved to another location and Mabry became angry pulling a revolver threatening to shoot whoever moved the ATV.  Ezell retreated to his bedroom and armed himself with a 12 gauge shotgun.  Ezell warned Mabry to leave and not enter his bedroom.  Mabry refused and entered the room.  Ezell fired a single round striking Mabry in the thigh. Ezell and Mabry began to wrestle over control of the revolver.  The altercation moved outside and was witnessed by several bystanders.  One of the witnesses called 911.”

Witnesses on the scene told MCSO detectives that they did hear Ezell shouting and warning Mabry to not enter his room, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Based on witnesses and the evidence thus far, the shooting appears to be self-defense.

Category: Politics