Immediate Threat and Use of Deadly Force

A woman is recovering from stab wounds and the suspect in her case died after a neighbor shot the man in her defense, Brentwood Police said Wednesday.

Police, Fire Rescue and paramedics were called to a home on Lost Hollow Drive just after 1:15 p.m. Wednesday after a neighbor called 911 to report the stabbing. Before officers arrived, a neighbor confronted the man, identified as 26-year-old Julian Porter.

Porter died Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the department said Thursday morning.

It is not clear if the same neighbor who called 911 is the same neighbor who shot Porter.

"The neighbor attempted to physically intervene, but he was unable to stop the suspect from actively stabbing the woman," police said. "The neighbor, in front of several witnesses, then shot the suspect multiple times."

Brentwood Police: Woman stabbed, neighbor intervenes, shoots suspect

And then we have:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A shopper who was robbed of his merchandise earlier this month in the parking lot of the Mall at Green Hills is now wanted for homicide.

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said the charge stems from an incident that took place on Feb. 4 in the mall’s parking lot.

Authorities reported 31-year-old Genesis Denton was robbed of his Louis Vuitton merchandise as he was returning to his vehicle. Denton fled the mall’s parking lot in a rented Volvo SUV after he was confronted and robbed at gunpoint, police said.

During the investigation, officials determined that Omari Moore, 30, was the alleged robber. Moore reportedly fled the mall parking lot in a Tesla sedan, which was driven by 30-year-old Emmanuel Easley.

According to a Thursday press release from the MNPD, Denton allegedly gave chase and pursued the robber’s getaway vehicle onto the interstate and fired shots into it. Easley later lost control of the Tesla and crashed into a tree off the Interstate 65 north entrance ramp from Interstate 440; he died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Shopper in robbery case at Nashville, TN mall now wanted for criminal homicide

Leaving the discussion about why or why should not have the right to use deadly force to defend property for other time and we focus on what the law is as of right now.

In the first case there was an obvious and urgent need to defend a life. I may even argue that demanding the culprit to stop was unnecessary because that one more chance for the bad guy to issue another wound may have proven fatal. (IANAL warning) This case more than likely will not go farther than a final determination of justifiable homicide unless there are other things we don’t know about.

On the second case, the victim of the robbery gave chase to the armed criminal once the initial criminal action had ceased, and the immediate danger had passed. Add to that that there were shots fire on the highway presumably on the move while surrounded by other motorists and then left the scene. What you have here in not-so-legal terms is a cluster f*ck in which the initial victim is now the one facing a long time in prison.

Spanish Grand Captain Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba back in the 16th Century was fond of saying “A enemigo que huye, puente de plata” (A fleeing enemy, silver bridge) and it is a smart position: If you know and control where you stand, there is no need to chase after somebody into a situation outside your control. Yes, there are a couple of exceptions, but they are that, exceptions.

Be smart. Ego kills.