Chicago Homeowner Not Charged in Shooting

[junglebob]

No charges will be filed against a man who shot and killed a man who police believe had broken into his house on the northwest side last weeek.

Police learned of the connection to the friday break-in when the suspect was found partially covered by snow in the a home's gangway in the 3800 block of North Troy Street, said police spokesman Daniel O'Brien.

An examination of the body later found that he had been shot in the back, and detectives tracked the case back to burglary report in the 3800 Block of North Kenzie Avenue, just across the alley.

Police believe the man ran across the alley behind the home after he was shot and collapsed in the gangway.

During an interview with detectives the homeowner admitted to shooting at the man during the burglary.

On tuesday night the Cook County States Attorney's office rejected any charges against the homeowner, O'Brien said.

Tandra Simonton, a state's attorney's office spokeswoman, said that murder charges were rejected against the homeowner because of insufficient evidence.

Also handguns are banned in Chicago under a 1983 ordinance, but O'Brien said the paperwork did not show the man faces any gun charges.

The man who was killed, who went by at least two different names in records, has yet to be officially identified.

[VegasGeorge]

This sounds too good to be true. Not that I doubt your report. It's just that I had always thought anyone caught using a gun in Chicago would be taken out and lynched, regardless of the circumstances. Unless, of course, the shooter happened to be a relative of some big Democrat.

[junglebob]

This sounds too good to be true. Not that I doubt your report. It's just that I had always thought anyone caught using a gun in Chicago would be taken out and lynched, regardless of the circumstances. Unless, of course, the shooter happened to be a relative of some big Democrat.
There is an Illinois statute that protects you if you are defending yourself, though many folks won't find it believable. I've read it before but don't know the statute number right off. Someone posted this story on the Illinoiscarry.com forum and someone gave the wording of the statute. It says-
(a) A person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against immenent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodlily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another or the commision of a forcible felony.

Someone gave a link on Illinoiscarry.com to the story, I couldn't get it to come up. It might be a glitch on my computer. It was at www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/homeowner-wont-be-charged-in-shooting.html You may be able to get the story there, not sure how long they keep things up. It was probably in the Chicago Tribune.

Though Illinois is a "right denied" state when it comes to carry, there is no "duty to retreat" like some states require. You can stand your ground in your own home and defend yourself with a firearm, suprisingly even in Chicago. I recall a story about an elderly woman in East St. Louis Illinois who had her house broken into. She had the broken window repaired that was used for entry. A family member gave her a handgun after the incident and maybe a week later a guy tried to break in during the night she shot him and he was found dead outside her house or apartment the next morning. No charges were filed. I don't imagine she had the required Firearm Owners ID card to have a firearm but I heard of no charges on that either. I don't think the States Attorney wanted to prosecute a grandmother defending herself even if she didn't have a FOID card.

I just tried the link I gave to the story(12/26 1:03 pm), and it came up. There are 24 comments about the article, only 1 would I call an "anti".