Ga. Town Stunned After Woman Killed at Gas Station

[struggle4progress]

By JEFF MARTIN Associated Press
ATLANTA December 5, 2012 (AP)

... 65-year-old Linda Hunnicutt died after she was shot once in the chest Tuesday by the motorized wheelchair's operator, 73-year-old Frank Louis Reeves.

Reeves was apprehended in the gas station parking lot and is being held on a murder charge ... Police didn't know whether he has an attorney.

Police said Hunnicutt had driven onto the gas pump bay shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday when her Buick Lucerne made contact with the motorized wheelchair. Authorities say the woman stepped out of her car, and the suspect pulled a 38-caliber handgun and shot her in the chest.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ga-town-stunned-woman-killed-gas-station-17886369

[montanto]

1. That is truely fucked up.

[mikeysnot]

2. Now if she would have had one of those

concealed carry life saving devices, this would not have happened.

[louis-t]

3. Either you forgot the sarcasm.....

I rarely insert myself in RKBA, but do you mean "if the lady had pulled a gun and shot the guy in the wheelchair first"?

[sasha031]

4. yes she should of got out of the car armed, then they could of had a shoot out

[lalalu]

6. A shootout at a gas station.

What could go wrong?

[PavePusher]

14. Likely very little, with the actual station infrastructure.

Things don't blow up, or burn, in real life like they do on TV and in movies.

[lalalu]

17. So why don't you go

pump a few into a gas tank and prove it. Make sure you have someone standing by lighting a cigarette to prove it even further.


Don't forget to videotape it

[PavePusher]

18. Sort of like the NBC "exploding pick-up truck" gas tanks...

that had to be wired with explosives to get the "right" camera footage?

Yeah, I've got a job and my own hobbies, thanks. Feel free to try it yourself.

[lalalu]

22. You can do this the next time you get gas.

It would only take a few minutes. Just roll up to a gas station and fire a few rounds into a tank.

[PavePusher]

33. Please don't advocate criminal actions on DU, kthxby. n/t

[Glassunion]

20. Wouldn't have to.

The Mythbusters already did. Doesn't work.

[lalalu]

23. Only an idiot thinks there is no danger from firing

guns around gasoline.

[Glassunion]

25. I did not state that.

However, firing a handgun into a gas tank will at best cause it to leak creating a two fold risk. #1 the fuel is spilling and poses a threat to the environment. #2 you now have 1 of the components required to cause liquid fuel to combust - fumes. This can be then be sparked by some outside force such as static electricity.

However, firing a bullet into a gas tank will not cause the liquid fuel to ignite.

Combustion of a liquid fuel in an oxidizing atmosphere actually happens in the gas phase. It is the vapor that burns, not the liquid. Therefore, a liquid will normally catch fire only above a certain temperature: its flash point. The flash point of a liquid fuel is the lowest temperature at which it can form an ignitable mix with air. It is also the minimum temperature at which there is enough evaporated fuel in the air to start combustion.

That said, there are tracer rounds that if given enough time to travel and heat up to above 540'ish degrees F, this can cause the vapors in the tank to escape, mix with oxygen in the atmosphere and maybe ignite. However you still will not get that movie effect of the car exploding and flipping over. Best guess is that a small flame will be produced from the bullet hole where the oxygen and fuel vapors can mix.

[lalalu]

30. So it does cause safety hazards and a combustible situation?

So your longwinded post is suppose to prove what?

Did you read my original post?

A shootout at a gas station. What could go wrong

That was my post and obviously much could go wrong. So where in my post did i state it would result in an instant explosion? You make ASSUMPTIONS and you know where that leads.

Some of of you on here are so disagreeable that you find reason to disagree with anything.

[Glassunion]

36. I never stated it didn't.

I did read your original post. However, I replied to a different post of yours which was relating to things blowing up or burning.

I never made any assumptions, you posted a request that someone "pump a few rounds into a gas tank and prove it". That "IT" was your response to "Things don't blow up or burn like they do in real life, like they do on TV."

I was simply pointing out that shooting a gas tank does indeed not start a fire or blow things up. The potential for a fire is there, however it will not be caused by shooting. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/shooting-gas-tank.htm

I was never trying to be disagreeable. I get that folks on both sides of the argument in this group can be rude or quarrelsome just for the sake of it. But if you go back and look at my replies to you, all I was doing was pointing out what would happen, nothing more.

[sylvi]

39. Yeah, I'm sure

Yeah, I'm sure you had environmental concerns and gas leaks in mind when you made that post.

[lalalu]

43. So now you assume to know what i was thinking.

Keep assuming and making an ass out of yourself.

[sylvi]

49. I think it's pretty clear.

And you're not very good at this.

[lalalu]

60. The only thing clear is that you can't think clearly

or outside your little box.

[PavePusher]

21. Do you also believe that firing a gun through the fuselage of an aircraft will cause it to crash?

[lalalu]

24. Have you tried it yet?

Also videotape that. What I believe is that only fools take needless chances around combustibles.

[dballance]

26. Mythbusters Also did that experiment

Firing a gun through the fuselage of a pressurized aircraft will not cause it to crash - just depressurize. It won't cause those horrible huge gaping holes that suck out passengers that we see in movies or on TV.

[lalalu]

29. Just cause it to depressurize? LMAO

Yeah, that isn't a problem

[sylvi]

40. He didn't say it wasn't a problem

He's saying it's not the catastrophic problem the movies make it out to be.

But I think you knew that.

[lalalu]

42. I know I never said it would be

"the catastrophic problem the movies make it out to be"

The assumptions are your problem.

[sylvi]

48. I wasn't "assuming" anything.

I was addressing your sarcastic "Yeah, that isn't a problem" as if the previous poster was implying it wasn't at all. Tap dance faster.

[lalalu]

62. The tap dancing is in your head.

[dballance]

56. Well Yes You are Right.

If some psycho in a plane is firing off a handgun at 30,000 feet there are much larger issues at hand than the plane depressurizing.

[PavePusher]

34. I've been in military aircraft maintenance for 22+ years.

I've repaired bullet holes in airplanes and helicopters.

Here's what happens when you put a hole in the fuselage: Not much. It won't make the aircraft "explosively decompress" or other such fictional nonsense. Even if the aircraft did decompress rapidly, that would have no effect on it's controlability.

The point to all this is that in a fire-fight, worrying about the gas tanks is so far down the list of immediate concerns as to be negligible.

[Glassunion]

37. Correct me if I'm wrong

If an aircraft skin were punctured by a bullet (even a .50), wouldn't the pressurization system be able to compensate and maintain pressure?

[PavePusher]

38. Depending on the size of the aircraft, the size of the hole and the excess capacity...

of the air-conditioning/pressurization source, correct.

Most meduim-to-large passenger or cargo aircraft can easily deal with several square feet of hole.

[lalalu]

44. Sure, that's why we never repair holes in aircraft.

I have people in my family who have actually helped build and fly aircraft and no one ever assumes it is safe to fire holes into an aircraft.

[GreenStormCloud]

45. No one here said it was safe to do so.

We just said that it wouldn't cause the disasters that the movies show.

[lalalu]

46. The irony is that I never said such a thing either.

It seems the people defending the notion it could never happen are the ones who actually had that pop into their minds first. Oh my.

My post was that it could present a number of problems if people have a shootout at a gas station. There is a difference between firing guns in lets say an open field as opposed to a gas station. Common sense dictates that would be much more dangerous. Really, people only see this as dangerous in relation to movies? That is more frightening than any disaster movie.

Seriously, it seems common sense is lacking and hysterics and assumptions rule.

[GreenStormCloud]

50. The problems/danger would be about the same as a shootout in a parking lot.

Possibly greater in the parking lot.

[lalalu]

58. Not true at all but tell yourself that to feel better

[PavePusher]

47. Not at all what I said.

Please develop increased honesty, or go away.

[pop topcan]

55. If any of those people are engineers you might think about asking them about this question.

It's actually a pretty simple aero/thermodynamic mathematical exercise. You might have had a balloon with a slow leak at some recent point in your life...it just leaks, it doesn't explode.

[lalalu]

59. I have engineers and mathematicians in my family.

I know they never leave such things to chance.

[Recursion]

51. Especially since military ground vehicles use diesel

Which you can use to put out small fires (I've done that, mostly to scare people around me).

[PavePusher]

53. Well, technically, jet fuel is also diesel. Close enough for government work anyway.... 8>) n/t

[Recursion]

54. Huh, I'd never thought of it that way, but that makes sense

Good to know

[gejohnston]

28. you would mostly hit the electronics in the pump

the tanks are underground.

[lalalu]

31. Yeah, so in your world that doesn't present a probem?

You people are hilarious.

[gejohnston]

32. that is a problem

just not the one you think it is.

[lalalu]

61. So now you know what I think?

Another person assuming and making an ass out of him/her self

[PavePusher]

35. See post #34.

[ManiacJoe]

7. Your crystal ball must be better than mine.

[lalalu]

5. So this was a roll by?

Another idiot who thinks his scooter or wheelchair is a car and has road rage. What an absurd and sad story.

[sasha031]

8. wonder if the guy in the wheel chair will use 'Stand your ground' defense?

[GreenStormCloud]

15. He has to show self-defense first.

SYG only means that a person doesn't have to retreat. It is NOT a James Bond style license to kill.

[Recursion]

52. If he can prove self defense, it changes what is legally required of him

If he can prove he had a reasonable fear for his safety, the SYG law means he didn't have a duty to retreat. Since he was in a wheelchair, the inability to retreat means SYG would probably not change much.

[ManiacJoe]

9. I love the way folks jump to conclusions

after reading a poorly written article that contains no info about what actually happened.

[struggle4progress]

10. Macon DA: "It Was Never Involuntary Manslaughter"

12:54 PM, Dec 5, 2012

A man accused of shooting 65-year old Linda Hunnicutt Tuesday at an east Macon gas station was never going to be charged with involuntary manslaughter, says Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Greg Winters.

Winters told 13WMAZ Wednesday morning that 73-year old Frank Louis Reeves, the suspect in the shooting death of the Jones County woman has officially been charged with felony murder ...

According to the police report, just prior to the shooting, Hunnicutt confronted Reeves after he hit her vehicle with his motorized wheelchair ...

http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/article/206753/153/Macon-DA-It-Was-Never-Involuntary-Manslaughter

[struggle4progress]

11. Bond not set for man accused of killing woman at Gray Highway gas station

Published: December 5, 2012
Updated 22 minutes ago

... Frank Louis Reeves, charged with felony murder, made his first appearance before a Magistrate Court judge Wednesday afternoon.

The judge said Reeves’ case would be referred to a Bibb County Superior Court judge who would be able to set bond. A commitment hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19. At that hearing, police will explain why Reeves was arrested.

Reeves was wheeled into the courtroom in a standard wheelchair. His hands were not cuffed, but his feet were shackled ...

http://www.macon.com/2012/12/05/2274133/bond-not-set-for-man-accused-of.html

[slackmaster]

13. He's black and it's Georgia.

What else would you expect to happen?

[struggle4progress]

16. That certainly seems plausible

[dballance]

27. Thanks for playing the race card - unnecessary

I don't care if he's purple. Unless the woman was actually trying to assault or kill him I can't conceive of any reason he needed to shoot her. Even if he didn't mean to kill her.

From reading one of the articles is does appear that the man might have some mental deficiency. He apparently thought she was trying to hit him with her car. Which I highly doubt she was trying to do. Most people don't drive around aiming for pedestrians or people in wheelchairs.

If he has mental problems he certainly should not have had a firearm as evidenced by what happened in this incident.

[sylvi]

41. Yeah

And we-alls like to take the mule and wagon into town on Saturdays for the All Day Lynchin's down heah, too.

[jody]

65. I'm a native of Georgia and your comment is offensive. nt

[NYC_SKP]

66. Jury results: I voted to hide.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS:

"He's black and it's Georgia." is offensive.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Mon Dec 10, 2012, 08:37 PM, and the Jury voted 1-5 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT and said: We moderators would have called this a regional slur or bias, a group attack.

Hide.

:hi"


Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Post makes sense to me. Racism in Georgia is offensive, not the post.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: I wish there was a "No Opinion" option. The post works in other contexts, just not this one.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: I think the person in question was just making an observation. It does not seem like he/she was making a judgement.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Race relations in Georgia are offensive; don't shoot the messenger.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: I don't think it's offensive to suggest that GA and other southern states have had a racist history. Discuss it and refute it if you disagree with the poster's assertions.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

``

``

[slackmaster]

71. My dad was born there too, jody. He told me some very scary stories from when he was a young boy.

Poor white people weren't much better off than poor black people.

I'm sorry if my reply offended you. Invocation of the "race card" is common on DU. I think many of us would suspect that a white defendant might be treated differently, especially if the victim had been white.

[jody]

72. Apology accepted. Things have changed and many African Americans including my cousins have returned

to the South. They now hold high seats in government and business.

People of all races are working to make the South a better place to live and work. Jody

[jody]

68. So much for an objective DU jury

Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Post makes sense to me. Racism in Georgia is offensive, not the post.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: I wish there was a "No Opinion" option. The post works in other contexts, just not this one.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: I think the person in question was just making an observation. It does not seem like he/she was making a judgement.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Race relations in Georgia are offensive; don't shoot the messenger.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: I don't think it's offensive to suggest that GA and other southern states have had a racist history. Discuss it and refute it if you disagree with the poster's assertions.

[Eleanors38]

12. Investigate and prosecute as necessary. nt

[Blackhawk44]

19. bad karma --> scoring a guy in a wheelchair ..nt

nt

[rateyes]

57. I know the woman who was killed.

and, know her family even better. Mr. Reeves hit her car in the back quarter panel. She got out of the car to check on him and what happened. This woman didnt have a mean bone in her body, and was most decidedly not a racist. Another person saw her fall and went to help. She did not realize Linda had been shot until she turned her over. She yelled out asking who shot her, and Mr Reeves calmly admitted it, saying that Linda tried to run him over...again, after HE ran into her from behind.

Ive seen this man on several occasions riding that scooter around that dangerous area. There i no sidewalk, and he drove it in a turn lane from his apartment complex to the parking lot of the shopping center. It's in that parking lot where the gas station is located. There is a lot of non gas station related traffic through there.

I doubt, from knowing the set up there, that Linda even saw Mr Reeves until he hit her car, and she stepped out. Its at that point he shot her. No one knows what she said to him, but there is no way that he was justified in what he did.

The woman who came to help Linda was trying to save her life while Mr Reeves watched, still armed, until the police arrived. Linda died on the way to the hospital.

IMO, this was not about race. It is about a mentally unstable man armed with a handgun who took offense at an imaginary threat..road rage in a scooter, if you will.

This is sad on so many levels, and speaks to many ills of our society. Mr Reeves had suffered two strokes prior to this, and was paralyzed on one side of his body. The strokes left him mentally unstable in some ways.

This event speaks to the way society takes care of the poor and elderly, as well as gun laws that allowed this guy to be carrying a gun in the first place. Two families have been devastated by this needless horror...and, imo, Mr Reeves is guilty of taking Lindas life, without justification, yes...but, society itself has to take some responsibility here.

Sadly, however, being middle Georgia, this will be turned into another rant about race, with both sides accusing each other of racism. This wasnt "black on white" crime. (disclaimer: Im a white male). Rather, this story is about a mentally unstable man having to ride around in a scooter on a major highway to get to the shopping center, and being armed, and able to take out his unreasonable aggression out with fatal and unnecessary force.

My thoughts and prayers are with Lindas family, whom I know, and the Reeves family, whom I dont know...and with the society that looks at this and thinks we dont have any responsibility for what happened. We all, in this community, need to do some soul searching about how we treat the sick and elderly and poor...and about how we deal with gun violence.

But, again, around here, all that will happen is another shouting match over which group is more racist.

Sad.

[GreenStormCloud]

63. Thank you. N/T

[rateyes]

64. Thank you.

[NYC_SKP]

67. Thanks, rateyes, for your insight.

I agree, how sad though.'

[rateyes]

69. The politics of race is always the first concern around here. Its pitiful.

[jody]

70. Thanks. nt