Cops: 81-Year Old Shoots Man in Laundry

[Ghost in the Machine]

Cops: 81-Year Old Shoots Man in Laundry
Published: 10/16/07, 4:05 PM EDT

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - An 81-year-old woman shot a homeless man after finding him washing his clothes in her laundry room, police said.

Ethel Sanders told police she heard noises in her laundry room Monday morning, so she grabbed her handgun and found a man standing in his underwear near the washing machine, police spokesman Officer Eric Gallichant told the Press-Register.

Sanders, who normally uses a walker, shot the man when he came at her, Gallichant said. She was knocked to the ground by the force of the gun and the man grabbed it from her, Gallichant said. The man pointed the gun at Sanders, took his clothes from the washing machine and fled, Gallichant said.

Officers quickly found the nearly naked suspect at a nearby community center. He had been struck by a bullet that went through his leg to his stomach. He was expected to survive, and will be charged with first-degree burglary when he is released from the hospital, police said.

http://home.bellsouth.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=7434&eeid=5469416&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=3&ck=&ch=ne

[Warpy]

1. OK, this doesn't make sense

If it entered his leg and passed through to his stomach, wouldn't she have fired when she was down, possibly while he was in the process of trying to kick her?

I expect an update to this story. How about you guys?

[Richard Steele]

7. Yup. That seems like an odd wound path.

Further explanation would seem to be required there.

[Kingshakabobo]

15. It bounced off his leg and traveled upward.

I remember hearing stories of M-16 rounds striking a leg and coming out the chest. IIRC, the small calibers are notorious for that.

[Orrex]

2. So much for making a clean get-away...

I feel bad for Ms. Sanders--that must have been pretty terrifying.

[UndertheOcean]

3. So Now the system will provide him with a roof over his head

after he committed a crime. swell!

[NanceGreggs]

4. First-degree BURGLARY?

How much is a washer-full of soap and water worth in Mobile?

[pennylane100]

12. It may have to do with where he stole these items.

It was after breaking into a laundry room in someone's home.

[NanceGreggs]

13. That's why I'm confused.

Sounds like the appropriate charge would be breaking and entering, not burglary.

[Kingshakabobo]

16. I think charges get elevated when someone is home.

I'm sure different jurisdictions have different names for the charge. In Chicago, I believe it's "Home Invasion." Much more serious.

[NanceGreggs]

17. Thanks for the info ...

An 'elevated' charge when someone is home explains it. I was just surprised that the charge wasn't B&E - especially because there'd be no difficulty proving that in this case.

[aikoaiko]

5. Both are pretty lucky the other didn't kill the other when each had the chance

The little old lady needs to get to the range more and practice her double tap drills. And, although I'm glad the homeless guy lived, he really needs to learn not to sneak into people's houses to do his laundry.

[slackmaster]

6. He's going to need some of this to get the blood stains out

The stuff works great!

[Warpy]

8. Peroxide for fresh blood

and Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap for dried blood.

I found Oxi Clean to be a little tough on my clothes and it didn't live up to its reputation on blood stains.

For those of you are wondering why I had blood stains, I was a nurse. The advice also applies to butchers and chefs.

[slackmaster]

9. I often use an enzyme-based cleaner because I have pets

This stuff works great on dried blood, urine, feces, even skunk smell.

[davsand]

10. Where EXACTLY is the Laundry?

If she shot him there, I'd imagine it would be pretty serious (even IF i don't know where it is it just sounds bad.) Is it an extremity or is it filled with vital organs?

:evilgrin:


What a dreadful headline.



Laura

[Karenina]

11. Save *co the trouble, KILL EACH OTHER OFF!!!

Hear something? GRAB YOUR GUN! Even if you're 81. SHOOT FIRST! Ask questions later. :banghead:

[iverglas]

14. Ethel Sanderses in the news

http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7092531&nav=1L7t4viX

A week ago, a Jackson woman was killed in a domestic dispute. Monday night, domestic violence ended in death again, and the family of a murdered Jackson woman say police could have stopped her killer. Doris Shavers was shot and killed at her home in the 2100 block of Ludlow Avenue off Woodrow Wilson drive around 9:00 pm.

"That was my best friend, even though she was my daughter," said Ethel Sanders, Shaver's mother.

... Witnesses said it all began just before 9:00 pm, when Phillips pulled a gun on a teenager riding a bike down the street.

"He came out there and chase the boy down the street with the gun. He had the gun right here," said Shaver's Aunt Lavon Day. Family members said Jackson Police responded, questioned Phillips, took away his two guns, but then gave them right back.

"They took two guns, gave two guns back one that was legal and one they knew he didn't have registered gave the guns back to him then told him Today's you're lucky day," said Shaver's brother Clifton Hopkins. Family members say once officers left, Phillips went inside the home and turned the gun on Shavers. "As soon as the door shut you can hear, pop, pop,pop," said Shaver's brother James Hopkins.

Sorry. Just more news of the weird. The weirdness of gun culture in the USofA.

But back to the Ethel Sanders of the moment.

This may not be the first time that Penn had been there. Recently, a neighbor saw some clothes drying in the sun on Sanders' fence and asked her about them, she said. "They thought it was my grandson," Sanders said. But it wasn't, she said.

Obviously, a homicidal maniac.

Sorry, but I really don't find it rational to anticipate that someone who has broken into your home in order to use your washing machine is about to kill you -- that being the only circumstance in which decent rational people approve of using this kind of force against another human being. And damn -- when he got hold of the gun, after being shot by her, all he did with it was make sure he was able to get away from the woman who had shot him.

I'd say that he's deserving a medal for humanitarian action, and Ms. Sanders needs to be given accommodation somewhere safe and secure from all alarm. Surely that would be a better solution to whatever problems she has than her own:

"Whenever I hear a noise, I just go grab my gun," she said.

Yeesh. My grandmothers would probably have made the guy a sandwich. I like mine better.

[iverglas]

18. Victim of shooting was SHOOTER'S SISTER'S GODSON

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_15826.aspx
(emphasis mine)

The next case comes from Mobile, Alabama, where an 81-year-old woman shot a homeless man she found washing his clothes in her laundry room. When Ethel Saunders went to investigate noises from part of her house, she was startled to discover a man clad only in his underwear doing a wash.

The disabled woman, who uses a walker to get around, grabbed a gun and pulled the trigger when she says the man came at her. He was hit in the leg and the stomach by the bullet, before he overpowered the senior and fled. Cops caught up to the nearly naked 25-year-old suspect at a nearby community centre.

It turns out the man accused in the crime is the godson of Sanders' sister. "I talked to her last night and she apologized," notes the suspect, James Penn. "After she shot me and fell down, I picked her back up and made sure she was all right. I love her." Despite the make-up, he'll be facing charges when he's released from hospital.

That woman is definitely someone I want to live next door to.

NOT.