65-year-old Shoots Dead Two Teenage Muggers

I live in Lancaster PA USA. The incident this board is discussing happened about 30 miles from my home. I would like to state some of the facts of what happened.

1. Only one attacker was killed. the other was shot and is expected to recover and will be charged with multiple felonies.

2. These boys were 15 and 16 years old. All have prior police records.

3. Earlier in the day the boy who was killed, Julius Johnson, had been visited by truant officers from the Reading school district, they had placed an electronic ankle monitor on him and ordered him to report to his parole officer at 4:00 PM with his parent/parents.

4. These boys had attacked and robbed two other men in the hour before this attack.

5. The attack itself consisted of punching the old man in the face to knock him off of his bike. He was then kicked in the chest by Johnson into a chain link fence. The second attacker rushed to join in the attack and it was at this time the man opened fire.

6. It is illegal to fire warning shots in Pennsylvania. You are allowed to use deadly force if you attacked.

7. The 65 year old man was licensed to carry a concealed weapon (that is legal in Pennsylvania and this incident shows the need for it). On this point I would like to point out an incident that occurred in your country last summer. Muslim merchants
were killed when the attempted to defend their property with sticks and stones from rioters who used a car to run straight into them. These merchants would have been better served by a large caliber handgun. Your laws forbid them this defense.

Some of the comments on this thread have lamented the loss of this young life. I ask this question: "Consider the future victims of the career thugs/criminals that have been spared the beatings, robbery, brain damage and death by Johnson's death?" I realize my comments may be offensive to many here but as I always say "there are no bleeding heart liberals laying on the ground being beaten to death by thugs".

I don't see what's so brave about pulling out a gun and shooting two people. All he had to do was show them the gun and tell them to get on the floor till the police arrived or he'd shoot them.

I applaud the old man for defending himself, but I'm not celebrating the death of a young boy.

Yes, I know they tried to rob him and he brought it on himself, but that still doesn't warrant being killed.

You're an old man. Probably arthritic and coping with a multitude of other health problems that come on around sixty. Three healthy, young lads pull you off your bike and start beating you. You're panicked, fearful, and in serious danger. You could curl up in a ball and wait for the ambulance to arrive and hope they don't kill you. Or you can muster up your courage, draw your gun and make the decision that you're not going to lie back and take it. I'd call that heroic - what does he have to do for you, slay a dragon? He's a pensioner not Beowulf.

I don't see what's so brave about pulling out a gun and shooting two people. All he had to do was show them the gun and tell them to get on the floor till the police arrived or he'd shoot them.

Like I said, revealing the gun would be more than enough to get them to back off. Frankly I think it would have been braver of him to not shoot them and just have them arrested. I don't understand why you're head is so far up his arse and you feel the need to mock me; the simple fact is there is nothing brave about shooting two kids. Sure they're scum, and the world is probably a better place without them, but as far as bravery is concerned, it isn't really.

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=361536

"A 65-year-old man shot two teens, one fatally, as they tried to rob him Wednesday morning on a trail near the Schuylkill River, police said.

The Berks County coroner's office did not release the name of the boy who was killed, saying only that he was a 16-year-old from the city. Officials said his mother asked them to give her time to notify relatives before releasing his name.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:17 p.m. by Deputy Coroner Jonn M. Hollenbach. An autopsy is scheduled this afternoon in Reading Hospital.

The other teen, who was shot once, was taken to Reading Hospital. Police did not release his name. Information on his condition could not be obtained.

A third teen, identified only as a 15-year-old boy, was stopped at the scene by police and taken in for questioning. He was later committed to the county youth center in Bern Township on unspecified charges.

Authorities also did not release the name of the man, who was not charged.

Police said the shooting occurred shortly before 11 on the Thun Trail near the Schuylkill River pedestrian bridge between Reading and West Reading.

According to investigators:

The man was riding his bicycle on the trail near the Bertolet Fishing Dock at South First Avenue and Chestnut Street in West Reading.

The teens knocked the man off his bicycle, and two of them assaulted him.

The man pulled out a handgun and shot them both.

Someone flagged down a passer-by in the 200 block of Riverfront Drive near Reading Area Community College.

Within minutes officers from the city, West Reading, Cumru Township, state police and the Berks County sheriff's office were at the scene. They found the dead boy on a sliver of land that is part of Cumru at the end of the pedestrian bridge.

District Attorney John T. Adams responded with detectives from the county's forensic services unit.

After consulting with Adams, police decided to release the man and charge the juvenile."



Frankly, it's appalling that this brave, old hero was arrested at all even though he was released without charge. I'm just glad this happened in the USA and not the UK - here the brave folk who stand up for their rights and freedom to live without being assaulted, robbed and murdered are charged and thrown in prison for life with rapists and sociopaths. Good on him, for both defending himself and ridding the world of two vile scumbags - nipping their worthless lives in the bud. Cheers!

It does not say that both of them were fatally killed

Like I said, revealing the gun would be more than enough to get them to back off. Frankly I think it would have been braver of him to not shoot them and just have them arrested. I don't understand why you're head is so far up his arse and you feel the need to mock me; the simple fact is there is nothing brave about shooting two kids. Sure they're scum, and the world is probably a better place without them, but as far as bravery is concerned, it isn't really.

You're an old man. Probably arthritic and coping with a multitude of other health problems that come on around sixty. Three healthy, young lads pull you off your bike and start beating you. You're panicked, fearful, and in serious danger. You could curl up in a ball and wait for the ambulance to arrive and hope they don't kill you. Or you can muster up your courage, draw your gun and make the decision that you're not going to lie back and take it. I'd call that heroic - what does he have to do for you, slay a dragon? He's a pensioner not Beowulf.

He should definitely be charged! Self-defence must be proportionate, and pulling out the gun would surely have been enough. Actually, I think it's quite disgusting of him that he felt he had the right to take a life for getting a bit beaten up, self-defence or not