Police: Arizona Walmart shooting was self-defense

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Police: Arizona Walmart shooting was self-defense
| February 17, 2014 | Updated: February 17, 2014 2:28pm

PHOENIX (AP) — A man who shot and killed another man inside a suburban Phoenix Walmart opened fire in self-defense, Chandler police said Monday.

According to Chandler police, Kyle Wayne Quadlin, 25, shot Kriston Charles Belinte Chee, 36, following a fight at a service counter Sunday afternoon.

Detectives reviewing surveillance video report the two men fought in the store before the shooting Sunday afternoon.

Quadlin told police he pulled his gun in self-defense.

"Mr. Quadlin was losing the fight and indicated he 'was in fear for his life,' so he pulled his gun and shot Mr. Belinte Chee," police said in a statement.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Police-Arizona-Walmart-shooting-was-self-defense-5242152.php

[AtheistCrusader]

1. Did he start the fight, or the argument that led to it?

[Walk away]

36. I don't think that matters any more...

People can now legally carry a concealed gun, get into an argument and pull out the gun if they think they may lose the fight.

This is what the NRA wants, this is what the Gun lobby wants and this is what people who are against limits on gun ownership want.

And now this is what we have.

[AtheistCrusader]

40. Actually it does matter.

You can get kicked to death in front of a crowd of people, in today's world, sadly.

IF this guy didn't start the argument, and IF he didn't start the fight, and IF he was, indeed in fear for his life, then this sounds like a reasonable use of force in self defense.

If he failed on any of those points, then no, he done fucked up, and should be held to account.


I carry a concealed pistol. But rule #1 in training was about threat de-escalation. You can't take a bullet back, and you can't un-dead someone. Deadly force in self defense is last resort, not first, and you SURE as hell don't go provoking people.

If this guy was getting beaten, and he did NOTHING to cause it, argument OR physical altercation, then I don't see the problem.
But if he fucked up.. well. That's a problem then, isn't it.

[jpak]

48. No it Doesn't - the Gun Trumps All

And the shooter walks.

Yup

[KareBear]

49. Completely agree

If he was assaulted due to no fault of his own then this was justified. This opinion will not be popular here.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. I love Gunz Culture. It has made America just a great all around experience.

[durablend]

3. Just "standin mah ground" officer! n/t

[Judi Lynn]

4. Chandler Walmart shooting suspect: I used gun in self-defense

Chandler Walmart shooting suspect: I used gun in self-defense
By Courtland Jeffrey
The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team
Mon Feb 17, 2014 1:31 PM

A Chandler man suspected of fatally shooting another man at a local Walmart over the weekend is saying it was a matter of self-defense, according to police.

At 4 p.m., authorities were called to the store near Alma School and Warner roads, where they found Kyle Wayne Quadlin, 25, and Kriston Charles Belinte Chee, 36, Chandler Police spokesman Joe Favazzo said.

Quadlin and Belinte Chee had gotten into an argument that turned into a physical altercation at the store’s service counter, according to Favazzo.

Quadlin is believed to have pulled out a gun and shot Belinte Chee after Quadlin said he was losing the fight and was “in fear for his life,” Favazzo said. Quadlin then fled the store.

More:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/20140217chandler-walmart-shooting-suspect-says-self-defense.html

[MrScorpio]

5. Found a pic of the victim

He's the man in the middle



http://www.masoncontractors.org/2008/12/06/arizona-masonry-hardscape-expo-wrap-up/



http://www.masonrymagazine.com/features/105-2009-mcaa-convention.html

[Judi Lynn]

7. Thank you for locating these images. It really helps having a face

for the man who didn't take a gun with him to Walmart.

What a shame the better man lost his life.

[denbot]

17. Chee is a Navaho name

I never doubted for a moment the victim was not white.

[McDiggy]

44. The movie theater victim...

...the popcorn tossing guy was white. Being white does not save you from these psychopaths. Nothing does. Its legal to get in a fight with someone, then simply murder them if you are losing.

I can't wait for the surreal moment when both people in a verbal argument are "frightened for their lives" and they both shoot each other. That should be interesting. Whoever lives, walks. Whoever doesn't, well, should have drawn that gun faster. Its like the Wild West.

[Duckhunter935]

29. another

"Kriston Charles Belinte Chee was shot to death at the Chandler Walmart. (Source: Arizona Department of Corrections)"

Does sound like he was a good guy from his friends

Have not found image of shooter yet

[Mosby]

6. Chandler PD have lost their minds

Chandler police detectives reviewed video from Walmart’s security camera system that verified Quadlin’s description of the fight, Favazzo said.

“Just like what the guy said, he was not winning,’’ Favazzo said (Chandler Police spokesman). “It’s going to come down to what the witnesses have to say.’’

So if your losing a fist fight in a store surrounded by who knows how many people you can just pull a gun and kill the other person?

unreal.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Now a man with a gun never needs to worry about getting scuffed up

if he fights with another man.

If you're losing, and think you might get hurt, you're allowed to murder the guy. It's the law!

[billh58]

33. Vigilante justice with a gun based

on one person's (the one with the gun) perception of "fear." No need for the police or a pesky old trial when it's much quicker just to kill someone who threw popcorn at you, or was wearing a hoodie, or threatened you in any way. Bang, bang -- you're dead. Next?

[Mr.Bill]

10. Hopefully their DA will step in

and file charges, if warranted. It's not the police who decides to file charges or not.

[hack89]

14. What if you didn't start the fight?

And no one steps forward to stop the fight? Are you to simply assume the other guy will stop before they kill or seriously hurt you?

[secondvariety]

24. Whatifwhatifwhatifwhatif.

Like a broken record...

[hack89]

25. The post I was replying to was a what if.

But then you knew that.

[JVS]

43. Are you questioning the benevolence and restraint of this man?

http://www.azcorrections.gov/inmate_datasearch/results_Minh.aspx?InmateNumber=202680&LastName=CHEE&FNMI=K&SearchType=SearchInet

[Tommy_Carcetti]

45. FWIW, a non-violent offense.

Not to diminish DUIs, but it's not like the guy was serving time for attempted murder.

He served 3 1/2 months in the county lockup eight years ago for drinking and driving.

[Hoyt]

8. The gun nuts have taken over. Our legislators are afraid to do anything to these gun wielding yahoo.

[SoapBox]

12. Ditto about the Gun NUTS!

Paranoid...delusional...wacky...

[Mr.Bill]

11. I would like to know what the original fight was about

so for my own safety I can avoid it like Skittles, loud music and Popcorn.

[Hoyt]

15. Good point. I'm betting armed guy would have found another way without his gun.

[Cirque du So-What]

20. Better include

such things as 'giving someone the stink-eye' - along with a plethora of lesser movements, gestures, tones of voice and physical characteristics (including - but not limited to - skin color). For the truly imaginative, there's no limit to things that can make them 'feel threatened.'

[Mr.Bill]

21. I think it would be cool

that if one of them pulled a gun on me and was probably going to shoot me no matter what, I would like to go down as the one who began laughing hysterically at them as soon as I saw the gun.

[sweetapogee]

35. whatever it is your drinking

I'll have a double!

[Mr.Bill]

37. Nothing yet, it's early on the west coast.

I have laughed loudly at someone open carrying in a retail environment.

[justhanginon]

13. I guess at this point

you can't even think about trying to break up a fist fight. There is always the possibility that a paranoid gun totin' a hole may be carrying a gun and has, increasingly, no reason not to use it. It's really sad what our country has become because of the irrational love of guns by a relatively few people.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Yeah; even hanging around to witness it could be dangerous

once people in a fist fight know they've got nothing to lose by opening fire, anything could happen. And anyone who is aggressive is going to carry a gun so that they've got it to resort to if they get into an argument.

[LiberalElite]

26. Required reading: WikiHow on how to react to gunfire

http://www.wikihow.com/React-to-Gunfire

Holy Crap what are we becoming? (Rhetorical question)

[RKP5637]

30. Yet another day in US = United Stupidity, Land of Idiocracy! n/t

[NutmegYankee]

18. If it was self defense why did he flee the store?

Sorry buck-o, the law requires you to stay at the scene. I call bullshit on this story.

[kristopher]

19. Kick and rec for exposure

[debunkthis]

22. The question here is

was the shooter legitimately in fear for his life?

[spin]

23. A better question is if a reasonable person standing in the shoes of the shooter would ....

have felt his life was in danger.

[debunkthis]

34. Also a good question

eom

[blackspade]

27. Ah, the 'was in fear for his life' defence

A great way to justify murder.

[Mr.Bill]

38. Been working for the police for years. n/t

[blackspade]

39. No doubt.

[heaven05]

28. what is this?

we're back in the days of gunfights in the streets(walmart). too many guns, not enough sanity.

[ManiacJoe]

31. "I was losing the fight"

does NOT meet the bar for "I reasonably feared for my life".

It will be interesting to see what the DA/CA has to say on this, never mind the information vacuum we are currently working in....

[ileus]

32. If you're in a fist fight it should stay as a fist fight.

assuming of course the gunner was the one who started the fight. Otherwise he should have stopped the threat at the first sign of physical violence.

[AtheistCrusader]

41. Sometimes fist fights don't stop at 'yield'.

Sometimes they stop when one party stops moving entirely.

[Major Nikon]

47. True

But, sometimes they never start at all. Time will tell what really happened here, but there's no shortage of gun nuts who feel that their gun allows them to get out of situations they never would have gotten themselves into sans gun. Z would have never confronted another adult or nearly adult male without his gun. A woman perhaps.

"Give a small boy a hammer, and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding."
-- Abraham Kaplan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument

[AtheistCrusader]

54. I agree, there does seem to be a rash of high-profile cases wherein

someone used deadly force to respond to what most people would not call a life-threatening threat. (and the Z case wherein he pretend-deputized himself)

A cynical way of looking at it, but one that I find that helps cool people who want to carry but maybe not for the right reasons, is to point out that the average bill for case/legal/lawyer costs in a WINNING self-defense case, is around $10,000. Easy. For those who were TOTALLY justified in their use, still there are costs.

If the idea of the value of human life doesn't get to them, perhaps the monetary cost will give them second thoughts.

[Major Nikon]

56. The shoot first law simply insures those costs will be lower, if not nil

Many cases are simply dropped without any charges filed or even much of an investigation. Z would never have been so much as indicted had it not been for the public outcry and as it turns out the prosecutor was correct in that his case was ultimately untenable thanks to the law.

There is no right reason to carry. Guns always make everyone less safe, not more safe, even those who own them. I don't think this justifies abolition, but it certainly makes a good case against proliferation.

[AtheistCrusader]

57. I think Florida's implementation of the law is flawed for that reason.

Too few 'reasonable' eyeballs having a look at what happened and why.

Probably ALWAYS worth convening a grand jury review in any homicide, lawful use of deadly force or not.

[FormerOstrich]

42. I don't know...

I don't know who or what all the gun fanatics are scared of. But I know I'm scared of all the gun fanatics.

The OK-Corral-O-WalMart is about two miles from my house. The wild wild west!!

[geek tragedy]

50. New rule while in AZ and FL: don't like a white guy in the eye. nt

[ladjf]

51. Whoever has the gun seems to be declared innocent. nt

[Steerpike]

53. Very difficult

to get testimony from a dead man...

[liberal N proud]

52. What we need to learn from these shootings...

If you want to survive in the Wild - Wild America:

When in public, avoid eye contact with anyone
Don't speak unless spoken to and then make damn sure your response is non-threatening
Whatever you do don't make any physical contact with anyone casual or otherwise.
Keep your mouth shut and quietly and mind your own business.

When you are in the car, keep your windows rolled up, and music turned down
While sitting at a stop light, don't tap your horn to remind the texter in front of you the light is green.
When driving assume the assholes all have the right of way and give it to them.


This country has gone insane with the self defense shit that they simply pull a gun when they are not pacified by all those around them.

[earthside]

55. Inside a store with shoppers/employees present?

I am astounded that we have devolved to the point now that it is permissible to start shooting in public regardless of the endangerment this presents to innocent bystanders.

Next time, some other individual in a situation like this with a concealed weapon is going to fear for her/his life because of the discharge of a firearm and we are going to have a shoot-out and other people hurt or killed.

I simply do not believe that any responsible pro-gun person can defend what happened in this store -- irrespective of what the letter-of-the-law might say. Truly the law is an ass.

The politics of these 'stand your ground' laws seems to be to escalate fear and and spur the further sale of weapons. The knee jerk defense of these kinds of incidents would appear to be to further entrench right-wing paranoia and deeper allegiance to Tea Party Repuglicanism.