No Charges in Death of Alzheimer’s Patient Mistaken for Intruder By ALAN BLINDER FEB. 28, 2014

[eilen]

Source: NY Times

ATLANTA — A man who shot to death an Alzheimer’s patient he feared was trying to break into his house will not be charged with a crime, a Georgia prosecutor said Friday.

“After review of facts and the relevant law, the district attorney’s office will not pursue charges against Joe Hendrix arising out of the tragic shooting death of Ronald Westbrook,” Herbert E. Franklin, the district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, said in a statement.

Mr. Hendrix, 35, had been under scrutiny since he fired up to four shots at Mr. Westbrook, 72, a retired Air Force officer who had wandered away from his home and appeared three miles away at the house Mr. Hendrix was renting.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/us/no-charges-in-death-of-alzheimers-patient-mistaken-for-intruder.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140301&_r=0

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We had a patient not too long ago who had gotten on a train in Maine and was headed to Colorado. He had some dementia but also didn't feel well so got off the train in my town, dragged his suitcases (2) about 3 miles from the train station in the middle of the night, in the freezing cold to a house and started knocking on the door. He was about 82 years old. Anyway, instead of shooting the man, the residents called 911 and he was brought to us where we found out he had had a small heart attack so we treated him, got in touch with his family and they contacted some other family that lived in a town in our state to come and get him and bring him to the airport and finish his trip to Colorado (he generally stays there a few months through the winter). This guy was kind of stubborn and set in his ways and Maine tough/wirey.

This killing that was done in Atlanta was totally preventable. The man should have just kept his door locked and waited for the first responders. I guess if you have a gun, every problem, every stranger is a threat and every solution is a bullet.

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. All you have to do is say "I was scared" and you get away with murder.

Or, literally, manslaughter.

On edit: It works so well for the cops, why not the rest of us, too?

[smokey775]

2. He was in his own house,

therefore, castle doctrine applies.
This isn't a case of stand your ground.
I think he should have just locked his door and called the police.

[billh58]

3. Welcome back...

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. He left his house and went outside. From the article:

Mr. Hendrix took a handgun, hurried out into the darkness and shouted at Mr. Westbrook.

But Mr. Westbrook, who was carrying a flashlight that was not turned on, did not answer.

“Westbrook never verbally responded to Hendrix but began to advance towards Hendrix in what Hendrix described as a quick and aggressive manner,” Mr. Franklin said. “Hendrix could only see a silhouette figure carrying a cylindrical object in his hand but could not make out anything else.”

Mr. Hendrix kept yelling at Mr. Westbrook, who the authorities said “continued to advance towards Hendrix in the same manner.”

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Still seems like manslaughter to me.

[smokey775]

8. If it had been me, I would've just stayed in the house and called the police.

[Skittles]

12. yet but you are not a parnaoid, gun humping asshole

[smokey775]

14. True.

[kelliekat44]

16. ++1,000 nt

[DRoseDARs]

18. Except he DID call police (911) but decided fuck that, I want to kill me someone.

eom

[The Wielding Truth]

19. The girlfriend was on the phone inside with 911. Hendrix went outside. Here's a local article.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/nov/28/wandering-man-with-alzheimers-shot-killed/

[eilen]

4. Just a thought

The prevalence of Alzheimers and senile dementia is due to increase as the Baby Boomers age and shit, the amount of brain cells killed in that cohort during formative brain development may make that an even higher percentage than the GI's particularly with the longer lifespans. Since I work in a hospital, I see a larger number of these very confused people who are often combative--particularly those 80+. I would hope that their kids who are of voting age now may appeal to their congressperson for funding of wider home support services for their caregivers.

[tweeternik]

11. Exactly!

The number of people who are/or soon will impacted by this horrible disease will significantly increase over the next decade or so. A lot more research (i.e. money!) needs to be devoted to finding some treatment, medication, something to address the Alzheimer problem. Anyone who has experienced the heartbreak of seeing this disease destroy a loved one and impact an entire family understands. There will be more tragedies like this until we better understand this illness.

[eilen]

17. And senile dementia/organic brain disease is even more common than

Alzheimers. Frail elderly will also get some neurological symptoms like confusion and memory loss with infections and other health issues.

[old man 76]

5. just waiting

If the elderly man was out side and the door was locked plus 911 had been called the occupants were safe. Sounds like someone with a gun who had just been waiting to shoot someone.

[Vinca]

9. My thought exactly. Some people are looking for an excuse to shoot.

Unless the Alzheimer's patient was carrying an assault rifle and an ax to break down the door, the shooting wasn't justified by any stretch of the imagination. Except, it seems, in the south.

[valerief]

10. Either the DA is one of the world's biggest whores or has a gun to his head. nt

[mrchips]

13. If the Founders

Saw how this second amendment was being corrupted, they would throw up all over the NRA.

[DFW]

15. The shooter had better hope his victims' relatives aren't as quick on the trigger as he was

They might run into him in the middle of the night some time and fear he has Alzheimer's or something.

[warrant46]

20. Ever notice how the Police use this logic when they kill someone

And they always get a pass

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20070526/GPG0101/705260588/Sonnenberg-s-father-rejects-suicide-explanation

The report said Ben Sonnenberg got out of a car and appeared to be pointing a gun at police. Police fired 33 shots, hitting Sonnenberg 11 times, nine of those hits in the back. Officers did not find a weapon on or near Sonnenberg and officials speculate that he may actually have been holding a cell phone and pointing it in the officers' direction.

Two of the stray shots also seriously wounded a man on a bar stool in a bar over a block away.

[randr]

21. Another victim of the chicken shit defense

When will we start to hold cowards responsible?

[Judi Lynn]

22. All in a day's work for the D.A. Apparently he's very familiar with these cases.

Looking for his photo, I found the following article from last December:

Ringgold: District attorney still uncertain about charges in teen shooting death
Posted: Friday, December 13, 2013 9:44 am | Updated: 12:28 am, Sat Dec 14, 2013.
By Adam Cook

It’s been a month since a Ringgold man shot and killed a 17-year-old Fort Oglethorpe teen who was on his property, and the district attorney’s office stated Thursday he has yet to decide whether to bring charges against the man.

After meeting with investigators on Wednesday, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit district attorney Herbert E. “Buzz” Franklin said he’s still uncertain where the case will go from here, and it is unclear whether 69-year-old Fred Youngblood will be indicted.

“I met with investigators with the sheriff’s office yesterday (Wednesday), and there are still some things that need to be reviewed,” Franklin said Thursday. “We still need to evaluate the crime scene investigation and the reports and interviews in the case.”

According to the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, Youngblood shot McConathy around 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11. McConathy and a buddy were on the Post Oak Road property trying to enter the basement while searching for scrap metal.

Youngblood confronted the boys and fatally wounded McConathy.

More:
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/catwalkchatt/news/ringgold-district-attorney-still-uncertain-about-charges-in-teen-shooting/article_1ff9bbf0-6405-11e3-b379-001a4bcf6878.html

[center]

Herbert “Buzz” Franklin
Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit district attorney [/center]
Looks as if anyone who thinks he/she just might want to "sashay" around, and not go directly from his/her own car into his/her own house had better give this area a wide berth.

[blackspade]

23. If your only tool is a hammer....

Would the prosecutor let the guy off if he had stabbed him four times with a sword?
Cut him down with an ax?

There seems to be this attitude that 'there was no other choice' when the weapon is a gun, but I guarantee you that if it was a sword, mace, baseball bat etc, this guy would be in jail.

Yay guns....

[blkmusclmachine]

24. if you have a gun, every problem, every stranger is a threat and every solution is a bullet.