Task & Purpose by Nate Gartrell 8/23/2019
Army reservist was charged for shooting tire of truck she believed would run her over. A jury acquitted her in 40 minutes
Schitara Page was working the night shift at her security guard job last Dec. 18, when she caught two shoplifters in the act. One punched her in the face and threw lemons at her as she followed them into the parking lot, she would later recall.
Page, a 32-year-old sergeant in the U.S. Army and expert marksman, caught up with the suspects as they were climbing into a pickup truck with large tires. The driver allegedly gave her one final taunt before climbing in, yelling out, "I've got something for you, b—-," Page says.
She interpreted his comment as an imminent threat, and when the truck's wheels began to turn forward, Page drew her pistol and fired three times into one of the tires. The bullets flattened the tire, and the truck pulled out, heading away from Page.
It was something Page had never done before — not in her nine years in the Army, which included tours in combat zones, and not several days earlier, when a sedan struck her in a similar encounter, and she rolled over its hood rather than respond with force.
The decision to shoot drastically changed the next year of her life, resulting in criminal charges — not against the men in the truck, but Page.
She was arrested on suspicion of felony negligent discharge of a firearm, but charged with a misdemeanor version of the charge.
Her weeklong trial was earlier this month.
Jurors hardly sat down before they agreed that Page should be acquitted. A not guilty verdict was announced after less than 40 minutes of deliberations.
More:
https://taskandpurpose.com/army-reservist-acquitted
