The Briefing Room
General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: Rapunzel on October 24, 2013, 10:05:43 pm
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http://gawker.com/mother-arrested-for-firing-warning-shot-to-stop-assault-1451694180
Mother Arrested for Firing Warning Shot to Stop Assault on Daughter
A Virginia mother was arrested last week for firing a warning shot in the air to scare away a group of boys who were assaulting her daughter.
Lakisha Gaither, 35, told NBC Washington she had gone with her daughter, 15-year-old Brianna Stewart, to visit the Woodbridge home of a girl who had arrived at Gaither's house earlier that Saturday with a group of male teens.
Concerned that her daughter might be in danger, Gaither sought to defuse the situation by speaking with the girl's mother.
But once at the apartment complex on Gable Ridge Turn, Gaither and Brianna were again confronted by the same group of teens.
The situation quickly turned violent, with one of the boys allegedly punching Brianna in the face and breaking her glasses.
Gaither says the punches kept coming, so, fearing the worst, she pulled out her gun and fired a single warning shot.
"Because I do open carry, because I'm a registered gun owner and I open carry everywhere I go, I walked out to the middle of the parking lot where I was away from everybody, not near anybody, not near the buildings or anything, and I unholstered my weapon, held it straight up in the air and shot straight in the air, one shot, to get him off of my child and to break this group up," Gaither told News4.
Responding to a call of shots fired, police officers soon arrived on the scene and arrested Gaither for reckless handling of a firearm.
After being released from jail a few hours later, Gaither decided to send Brianna to stay at her grandmother's house until the situation calmed down.
"I didn't want them retaliating," she said.
But Sunday morning, Gaither got a call from her mother telling her Brianna was missing.
It's been almost a week since, and there is still no word on Brianna's whereabouts.
"I don't know where she [is]," Gaither said through tears. " don't know if she's OK; I don't know if she's safe; I don't know if she's hurt."
Prince William County police have released a description of the girl, listing her as 5'9", 160 pounds, with dimples on her cheeks.
They are asking anyone with information to contact them at 703-792-6500.
Update 5:40 p.m.: Gaither has just posted a status update on Facebook suggesting Brianna has been found.
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A firearm is lethal force to be used in response to lethal force. If your justified in pulling it out, your justified in shooting someone. If not, best leave it holstered.
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She was just following Biden's advice.
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[[ A firearm is lethal force to be used in response to lethal force. If your justified in pulling it out, your justified in shooting someone. If not, best leave it holstered. ]]
Interesting comment which is related to the reply I was intending to make (before I read your comment).
Does Virginia have anything akin to a "stand your ground" law?
Perhaps this woman would have been better off to shoot AT her daughter's attackers.
She would have been in less trouble for injuring or killing one (if stand your ground could be claimed), than shooting at the AIR !
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Stand your ground doesn't negate the requirement of lethal force before a lethal response is allowed. I don't think the threshold was met in this case therefore she wasn't justified. Had she actually shot someone, she'd probably be in much more trouble. Apparently she had a license to carry. Presumably she was instructed when pulling a firearm is appropriate. A 'warning shot' generally is not.
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Was she physically capable of stopping the people that were assaulting her daughter? I might have done the same thing in her situation.