Interesting parallels to the Ersland case.

[kelroy55]

A Long Beach homeowner has no regrets after shooting and killing a woman who said she was pregnant after he got into a confrontation with her and another man who were ransacking his sprawling home.

Tom Greer, an 80-year-old retiree, arrived to his upscale Bixby Knolls neighborhood Tuesday night to find a couple in the middle of a late-night break-in.

"When I went in there, they tackled me," Greer told NBC4 Wednesday. "Both of them jumped up on top of me."

The intruders, a man and woman, may have underestimated Greer, he said, as they ransacked his safe and yanked the door open right in front of him.

The intruders threw Greer to the ground, but they didn't know he'd gotten his .22-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver.

"I come back and they see me with a gun, and they run," he said.

The man escaped, but the woman fell after being struck by Greer's gunfire in an alley behind the house.

"She says, 'Don't shoot me, I'm pregnant! I'm going to have a baby!' And I shot her anyway," Greer said.

When asked what he saw happen to the woman after he fired shots, Greer responded: "She was dead. I shot her twice, she best be dead ... (The man) had run off and left her."

"I've never in my life shot anybody, killed anybody," Greer said.

Greer was being treated at the hospital Wednesday for a severe shoulder and collarbone injury, but he hoped to send a warning to the man who got away.

"I shot her so that's going to leave a message on his mind for the rest of his life," Greer said.

Long Beach police said they were investigating the incident. It was not immediately clear whether any charges would be filed against Greer for the shooting.

"Investigators have to look at both sides of this coin," said legal analyst Royal Oakes. "On the one hand a frail man in his 80s is being attacked in his own home by intruders, he has a right to self-defense. On the other hand, he did shoot a person who was trying to get away, so he wasn't in imminent danger himself and the law says you can't shoot somebody under those circumstances."

[Pete]

I saw this and wondered why he hasn't been arrested yet, because regardless of the circumstances he clearly broke the law.

I'm sure a big part of the reason is because he's 80.

[RadicalModerate]

They probably ought to put him on Double Secret Probation for life.

[kevinpate]

... because he's 80.

Biggest part of it I imagine.

[Martin]

the coroner's report says that she wasn't actually pregant...

"I'm pregnant": Man, 80, to be charged for killing intruder clai

-M

[kelroy55]

the coroner's report says that she wasn't actually pregant...

"I'm pregnant": Man, 80, to be charged for killing intruder clai

-M

I saw that, not sure it makes a difference though. Like the Ersland case the danger was past and it will be interesting to see what they do.

[Martin]

I saw that, not sure it makes a difference though.

i have to agree... while i'm sympathetic to the guy for getting beaten and robbed, you can't chase down and kill a fleeing attacker after the danger has passed. -M

[kelroy55]

I'm thinking both sides will drag this out for a long time and there won't be a need to go to court.

[kevinpate]

I noted in that article the headline is off to the text. Article says the 80 year old has not had charges brought as yet, though the male co-defendant who escaped for a spell was arrested and is being charged with multiple crimes, including the felony murder of his co-defendant.

[Mel]

Oklahoma does that too. If a couple of guys commit a crime if one dies the other gets charged with the death. At 80 years old and attacked I bet he was scared out of his skull and tapped into adrenaline he had not used for a while. I hope he doesn't get charged.

[kevinpate]

It's not an inappropriate charge for a co-defendant, much to the dismay and surprise of more than a few co-d's.