Wow, in the New York Times...

Normally major newspapers and media sources ignore news involving non-criminal use of handguns. Swap out the officer for any Concealed Weapons Permit holder, and you will understand my points made repeatedly here.
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At His Door, Officer Kills Armed Man
By JENNIFER 8. LEE and JASON GRANT
Published: June 2, 2008
The NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/nyregion/02shooting.html?ref=nyregion

An off-duty police officer fatally shot a man who pulled a gun on the officer’s wife and 3-year-old daughter outside the door of their Bronx apartment, the police said on Sunday.

The confrontation began when the officer’s wife and daughter left the elevator to go to their third-floor apartment at 314 East 201st Street in Bedford Park just before midnight on Saturday.

A man who had been in the elevator with them followed them out and pointed a pistol at them, the police said. The woman’s screams alerted her husband, identified as Officer Luis Perez, who ran into the hall with a gun.

Shots were fired as the man, whom the police identified as Carlos Rios, 47, of Amsterdam Avenue in Upper Manhattan, ran down the stairs into the lobby, witnesses and the police said. He was hit in the shoulder, the police said.

According to a witness, Mr. Rios was found under a minivan outside the building and medics tried to revive him on the sidewalk. He was taken to Montefiore Medical Center, where he was declared dead at 12:26 a.m.

The police said that a silver automatic pistol was recovered and that Mr. Rios had an arrest record. They did not give details.

Peter Girvan, 42, an administrator at Fordham University who also lives on the third floor, said that shortly before midnight he heard a woman yelling for help in Spanish. He looked through the peephole of his apartment door and saw a woman in a black jogging suit giving “bloodcurdling” screams. “She was screaming ‘Ayudame! Ayudame!’” he said.

He said he then saw Mr. Rios dart past his door and run down the stairs. Mr. Girvan said he heard a single shot followed by a rapid sequence of five shots. After a minute or so, Mr. Girvan said, he walked into the hallway and saw Officer Perez, dressed only in boxer shorts, coming up the stairs with his gun.

The police said that the pistol the officer used was not his department-issued weapon.

Another neighbor, Ken Ferrara, 53, who teaches learning-disabled children and is a tai chi instructor, said he heard Mr. Perez identify himself as a police officer. He added, “I believe it was the perpetrator who fired the shot as he was running down the stairs, and then the officer returned fire.”

Jason Rodriguez, 23, who lives on the first floor, also said that he heard a single shot followed by five rapid shots. “I went to my hallway and all I saw was gun smoke,” he said. “It had just happened. I was devastated.”

Hours after the shooting, a trail of blood could be seen from the first floor out to the street.

The neighborhood is known as a place where many police officers live, residents said. Blanca Farmer, 52, the building’s superintendent, said that Officer Perez was an active and helpful neighbor. She said he had passed his business card to other tenants and told them: “If there is trouble in the building, call the 52nd Precinct. Don’t take the law into your own hands.”
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OK, I bolded one thing which is also usually omitted in a story regarding LAWFUL self defense shootings across this country. The criminal in this story, and almost all others like this, have a prior record.

I do disagree with one major part of this story. It is the final line of this story. "Don't take the law into your own hands."

Do a test where ever you may live. Have a stopwatch available. Call 911. Now, imagine how many shots can and could be fired by a criminal. Also, figure out how many shots you could fire to save you, your family, or others before the police arrive.

Taking your own life and the self defense of such into your own hands in most states is actually protected by law. Did you know that? There are laws in place to protect those whom have had to defend themselves or others. SO, taking the law into your own hands is not only something I advise, but support. If we could not do this, why do they have Citizens Arrest powers also in the laws?

In addition to all of this, you must realize and understand that the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled that the police DO NOT HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT YOU!!!!!! Bet most of you did not know that one.

Cheers,