Craig Sumner Elliott, 68, allegedly shot Antonio Garcia Avalos, 40, in incident in Orange county
Craig Sumner Elliott, 68, allegedly shot Antonio Garcia Avalos, 40, in incident in Orange county
A California jogger was charged this week in the killing of a homeless man who was blocking the sidewalk.
Craig Sumner Elliott, 68, was jogging with his two dogs and pushing a cart on 28 September when he came across Antonio Garcia Avalos, 40, who was sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk, prosecutors in Orange county, California, said.
Elliott allegedly tried to wake Avalos by nudging him with the pushcart, whereupon Avalos started yelling at Elliott to leave him alone.
Elliott, who allegedly filmed their encounter, then brought a handgun out of his cart, prosecutors charged, adding that when Avalos stood and threw a shoe at Elliott, he ducked and responded by shooting Avalos three times.
Avalos subsequently died from his injuries. Elliott, who does have an active concealed carry permit issued by the local sheriff’s office, was arrested on 17 November in the incident.
In my neighborhood there is a old guy who takes his little granddaughter for walks while open carrying a gun. We live in a very safe suburban area. Some people are fucking nuts and are totally looking for a fight.
What you don’t realize is he’s open carrying to scare the granddaughter straight, she’s concealed carrying and the only thing stopping her from killing you all is grandpa.
My neighbor is strapped when he mows the fucking lawn. This is in a neighborhood where zero violent crime has taken place in the five years I've lived there.
Eh, hiking and jogging are actually a really good reason to CCW, especially if you live in a remote area. You also have to think about mountain lions and bears where I am, though. We've also had multiple trail abductions, 2 of which resulted in laws being passed for abduction here.
That being said, I have been sickened by the number of times I've heard jokes like: "This'll give the mailman a bad time", or, "I hope they fuck around and find out." I completely agree, a lot of gun owners WANT to shoot someone.
I feel ya. Even in a safe neighborhood, shit happens. I related a story in this thread, from just the other night, where a pit bull gave me a fright in my home. (Giant dog door for the pig, would not have kept him out. All went very well!)
Same hood, I saw a post on nextdoor.com about our cross-street, warning that were a couple of pits that often get loose. Chased a pregnant woman down the street!
LOL, I'm on the edge of town and a black bear cruised in a couple of years ago! I know, they're not typically dangerous, but "trapped" in my house might freak one out. Wasn't here, missed all the fun. :(
And yes, some of these fuckers are sick in the head. I'm looking for any excuse not to draw, or even reveal, my pistol. Stories like this post make me ill.
Almost every time I've gone so far as to draw a weapon, or even came close, it involved an animal. The 4-legged sort. And I can count those times, including being close to drawing, on one hand. But still... (Maybe I drew once?)
My small children are here for the week, guns in the safes, but I normally have my Colt .45 hidden on my desk.
Couple of nights ago I heard a ruckus, opened the door, and a fucking pit bull was right there running around. I have a giant dog door, that dog could have run right in. And a bear did so one time!
Grabbed the single-shot 12-gauge over the door sill, jammed one in there, went back on the porch. Fortunately, he was a happy, friendly puppy that got loose from a young family taking a walk. My relief cannot be overstated.
"That your dog?"
"Yes, so sorry!"
"Oh thank god, no problem! No problem at all!"
So no, I'm not walking the streets or woods unarmed. And no, we gun owners are not all murderous fucking nutcases.
68 years old. He probably up until now had the acuity to restrain himself in such a situation. When you get older, barriers between emotional reactions, memory, and perception, start to blur. Everyone agreed that my great uncle never hurt anyone least if all his wife of 50 years a d was known to be a calm dude, until the one day when he chased my great aunt around the house with a knife and then ran off into the forest. If he'd had a gun maybe it would have been one of the many handgun murder-suicides that happen every day. It was just a knife though, so on addition to cooking dinner or cutting a cake, she was able to outrun it.
All humans will go through this, none of them should just have whatever guns without limitations or ongoing proof of sentience.
Everyone who owns a gun are looking to murder someone. They're just looking for the excuse like someone backing out of their driveway, a door to door salesman knocking on their door, and a bunch of kids playing hide and seek in their neighborhood.
In the past few years I've had a homeless fellow break into our home pushing my wife down, had one scream at my wife and push my kid, had one follow my kid being abusive, had a crazy with a broken bottle make stabbing motions towards everyone that passes while giggling. We've made do with pepper spray and in my case fists but I can understand a 68 year old dude carrying a gun since he probably can't physically protect himself. His mistake was believing that having a backup plan made it safe to escalate. This made escalation vastly more likely.
In the past few years I’ve had a homeless fellow break into our home pushing my wife down, had one scream at my wife and push my kid, had one follow my kid being abusive, had a crazy with a broken bottle make stabbing motions towards everyone that passes while giggling.
If you're of the opinion that there's any credible argument for personal firearm ownership for self defense at all (perhaps you don't, I don't know you) then jogging alone in the city would seem like one of the better times to carry...
I disagree. I lived in a pretty high-crime part of Brooklyn for 26 years, and at no time did I feel the need to carry a gun to feel safe walking around.
I've seen countless americans claiming that it's perfectly justified to drive over people if they get in the way of your car, so this is pretty on-brand.
He had two dogs and was pushing a cart that carried his gun...
Whatever he was doing, it wasn't jogging.
And him taking his phone out to record himself kicking the other man and yelling at him first, was likely only because he was hoping to antagonize a homeless person so he could "defend himself".
He's got to be one of those idiots who believe the "stand your ground" bullshit.
You can't start kicking a sleeping man and then claim you're a victim, but he's gonna try
That was my first thought, reading the article. There's no way he was just jogging. What kind of jogger takes a cart with them? I've never seen something like that, and I see a lot of joggers in my area.
He allegedly nudged the guy illegally blocking the sidewalk who responded by trying to assault an old man. Do you have a copy of the video I could not find one.
I wonder if the shooter isn't slipping into dementia or the like. One clearly has to be suffering some sort of mental illness to lose their shit like this.
I'm 52, so this is a concern for me. First hint that I'm losing it? My wife will be instructed to change the safe codes and hide the backup keys. Gets worse? Guns will all have to go.
I’m also gun owner and I feel that just like cars should have (but don’t), we need some sort of competency check-in system after a certain age. With all due respect of course, but as people age they become a danger to themselves and those around them.
No, which is why they said "before". Which is probably fair, cos some gronk is gonna say something heinous along those lines. It's 2023, welcome to hell.
I'm starting a charity... "Arm the Homeless". We can set up arming stations for the unhoused, providing assault rifles and even free ammo for those who run low.
Exactly how do you 'nudge' someone with a cart? Is talking to them loudly or reaching down and touching a shoulder really that impossible? (god forbid you choose to go around them, the inconvenience!)
Reminds me of the criminal who murdered Markeis McGlockton and almost got away with it due to Slaughter Young Gentlemen laws.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Markeis_McGlockton
SYG laws are basically "get out of jail free" cards for murderers. The police let McGlockton's murderer walk free because of SYG laws. It wasn't until public backlash that the police arrested and charged McGlockton's murderer. California does not have SYG laws.
One notable thing here is Avalos was murdered 9/28 but not arrested until 11/17, over a month after the murder. After McGlockton's murder on 7/19, the county sheriff refused to arrest the murderer but once the investigation was handed over to the state on 8/1, the murderer would be arrested only 2 weeks later on 8/13. Orange County appears to have dragged its feet arresting this murderer, in comparison.