A guy walks out of the woods arriving at a remote trailhead after a long solo hike. Two large, off-leash dogs run towards him and he shouts to their owner to call them off. The owner either doesn’t hear or doesn’t heed the call. The hiker pulls out a 10mm semiautomatic pistol and fires a warning shot into the ground between the two charging dogs and they split to his sides. The dog owner advances on him yelling and waving his hands hysterically. In a split second the hiker shot the dog owner three times in the chest killing him.
This nightmare scenario happened in Arizona in May of 2004. The shooter was a retired schoolteacher out for a walk. The dog owner was taking two shelter dogs out for a walk to get them some exercise. The teacher said he couldn’t retreat since the dogs cut off his escape, and that he acted in self-defense against the dog owner. The hiker was prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The shelter dogs had a history of attacking people at the shelter, and the dog walker also had a history of assaults. The hiker, of course, didn’t know any of this at the time. The Examiner has an extensive write up on the case that seems pretty balanced, and it raises all kinds of questions about guns, off-leash dogs, and the nature of self defense.
This is one of those scenarios where you can clearly see both sides of the issue. I don’t think the hiker should have been sent to prison, and I also don’t think the dog walker should have had two animals he didn’t know running around off leash in the woods. It really amounts to a string of unlikely coincidences that unfortunately ended with one death and one guy in jail. Now it looks like the retired teacher is getting a new trial in Arizona, and some of the evidence of the dogs’ and dog walker’s histories might be allowed in this trial after it wasn’t the first time around.
via Examiner
ByRocky Thompson
That’s a crazy story. Without having been there and seen how it went down, it’s hard to say what a more appropriate reaction would have been. Hard to imagine that it was such a dangerous situation that the hiker was justified in killing the dog-walker, but maybe it was that serious.
Stories of self-defense gone wrong are always frustrating. (not necessarily saying this is a case of that)
word.
Here is a similar story in Sacramento that caused a firestorm. This time a rancher killed the dog, not the owner.
http://www.sacbee.com/1085/story/1715041.html
If he had shot the dogs we would have never heard the story. I have been attack and chased by off leash dogs in a local park, I carry pepper spray all the time now.
Many dog owners, especially over-the-top shelter worker types, have no clue about the attack potential of their dogs.
And while the retired schoolteacher undoubtedly overreacted, I can totally see a shelter worker freaking out violently.
I’ve been bitten six times over the years while trail running. The owners always say “he won’t bite.” Defend yourself with a kick or a thrown rock, and they get irate because you ‘threatened’ their pet.
The hiker is a hero and should be released from jail immediately. He killed a man who was obviously a threat to the public.
He should have shot the dogs not the guy. He’s a killer, no way around it. I think some important info. has been left out of the story for drama. We all know rocky loves drama…cheeseheads are always out for drama.
I hike with my dog off leash both on the trail and in the city but I always make him sit off the side of the trail or sidewalk when we come upon someone. Some people are just scared of dogs and a dog can smell fear. Run and even the most docile of dogs will chase you down jaws snapping given the chance. I also pack a gun when I backpack. I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot a large dog or other large creature if I thought it imminent danger without other recourse. A threatening human especially in the Arizona desert threatening me would get a 10 foot warning and then a bullet if he/she persisted. As Mr. Fish did I would also flag down help and immediately report the incident. Murderers don’t flag down help after the fact they flee. The man got caught in a really shitty situation but he walked out alive because he used his brain. The “victim” didn’t use his brain but instead followed his emotions and unfortunately lost his life.