WAGCEVP
August 3, 2003, 09:37 PM
Assault wepon was a BASEBALL BAT! Self defense weapon was a 12 gauge shotgun!
==========================:
(CA) Roommate wounds violent assailants 07-29-03
Tables turned on suspected assailants
http://archive.redding.com/story.asp?StoryID={2258BDD4-F50D-4849-A0B2-0C1FFAEF80DC}
Tables turned on suspected assailants
Margo Horner
Published: July 29, 2003 in News
Tom Chu thought he might die Sunday night when two masked men kicked
down his front door and began beating him with baseball bats.
"They tried to take my knee out and that's when I went down to the
ground. When I went down they started pounding on me with the bats," the
Redding man said Monday.
Chu said they continued beating him until his roommate, Kyle Wymore,
intervened. The 20-year-old had retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun from the
garage and shot the intruders, according to Redding police.
A prosecutor said Monday that it appeared Wymore was within his rights
when he shot the two men.
"A man's home is his castle and you have a right to protect your home
from an intruder,"
Shasta County Senior Deputy District Attorney
Greg Gaul said. "It's slightly different if you're on the street and
somebody punches you. You wouldn't be able to pull out a gun and kill
them. But in your residence, the rules are a little bit different."
The alleged assailants, meanwhile, are hospitalized at Mercy Medical
Center in Redding. No charges have been filed in the case yet.
Wymore told Redding police the two men broke through the front door of
the Weatherby Court residence about 11:30 p.m. and began the assault on
his roommate.
Moments later he fired three rounds at close range. Galen Kusic, 20, of
Davis was struck in the abdomen and Levi Gardiff, 20, of Redding was
shot twice in the chest.
Police said the amount of force Wymore used was not excessive.
"In a combat situation you would fire as many times as necessary," said
Redding police Sgt. John Hawkins. "In this case there were three rounds
fired and two individuals hit. That is very reasonable."
Gaul agreed with that assessment.
"If somebody breaks into your house and they're armed, you can use
lethal force to stop them," he said. "You don't have to wait until
you're shot or you're beaten up or something like that.
"The penal code calls it justifiable homicide," he said.
After they were shot, the two men ran down the street screaming in pain
before some people stopped to help them, Hawkins said.
It was not clear why the men chose the Weatherby Court residence, or if
they were associated with the residents, Hawkins said.
Kusic was in stable condition, and Gardiff was in serious condition at
Mercy.
The two men could face charges of breaking andentering and assault with a deadly weapon, Gaul said.
Chu, meanwhile, said he is grateful that his roommate came to his aid Sunday night. The 20-year-old suffered bruises on his legs and had some abrasions.
"Kyle saved my life," he said.
==========================:
(CA) Roommate wounds violent assailants 07-29-03
Tables turned on suspected assailants
http://archive.redding.com/story.asp?StoryID={2258BDD4-F50D-4849-A0B2-0C1FFAEF80DC}
Tables turned on suspected assailants
Margo Horner
Published: July 29, 2003 in News
Tom Chu thought he might die Sunday night when two masked men kicked
down his front door and began beating him with baseball bats.
"They tried to take my knee out and that's when I went down to the
ground. When I went down they started pounding on me with the bats," the
Redding man said Monday.
Chu said they continued beating him until his roommate, Kyle Wymore,
intervened. The 20-year-old had retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun from the
garage and shot the intruders, according to Redding police.
A prosecutor said Monday that it appeared Wymore was within his rights
when he shot the two men.
"A man's home is his castle and you have a right to protect your home
from an intruder,"
Shasta County Senior Deputy District Attorney
Greg Gaul said. "It's slightly different if you're on the street and
somebody punches you. You wouldn't be able to pull out a gun and kill
them. But in your residence, the rules are a little bit different."
The alleged assailants, meanwhile, are hospitalized at Mercy Medical
Center in Redding. No charges have been filed in the case yet.
Wymore told Redding police the two men broke through the front door of
the Weatherby Court residence about 11:30 p.m. and began the assault on
his roommate.
Moments later he fired three rounds at close range. Galen Kusic, 20, of
Davis was struck in the abdomen and Levi Gardiff, 20, of Redding was
shot twice in the chest.
Police said the amount of force Wymore used was not excessive.
"In a combat situation you would fire as many times as necessary," said
Redding police Sgt. John Hawkins. "In this case there were three rounds
fired and two individuals hit. That is very reasonable."
Gaul agreed with that assessment.
"If somebody breaks into your house and they're armed, you can use
lethal force to stop them," he said. "You don't have to wait until
you're shot or you're beaten up or something like that.
"The penal code calls it justifiable homicide," he said.
After they were shot, the two men ran down the street screaming in pain
before some people stopped to help them, Hawkins said.
It was not clear why the men chose the Weatherby Court residence, or if
they were associated with the residents, Hawkins said.
Kusic was in stable condition, and Gardiff was in serious condition at
Mercy.
The two men could face charges of breaking andentering and assault with a deadly weapon, Gaul said.
Chu, meanwhile, said he is grateful that his roommate came to his aid Sunday night. The 20-year-old suffered bruises on his legs and had some abrasions.
"Kyle saved my life," he said.