[SDC]

This morning, from Baltimore, MD: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/15/national/main5312113.shtml

BALTIMORE, Sept. 15, 2009
Student Fells Intruder with Samurai Sword
Man Killed after Having Hand Chopped Off by Johns Hopkins Undergrad, Baltimore Police Say
(AP) Baltimore police say a Johns Hopkins University undergraduate student armed with a samurai sword killed an intruder he discovered in his garage.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says campus security and an off-duty city officer responding to a call for a suspicious person heard screams to call police around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of University Parkway.

Guglielmi says the student told a man he found inside his garage to leave and the man accosted him. That's when Guglielmi says the student defended himself, cutting off the man's hand and causing a severe laceration to his upper body.

He says the man died on the scene, but police are not yet releasing his name.

Police are interviewing the student and his three roommates and are talking to prosecutors about whether to file charges.

[Birdmang]

Wow that is great, except for the part about thinking to file charges.

[mustang_steve]

Well, the intruder's plans got cut off.....

...perhaps the pending charge is over some technicality.

[TexasRifleman]

perhaps the pending charge is over some technicality.

In some states and counties it is simply procedure that if you kill someone you have to be charged even if it's completely and obviously justified. Then they let the Grand Jury deal with it.

May be that way up there, not sure.

What a wild scene that must have been.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Well, the intruder's plans got cut off.....

Yeah, any way you slice it, the intruder was short on arms, it would appear. :D

[BushyGuy]

wow wonder what type of samurai sword he was using? i have a bushi with damascus steel blade katana. thats the way of the bushido!

[Kingcreek]

sounds pretty messy to me. effective yes, but messy.

[Carl Levitian]

Being the state of Maryland, the guy better have a good lawyer. If the intruder was unarmed, then it better be a really great lawyer. He'd been better off just bashing him with a shovel or something. The samuri sword thing is not going to go down well.

[stchman]

Maybe the guy should have not broken into his garage.

The intruder was warned.

[hso]

I have to agree with Carl, Maryland will likely mean a prosecution.

[ArfinGreebly]

Well, in the tradition of critiquing the victorious victim for all the things he did wrong (even though he prevailed) . . .

1) clearing house by yourself -- check

2) self defense with an edged weapon -- check

3) house clearing with sword (long weapon in confined quarters) -- check

4) doing it wrong and winning anyway -- check.


Gotta hand it to the burglar-turned-robber, though. He has a chance to leave, he has a guy with a really big blade in front of him, and chooses to "accost" his would-be-victim in spite of that? How very Darwin of him.

Seriously, you've been caught, the guy standing in front of you holding a long blade tells you to leave, and you "accost" him? Wonder what his toxicology screen will show.

Now, from the other side . . .

Let's imagine that I am foolish enough to go intruder hunting in my home with a sword (hey, there was a time, back when I still fenced . . .) and I find a guy taking my stuff. I tell him to put the stuff down and leave. I mean, what could be more obvious? What's he gonna do -- he's unarmed -- is he gonna charge me? Seriously?

And then the intruder does the unthinkable: he charges me while I'm holding a freaking sword! No time to wonder what the hell is going through his mind or whether he's on drugs or why didn't I call the cops first. He's gonna make me hurt him! I'm not good enough with this sword thing to just "disable" him, so I'm gonna just have to hack at him to he stops.

[. . . swish . . . hack . . . chop . . . scream . . .]

Okay, he's down. Dammit, there's blood everywhere! And I'm shaking like a leaf.

What the hell just happened?

Yeah.

Heck of a night.

Hope the prosecutor has a real sense of justice.

[Carl Levitian]

It's okay to defend yourself in Maryland, I know people who have done it. There was one man in Silver Spring who shot a burgler that was half in the window. He told the man to leave, the guy kept climbing in the window, and got shot, He was drapped over the window sill when the cops got there, with the crow bar he'd used prying open the window laying there on the bedroom floor. The shooter/home owner got no hastle from the D.A.

There was a guy in Wheaton some years back that had a drunk pounding on his door at 2 in the morning. He didn't know the drunk, told him to go away as he's called the police. The drunk got enraged the guy wasn't letting him in, and started kicking in the door. Homeowner saw the door jamb giving way, and in fear of his and his familys safety fired a shotgun and killed the drunk. No charges.

But the when it's something out of the ordinary, like a medievil mace, or in this case a samuri sword, it's going to be looked at a lot more closely. It's the sword thing, it makes it look a little...for lack of a better word, hinkey.

If the student had used anything else in the whole garage, a shovel, pick ax handle, machete even, I think it would have been a lot better for him. It would have seemed more...normal. You really want to avoid the weapons of certain types that to a assitant deputy D.A or even a inquest jury, that may spell to them; nutcase. It actually is easier to get away with shooting an intruder than using something exotic that is going to set off the tilt meter. As it is, he's going to be way more scrutinized than if he'd used a plain old Harrington Richardson break open shotgun with a load of buckshot. Weird, but that's the way it is.

Stay the heck away from looking weird.

[mustang_steve]

True, perhaps he would have been better off using a machete, if looking at it from the angle of the hoopla around exotic weaponry.

[glistam]

I seriously doubt he will be charged even though it was an "exotic" weapon. I've run vandals of my family's land with a bullwhip when I was kid and that was in Maryland too.

Maryland is in fact a castle doctrine state, it just happens to be case law rather than statute:

The accused does not have a duty to retreat, even at the deadly force level, in the following situations: if the accused is attacked in his or her own home, Gainer, 40 Md. App. 382, 391 A.2d 856; if the avenue of retreat is unsafe, Barton v. State, 46 Md. App. 616, 420 A.2d 1009 (1980); if the nonaggressor victim is lawfully arresting the aggressor; or if the nonaggressor victim is the robbery victim of the aggressor. The most common exception to the retreat rule is the "castle doctrine": there is no duty to retreat if one is attacked in his or her own home. See e.g. Gainer, 40 Md. App. at 388. --Redcross v. State of MD (1998)

[SDC]

Additional info, with video at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-sword0915,0,4027961.story ; apparently, "Sushi" had 29 prior convictions for B&Es, had been arrested for carrying a concealed handgun, and had been sentenced to 18 months for a previous theft last December.

[armoredman]

Any way you slice it...

[cavman]

looks like no charges have been filed by early afternoon.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/15/hopkins-student-sword-kills-burglary-suspect/?feat=home_headlines

By Ben Nuckols ASSOCIATED PRESS

BALTIMORE -- A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a suspected burglar in a garage behind his off-campus home early Tuesday, hours after someone broke in and stole electronics.

Some shocked neighbors said they heard bloodcurdling screams in an area just blocks from the university. Police held the student, a junior chemistry major who turns 21 on Sunday, for several hours, but no charges were filed by early afternoon, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi SAID.

Around 1:20 a.m., the student heard noises behind the home and noticed that a door to the garage was open, Mr. Guglielmi said. The student grabbed the sword and confronted the intruder, who was crouching beneath a counter.

The student asked the suspect what he was doing and threatened to call police.

"When he said that, the suspect lunged at him, kind of forced the kid against the wall, and he struck him with the sword," Mr. Guglielmi said.

The intruder's left hand was nearly severed -- Mr. Guglielmi described it as "hanging on by a thread" -- and the man suffered a severe cut to the upper body. The 49-year-old suspect, whom police described as a habitual offender, died at the scene.

On Monday, two laptops and a Sony PlayStation were stolen from the student's home, though police were not sure whether the slain suspect was responsible, Mr. Guglielmi said.

There was a pool of blood Tuesday morning in the brick courtyard between the back porch of the home and the garage. The courtyard was strewn with debris, including what looked like broken glass.

Mr. Guglielmi did not know why the student kept a sword. He said he may have had some martial arts training but was not an expert.

Police have not yet released the suspect's name because they were having trouble locating his relatives. Mr. Guglielmi said the suspect had 29 prior arrests, mostly for burglary and breaking and entering, and had been released Saturday from a Baltimore County jail after serving about a year for auto theft.

Several nearby residents said the community has experienced a rash of petty crimes in recent months, including home, garage and vehicle break-ins. Many homes have bars on windows and stickers advertising alarm systems.

Michael Hughes, 43, said he was getting ready for bed when he heard the screams.

"There was fear in the voice. I could tell someone was scared," Mr. Hughes said.

Mr. Hughes called 911, and several police cars arrived while he was on the phone. Campus security officers and an off-duty city officer who were in the area responding to a suspicious-person report also heard the screams.

The diverse neighborhood includes a mix of students, professors and families, said Mr. Hughes, who lives with his wife and young children and works for Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health, which is on another campus across town.

"There seems to be a noticeable increase in crime in the neighborhood," Mr. Hughes said. "I am concerned for my family's safety."

Kenny Eaton, 20, a junior political science major at Hopkins who lives nearby, said there was some tension between students and lower-income residents of nearby communities. The private Johns Hopkins is known for its health and science research and has about 4,600 undergraduates on its main campus.

"You take kids who are paying $50,000 a year (in tuition) and then put them out in a very dangerous city environment, it's almost like a clash of civilizations," he said.

Three young men, including one in a Hopkins T-shirt, were sitting on the front porch of the home Tuesday morning. A police officer was standing in the doorway, and a single police car was parked nearby. The men refused to talk to an Associated Press reporter.

[Eschaton]

Hopefully for his 21st birthday he goes and buys himself a handgun now. :)

[jeff-10]

I like how the burglar was released from prison on Saturday and already promptly back plying his humble trade.

I hope their isn't some kind of belief now by the prosecutors in this country that its ONLY ok to defend your house/person with a firearm and not some kind of alternative weapon.

[maroast]

Yeah, any way you slice it, the intruder was short on arms, it would appear.

LOL!

[wheelgunslinger]

You guys are killing me with the puns.

:evil:

[PandaBearBG]

Intruder got what he deserved, he was probably responsible for all other burglaries, I want to see what the police found at the BG's house. Bravo for the kid, way to defend himself, they say there has been a string of robberies in that neighborhood and since nothing effective was done people gotta take it into their own hands (not the BG! hahaha)

I was once chased by a guy with a samurai sword once, believe it or not it was a taxi driver who was cutting the taxi line at our business property, we told him to leave because he was stealing fares and he came back with a full on sword! It's pretty wierd but a bit scary, I can imagine what it would felt like in an enclosed garage, if the BG was trying to escape I'm pretty sure he woulda lived, if the BG was accosting and facing the boy well I guess he was asking for it.

[Dimis]

save your butt first...
think of consequences after

there is not one single person i know of that would stop and think of the legalities involved at the moment of being assaulted all thats going through your mind at that time is somehow make this situation end RIGHT NOW! if thats at the end of a shotgun or a samurai sword thats all that matters right then

once the situation has ended then get a lawyer and worry about the outcome


better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6

[PT1911]

sounds like a great story in FAVOR of guns and TKBA. Without a gun... we would all resort to baseball bats and samari swords/machetes.

[hso]

How ironic would it be if the young man's name were Arthur?
http://witneyman.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/holygrail017.jpg

[HexHead]

Mr. Guglielmi did not know why the student kept a sword. He said he may have had some martial arts training but was not an expert.

Then again, maybe he just bought it because he thought it was cool?

[glistam]

Talked with a friend who works at Hopkins. Assuming he's right, his name's John and he's from New Jersey. From what I gather from the news , he kept the sword on one of those little wood stands over his bookshelf. My guess is it was higher-quality blade though, at least like a Paul Chen, given the damage it did. I don't think a cheap 420J wall hanger from China Town would amputate a hand (bone and all) and kill a man all with a single stroke. Something tells me he knew a good sword and how to use it. Though as mentioned before, perhaps not an expert on proper house clearing tactics.

[PT1911]

How ironic would it be if the young man's name were Arthur?


that would be freakin awesome!!!!

[Carl Levitian]

Just saw on the local news this morning while making coffee, that the Baltimore PD is investigating if charges will be filed against the student. I'm hoping not, but I hope the kids family has a good lawyer.

[rklessdriver]

I hope he has a good lawyer as well.

Bad deal all around. The kid is only 20 and lives in MD (now the rumor that he is from Jersey).

That is alot stacking up on him if all true. With the Jersery mentality about firearms, living in MD (not excally a firearm friendly state) and only being 20 (no handgun).... In his mind maybe he didn't have many options for a weapon to defend himself. If he truly has martial arts training a Katana could have very well seemed like the best option.

I don't want to delve too far in the failed social policies of the communist politicians in both states that allowed this to happen. No doubt if a certain part of the Balt society gets up in arms, they are going to go after this kid to attempt deflect blame away from them and their stupid nanny state govt that caters to every whimper of the "opressed".

If anything this kid effectively employed his weapon when he was forced. It had to be a pretty good quality blade to cause the type of injuries it did - but who knows how much of that "nearly severed hand" is just some "Journalist" wet dream. He made a big legal error (no 911 call first) that may cost him in court, but I'm not so sure that he made a huge tactical error by choosing to clear the property with a long blade.... to decide that we would have to know what other weapon options he had availiable to him. According to the papers he was pushed/backed in a corner, and "the criminal lunged at him". Giving himself no escape route was a big tactical error, but how many everyday people are prepared to do this kind of thing on a moments notice? In my mind the kid probally thought the criminal would see the sword and give up (or run away). I'll bet he thought there would be plenty of time afterwards to call the police and make a report. Instead he was totally taken off guard when the criminal laughed and charged him. He totally underestimated his adversary (tactical error again). It seems to me the kid finally struck the criminal only as a last resort. I'm not sure how many people could even actually perform that action in the same situation but at the moment of truth the kid was able to defend himself and his property against a very well seasoned career criminal.

Some tactical errors were made on the young mans part for sure. I can see why he made them. I'm sure he was scared - About to possibally confront an unwelcome person, trying to steal his property. He is young and has very limited (if any) life experieces interacting with the dregs of society. I don't think he knew that a career criminal is just that. He was truely surprised when things played out like they did (not as surprised the criminal thou...) and struck out at the last possible moment. No one in todays society wants to just go hacking on another person like it's 14th century Japan....

The criminal here was nearly 50yrs old and no doubt spent most of that time to hone his craft. I'm sure it's not the first time he had been confronted by a homeowner during a break in. Confronted by a young, scared "rich college kid", he reacted in a manner that he thought would would win out....

Now the hard part comes. This kid has to live with the aftermath and I know that no matter how right you are, how sorry he was, ect ect - in the end being resposible for taking another man's life... is a heavy weight to bear. The papers will play out the story with little reguard for what really happend and I do think there have been substaintal liberties taken with the story by the press in an attempt to bolster sales. The legal stuff will play out much in the same manner if the politicans think they can't avoid it.
Will

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

If he truly has martial arts training a Katana could have very well seemed like the best option.

Yes. And, also, if he doesn't have ANY martial arts training whatsoever, a Katana could have very well seemed like (and actually been) the best self-defense option in a very gun-unfriendly state. And the result of the encounter bears out the wisdom of this choice. It does NOT take a lot of skill for a young strong 20 year old with a sharp high quality blade to do a tremendous amount of damage, let alone adding adrenaline. You don't need to spend years, months, or days in the dojo (though that wouldn't hurt) to use a sword as an effective weapon in close quarters. A few swings a month in the backyard can impart the basics to you. It's not rocket surgery.

I have two swords accessible in my bedroom, in addition to firearms: A Cheness Ko-Katana 9260 (21") - the two-handed option, and a British 1907 long bayo, also extremely sharp - this one is the best close quarters option, and it's one-handed.

[Carl Levitian]

"It does NOT take a lot of skill for a young strong 20 year old with a sharp high quality blade to do a tremendous amount of damage, let alone adding adrenaline. You don't need to spend years, months, or days in the dojo (though that wouldn't hurt) to use a sword as an effective weapon in close quarters. A few swings a month in the backyard can impart the basics to you. It's not rocket surgery."



That's the truth!

My old co-worker from El Salvadore once told me about a fight that broke out at the market in his town. Two drunks got into an argument, pulled out their 12 inch machetes and went at each other. They both died on the scene from blood loss in very short order. Massive damage domne by thin sharp blade.

No rocket science there either.

[7X57chilmau]

I'd suggest that it takes more stupidity (or bad luck) than brains or skill to find one's self still in a knife fight by the time both have blades drawn....

The only knife (sword, whatever) fights truely won are those not fought.

J

[Deltaboy]

The Perp got what he richly deserved! Good bye and Good riddance. Just think of all the money that young man saved the state of Maryland. Shoot the Law ought to be giving the man a medal!

[Kind of Blued]

I gotta give him a hand. Sounds like self-defense to me.

[Double Naught Spy]

So the bad guy lost his five finger discount?

[SlamFire1]

It is the sword that is causing all the attention. Just read the last part of the article:

The incident was the second this week in which a man was wounded trying to commit a robbery. An off-duty Baltimore police officer shot and critically wounded a man who had tried to rob him at gunpoint in his Northeast Baltimore home, according to police. He chased the man for two blocks before opening fire, police said

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.samurai16sep16,0,114199.story?page=2

An off duty cop chases a guy for two blocks and then shoots him to death? Little or no hysteria about that.

But a civilian with a sharp object, Nationwide attention!

[J.Scott]

The incident happened in the garage, didn't it? Does that affect the castle doctrine? Does the garage count as part of your home or just part of your property if its not an attached garage? In my state you cannot use deadly force to stop someone from taking stuff from a shed or out of your car, or even stealing your car out of your driveway. The intruder must be entering your home to open the no-retreat option. A case recently involved a man's son coming home from a party where he had had some form of altercation with a group of young men who followed him home, and came all the up to the porch steps threatening bodily harm. The boy's father opened the front door stood on the porch with a shotgun pointed at the group. He ended up shooting one of the group, killing him. The father was sentenced to 8 years if I'm not mistaken, for manslaughter, because he was not inside his home and the attackers were not attempting forced entry into the home at the time of the shooting. I guess if the garage is attached, probably no problem, no charges. The sword, while unconventional by today's standards, is in no way illegal. Petrsonally, I believe you should have the right to defend yourself anywhere, anytime.

[glistam]

J. Scott

It was outside the garage, in the yard it turns out.
BUT, Maryland has a castle rule that is broader that just the zone you are standing in at the time. According to the Maryland Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction, there is no duty to retreat before deadly force when in one's home, when being robbed, when making a citizen's arrest, or when there is no known avenue of retreat. According to the latest information, the young man (John Pontolillo) told the crook (Donald Rice) to freeze and called for the roommates to call the police. In effect, he was announcing a citizen's arrest. Rice them came at him. Pontolillo backed up as the man came towards him and had his back to the closed garage door, and raised the sword over his head (probably an imitation of Daijodan no Kamae). He was cornered and Rice had ample room to run the other way to escape. When he was in striking distance, he delivered a single diagonal downward stroke to (from what I can gather) the neck and hand simultaneously, killing him.

It may be weeks before we get a conclusive yes or no from the State's Attorney office, but based on Maryland's rules and previous case law, it looks like a justifiable homicide.

Societies have always felt the need to maintain a very tight grip on the legitimate use of force. I think Max Webber wrote on this matter but my ability to articulate it is not going to do it justice. It's almost like law enforcement resents it when a civie does their job for themselves. Another thing is the justice system seems to have a mighty hard time admitting when certain human beings truly deserve to die and the world is bettered by their passing immeasurably more than by their continued existence.

[SouthSideSaint]

Crazy was all i could think when i read about this. Also im just a little jealous that he actually got to battle test his sword. I mean when else is anyone ever gonna see if there sword will go threw flesh. Lucky

[TimboKhan]

Also im just a little jealous that he actually got to battle test his sword. I mean when else is anyone ever gonna see if there sword will go threw flesh. Lucky

Really? I can detect no humor whatsoever in that sentence, so I am forced to believe that this is one of the top 5 dumbest things I have ever read on THR. I don't think anyone that is a normal human being would call this kid lucky unless it is from the perspective that he is lucky to be alive.

I really want to comment more, but my comments are spiraling pretty quick in the direction of the low road, so I will lay off the obvious Mom's Basement Ninjitsu that is so painfully, painfully obvious in that comment.

[hso]

Also im just a little jealous that he actually got to battle test his sword.

This is not the responsible attitude that THR members should have. It is referred to as being bloodthirsty and is not acceptable here.

Consider that every act of self defense that is that personal and bloody can leave deep traumatic scars.

Consider that the student will spend the rest of his life dealing with that trauma.

Such bloodthirsty attitudes usually come from the immature who have little, if any, experience in bloody life or death mayhem. I hope other members take note of the fact that such attitudes are not held by the majority of their fellows here.

[RX-178]

It's entirely likely that the sword was purchased without ever any intention or thought for self defense. The most valuable and collectible swords just happen to be the kind of sword that can 'amputate a hand and kill a man in a single stroke'.

[7X57chilmau]

Yup, RX-178, I've got 2 that'd fit the bill myself, certainly not obtained for SD purposes, but up to the task.

They'd be a long way down my list, though, as far as choices go.

I think many here overestimate the quality of blade required to amputate a hand. It really doesn't take much.

A $25 kukri's plenty for that task. Or a $5 machete.

J

[kayak-man]

Any of you guys seen Pulp Fiction? Maybe the kid had a sword because he was Tarintino fan?

[zignal_zero]

Consider that every act of self defense that is that personal and bloody can leave deep traumatic scars.


however, also consider that the opposite can be true. i know people who are totally unaffected by carnage. to them, ending a life (when necessary) has no negative effect on their psyche and warrants little more than a shrug from them.

i do not agree with the posters statement about WANTING to test a sword on a human target. but i can tell you the whole life long traumatic scars thing is an assumption and does not always apply.

i was warned, in training (years ago) - if you do not feel remorse after a justified shooting.... fake it. because people who have NEVER ended a life (like your psychologist) have their own opinions about what you're supposed to feel like after you do.

[Aka Zero]

Samurai sword carries a bad name.

If I have to use mine.... I will make sure the paper says "Cheness Tsukikage SGC"

But would more likely be Machete.... or 9mm, marlin 30-30, saiga 12? or Browning citori!

[InkEd]

I think it is a case if instant old testament/Hammurabi code justice. He was a thief and got his hand cut off.

[MillCreek]

I wonder if the burglar said "it's only a flesh wound". He should have brought the Holy Hand Grenade with him.

[agent slice]

that guy with the samurai sword had every right to defend himself
and any one who dose not agree makes me really mad :barf:!

[jlbpa]

City prosecutors ruled Thursday that a Johns Hopkins student who killed an intruder last fall by using a samurai sword was justified in his actions, according to a letter sent to homicide investigators.

State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said prosecutors determined that the student, John Pontolillo, "reasonably believed he was in danger of imminent death or serious bodily injury" and was justified in striking Donald Rice, a 49-year-old repeat offender who is believed to have broken into the student's home earlier in the night.

The incident raised security concerns around the Johns Hopkins University campus, where burglaries remain an issue for students in off-campus housing. Pontolillo was cheered as a hero, with a Web site created in his honor and a candidate for student elected office alluding to the incident in a campaign slogan.

But there had remained a possibility - however remote - that Pontolillo could be criminally charged in Rice's death. Prosecutors took more than four months to review evidence collected during the police investigation.

Pontolillo, of Wall, N.J., was at home in the early morning of Sept. 14 when he heard a noise coming from the garage behind the three-story, five-bedroom house on East University Parkway that he rented with three other students. After canvassing the area with police and school security, Pontolillo grabbed a samurai sword and went out again, where he encountered Rice hiding in the dark.

Prosecutors said Pontolillo ordered Rice not to move, and Rice "came towards Mr. Pontolillo with arms raised." That language differs from the initial police account that Rice lunged at him.

"Because he could not determine if there was a weapon in Rice's hands, and fearing for his safety, Pontolillo swung one time as the intruder approached," the letter said.

Pontolillo nearly severed Rice's left hand, and he bled to death at the scene.

The student, who has not spoken publicly about the incident, could not be reached for comment but officials said he and his roommates have moved out of the home where the killing took place.

"Certainly, it's been very difficult for our student and also for the family of the deceased," said Dennis O'Shea, a university spokesman. "But we are relieved that the decision has been made that this was a matter of self-defense."

[Arkansas Paul]

^ That's the best news I've heard in a long time. You hope that never happens, but if it does, you hope the legal system sides with the true victim, in this case the student. Good for him. Hopefully he keeps everything in the right perspective. It also does my heart good to know that the university did not turn their backs on him and in fact, seem to have stood behind him. Good for John Hopkins University. This story truly has a happy ending.

[FuzzyBunny]

Some shocked neighbors said they heard bloodcurdling screams in an area just blocks from the university.

I wonder who was doing the screaming?

[cyclopsshooter]

Hopefully for his 21st birthday he goes and buys himself a handgun now.

how much you wanna bet that will be a NICS delay

[Budgetshooter]

No matter what a prosecutor says, the student had to use the sword anyways. If he didnt fend off the robber, that would put his life in danger. Simply, he had to use the sword to keep the robber getting it. He would likely have died. It's his right to use it. Lol.


I just read where he got off; good :)

[Erik M]

Well, the intruder's plans got cut off.....

You are now david carusoe and this thread is now an episode of CSI Miami.


Im seriously betting that it was not legal for the young man to have a katana if his residence is on college property.

[RS14]

Im seriously betting that it was not legal for the young man to have a katana if his residence is on college property.

It was not on campus. Dorms don't usually come with garages.

[Pilot]

I only have one thing to say.

HAI!

[agent slice]

City prosecutors ruled Thursday that a Johns Hopkins student who killed an intruder last fall by using a samurai sword was justified in his actions, according to a letter sent to homicide investigators.

State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said prosecutors determined that the student, John Pontolillo, "reasonably believed he was in danger of imminent death or serious bodily injury" and was justified in striking Donald Rice, a 49-year-old repeat offender who is believed to have broken into the student's home earlier in the night.

yahoooooooooooooooooooooo

[mgregg85]

This guy got lucky in more ways than one. A lot could have gone wrong. Hopefully he learns his lesson.

Don't bring a sword to a potential gunfight(anytime you confront a criminal its a potential gunfight).

He would have been much better off if he had just barricaded himself and called the cops, your property isn't worth risking your life.

Enough of the high horse though, you never know how you will react until you are actually put into the situation. If I was being robbed, I don't think I could stomach just sitting around waiting for the cops to show up while some criminal steals my stuff.

[alsaqr]

Yep, it was "an acute failure of the victim selection process."

[Mp7]

....a fire extinguisher type OCspray
and a club/cane/Bat are not a bad idea ....

i rather get "famous" by just spraying
and KOing the guy ... or having him
look into a SxS 12 ga .... than being the guy
"Who killed a burglar with a Samurai sword ...."

*chuckle*