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HOSTAGE KILLS ALLEGED ASSAILANT IN HOME
BY ANDREA HAHN
THE SOUTHERN
LAKE OF EGYPT -- A stormy relationship between two Williamson County teenagers ended in bloodshed Thursday, when a member of the girl's family shot and killed the young man, whom they said had been holding them hostage at gunpoint.
Jeffrey Scott Price, 19, of Marion, died at Saint Louis University Hospital Thursday morning after being shot in the head during the alleged home invasion.
By order of Johnson County State's Attorney Tricia Turner-Shelton, police are releasing few details about the incident. In a written statement, police said Price broke into or entered without permission a home in rural Johnson County. He was shot there at about 12:47 a.m. Thursday by one of the occupants of the house.
Family members from both sides gave a more detailed account.
Price went to the house, located on Deer Trail Road in the Lake of Egypt area, looking for his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend, said Sherry James, the girl's mother. The occupants of the house are James' parents, the girl's grandparents, both in their 70s.
James said her parents told her Price entered their home without them knowing, wearing a ski mask and hooded sweatshirt. He awakened James' mother with a gun in her face, demanding to know where his ex-girlfriend, the woman's granddaughter, was.
Price ordered the couple into the living room, James said, and demanded they find a way to get his ex-girlfriend to come over without arousing suspicion. During the course of about an hour, James said, her mother was able to placate him to the point where he put away the gun. She excused herself to go to the bathroom, and so did her husband.
The couple went to separate bathrooms, but James said her father went to the bedroom to retrieve a .45 caliber handgun he purchased 14 months ago. He had never unwrapped it or taken off the tags, she said.
The man loaded the gun and returned to the living room. Somehow, James said, her mother was able to get Price's gun and throw it off the deck of the house. When her husband came back into the room, he pointed the gun at Price and told him he could either sit down or leave. James said Price told her parents he wouldn't leave without his ex-girlfriend.
James said her father told her mother to call the police with a cell phone, because Price had disabled the land line. As she went to do so, Price produced another gun. James said her father shot Price in the back of the head.
James said her father told her he intended to shoot Price in the leg.
Price died about 4 a.m. in the hospital.
Nancy Price, Jeffrey's stepmother, said she is "as baffled by this as anyone else is."
Nancy Price confirmed her stepson had gone to the house looking for the girl. She said her family does not own guns and she does not know where he got them. She said to her knowledge, Jeffrey had never fired a gun.
Nancy Price said Jeffrey Price had some problems with the law. He had been arrested for disorderly conduct in Williamson County the previous week, and she bailed him out of the county jail. She said he had been in jail in Missouri for stealing a three-wheeler.
Jeffrey Price also had problems in West Frankfort. Police Chief Mike Dinn said there was no specific warrant for the young man in his jurisdiction, but that the he was "a person of interest" with the department.
Violence, though, his stepmother said, was something she did not associate with him.
"He was a big kid for threats," she said. "He was always saying he was going to hit somebody. If it came to a fight, he'd run.
"He took my mother to dialysis three times a week, getting up at 5 a.m. I just don't see him pointing a gun at an older woman."
Nancy Price said the relationship her stepson had with is ex-girlfriend was a rocky one. She said they were "on again, off again," though they had spoken of planning to be married when the girl turned 18.
Nancy Price said the week before Jeffrey's death, his girlfriend had spent a few nights with them.
"She was always calling him and saying, 'Come get me,'" Price said. "He'd park in a field and sneak up to the house and get her. Maybe that's what was happening that night."
James, however, said the disorderly conduct charge last week against Jeffrey Price involved his treatment of her daughter. She said the family was seeking an emergency restraining order against him.
Capt. Debra Landmann, an investigator with the state police, said the investigation was still in its early stages. She said there are state laws allowing residents to protect themselves if threatened during a home invasion.
"Every situation is different," she said. "That's why we don't say anything (definitively). We're treating this like any investigation."
Linda Gimnich, a neighbor, said she thought the popping noise she heard in the middle of the night was in a dream. She said she woke up and went to her kitchen window and saw the flashing blue and red lights of police cars. She had a feeling someone had been shot, and she hoped it wasn't the couple who lived in the house where all the activity was centered.
She said she finally went to bed without knowing what had happened. Later in the day, when she learned that the victim was a potential assailant, she said her feeling of dread lifted.
"I'm just so relieved it wasn't either one of them," she said.
Funeral arrangements for Price are incomplete at Johnson-Hughes Funeral Home in Herrin.
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2005/02/11/top/doc420cb381cdf63684168628.txt
Something strikes me as a bit odd about this whole thing
BY ANDREA HAHN
THE SOUTHERN
LAKE OF EGYPT -- A stormy relationship between two Williamson County teenagers ended in bloodshed Thursday, when a member of the girl's family shot and killed the young man, whom they said had been holding them hostage at gunpoint.
Jeffrey Scott Price, 19, of Marion, died at Saint Louis University Hospital Thursday morning after being shot in the head during the alleged home invasion.
By order of Johnson County State's Attorney Tricia Turner-Shelton, police are releasing few details about the incident. In a written statement, police said Price broke into or entered without permission a home in rural Johnson County. He was shot there at about 12:47 a.m. Thursday by one of the occupants of the house.
Family members from both sides gave a more detailed account.
Price went to the house, located on Deer Trail Road in the Lake of Egypt area, looking for his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend, said Sherry James, the girl's mother. The occupants of the house are James' parents, the girl's grandparents, both in their 70s.
James said her parents told her Price entered their home without them knowing, wearing a ski mask and hooded sweatshirt. He awakened James' mother with a gun in her face, demanding to know where his ex-girlfriend, the woman's granddaughter, was.
Price ordered the couple into the living room, James said, and demanded they find a way to get his ex-girlfriend to come over without arousing suspicion. During the course of about an hour, James said, her mother was able to placate him to the point where he put away the gun. She excused herself to go to the bathroom, and so did her husband.
The couple went to separate bathrooms, but James said her father went to the bedroom to retrieve a .45 caliber handgun he purchased 14 months ago. He had never unwrapped it or taken off the tags, she said.
The man loaded the gun and returned to the living room. Somehow, James said, her mother was able to get Price's gun and throw it off the deck of the house. When her husband came back into the room, he pointed the gun at Price and told him he could either sit down or leave. James said Price told her parents he wouldn't leave without his ex-girlfriend.
James said her father told her mother to call the police with a cell phone, because Price had disabled the land line. As she went to do so, Price produced another gun. James said her father shot Price in the back of the head.
James said her father told her he intended to shoot Price in the leg.
Price died about 4 a.m. in the hospital.
Nancy Price, Jeffrey's stepmother, said she is "as baffled by this as anyone else is."
Nancy Price confirmed her stepson had gone to the house looking for the girl. She said her family does not own guns and she does not know where he got them. She said to her knowledge, Jeffrey had never fired a gun.
Nancy Price said Jeffrey Price had some problems with the law. He had been arrested for disorderly conduct in Williamson County the previous week, and she bailed him out of the county jail. She said he had been in jail in Missouri for stealing a three-wheeler.
Jeffrey Price also had problems in West Frankfort. Police Chief Mike Dinn said there was no specific warrant for the young man in his jurisdiction, but that the he was "a person of interest" with the department.
Violence, though, his stepmother said, was something she did not associate with him.
"He was a big kid for threats," she said. "He was always saying he was going to hit somebody. If it came to a fight, he'd run.
"He took my mother to dialysis three times a week, getting up at 5 a.m. I just don't see him pointing a gun at an older woman."
Nancy Price said the relationship her stepson had with is ex-girlfriend was a rocky one. She said they were "on again, off again," though they had spoken of planning to be married when the girl turned 18.
Nancy Price said the week before Jeffrey's death, his girlfriend had spent a few nights with them.
"She was always calling him and saying, 'Come get me,'" Price said. "He'd park in a field and sneak up to the house and get her. Maybe that's what was happening that night."
James, however, said the disorderly conduct charge last week against Jeffrey Price involved his treatment of her daughter. She said the family was seeking an emergency restraining order against him.
Capt. Debra Landmann, an investigator with the state police, said the investigation was still in its early stages. She said there are state laws allowing residents to protect themselves if threatened during a home invasion.
"Every situation is different," she said. "That's why we don't say anything (definitively). We're treating this like any investigation."
Linda Gimnich, a neighbor, said she thought the popping noise she heard in the middle of the night was in a dream. She said she woke up and went to her kitchen window and saw the flashing blue and red lights of police cars. She had a feeling someone had been shot, and she hoped it wasn't the couple who lived in the house where all the activity was centered.
She said she finally went to bed without knowing what had happened. Later in the day, when she learned that the victim was a potential assailant, she said her feeling of dread lifted.
"I'm just so relieved it wasn't either one of them," she said.
Funeral arrangements for Price are incomplete at Johnson-Hughes Funeral Home in Herrin.
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2005/02/11/top/doc420cb381cdf63684168628.txt
Something strikes me as a bit odd about this whole thing
I suppose some people just don't understand the concept of being made to look stupid. Doesn't look like Miz Price does.