Man shoots motorcyclist in "self defense"

[igpoobah]

Car seized in slaying of cyclist
Biker gunned down in Oconee County
By Joe Johnson | [email protected] | Story updated at 11:21 PM on Thursday, February 28, 2008
Oconee County investigators have seized the car two Bogart teens were driving Monday night when they squabbled with a motorcyclist - a fight that ended when the girls' father allegedly shot and killed the biker.

Authorities are trying to see if damage to the car jibes with the teenage sisters' story that 21-year-old Bryan Joseph "B.J." Mough intentionally slammed into their car and followed them home before he was shot to death on the street near their house.

"We seized the car pursuant to a warrant and are in the process of trying to recreate the cause and manner of any collision between the two vehicles," Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said Thursday. "My traffic people are in the process of doing that, and they are consulting with accident-reconstruction specialists."

The sisters, ages 17 and 19, told investigators they called their father as they were driving home from an Athens discount store on Atlanta Highway to say a motorcyclist cut them off and rammed their car. They admitted that they made obscene hand gestures at Mough, officials said.

Their father, Richard "Ricky" Harold Gear, was waiting at the end of his driveway as the teens arrived home. He fired a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol "two or three times," hitting Mough once in the back as the biker drove by, according to Berry.

Gear, 46, is held without bond on a murder charge.

He doesn't yet have an attorney or a schedule for a preliminary court hearing, according to Berry.

The killing has drawn attention to tiny Bogart, and national television networks have called for interviews, according to Berry.

"Bogart is a quiet, close-knit place, and I can't remember ever having a murder in Bogart, other than a shooting that took place on the Athens-Clarke County side about 15 years ago," Berry said. "This isn't a drug-dealer murder in downtown Athens."

The community of about 1,100 people spans two counties, and downtown Bogart is about a mile west of the Clarke County line.

Motorcyclists from across the state are rallying in Mough's memory and plan a group ride from a service station off Interstate 85 in Duluth to Mough's funeral, which is scheduled for noon Saturday at Carter Funeral Home in Winder.

Frenzied Internet bloggers have written dozens of theories and scenarios about what happened Monday, many of the postings fueled by the fact that authorities have released few details about what led to the shooting.

Mough and the Gear sisters were at the Target store in Athens at the same time Monday night and left the store about the same time. Berry would not say who left the store first, but Mough did not follow the Gear sisters, he said.

The sheriff also would not discuss what the Gear sisters told their father before the shooting, beyond that they claimed a man was following them and intentionally rammed their car with his motorcycle.

Gear did not act in self-defense, however, according to Berry, who said Mough's motorcycle never touched Gear's property and Gear shot the biker in the back.

Investigators also are taking a new look at a 2-year-old case in which Gear may have fired a gun at a group of teenagers.

Gear called Oconee deputies the night of Feb. 25, 2006, to complain that a car knocked over his mailbox after he chased a group of trespassers from his property. The trespassers were neighborhood teens who were arguing with one of Gear's daughters and her boyfriend, according to one teen's mother.

Deputies found the teens, who admitted they ran over the mailbox, which they said they hit as they were fleeing from the Gear home after someone shot at them, an Oconee sheriff's report states.

Authorities didn't charge anyone because they couldn't prove anyone had fired a gun, according to Berry, who said people involved in the alleged shooting were "less than truthful."

Berry has assigned eight investigators to the murder investigation, and they are tracking down other reports that Gear may have fired a gun.

"All the information we got (is) being followed up on," the sheriff said. "We're not ignoring anything."

See MOTORCYCLISTS on A7


Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 022908

 

[Biker]

No one intentionally rams a car on a scoot. Absurd...

Biker

 

[hankdatank1362]

No kidding.

 

[buzz_knox]

No one intentionally rams a car on a scoot. Absurd...

He might have kicked the vehicle, and the girls interpreted it as ramming. That will come out in the investigation, but given some of the posts in this thread, it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

absurd true but i've seen some young ones do some absurd things of late

and the evidence should show more soon. cops are probably smart to play it close to their vest till they finish investigation

 

[buzz_knox]

I strongly suspect there was physical contact between the motorcycle and the car; and that the motorcyclist followed the car home, only to be subsequently shot by a man holding a gun.

There are a few potentially valid topics in this thread and this is one.

1. If a loved calls out and states they feel threatened and are coming home, what's the response?

2. Would you tell said someone to go to the police station instead with the hope (but not guarantee) that this would ward the "bad guy" off?

3. If you get into a traffic accident and the vehicle flees the scene, do you follow them or just get the license and call it in?

Seems like these topics are getting lost in the tribalism.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

and if you are older do your answers today reflect a change from when you were 21. and a new rider

 

[Officers'Wife]

Seeing as how the biker had a round in the back I'm having a hard time imagining the use of a firearm as justified.

 

[Wineoceros]

Seeing as how the biker had a round in the back I'm having a hard time imagining the use of a firearm as justified.

Especially since I'm not familiar with any bikes that come with a reverse gear.

 

[jackdanson]

All this talk is irrelevant, there is no defense for the shooting. Regardless of what led up to the incident, a guy driving by on a bike isn't an immediate threat to you or your family.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

how hard are you trying to imagine? be nice to hear some real facts like what if anything was said whether the gun was visible to the kid on the bike. how far away was he when he got shot where the other slugs went etc.
really would like to know how far past the house the kid went before his second pass and how fast he was going. seems a shame hes dead but at that age i asked for someone to kill me more than once

 

[Wineoceros]

be nice to hear some real facts like what if anything was said whether the gun was visible to the kid on the bike. how far away was he when he got shot where the other slugs went etc.
really would like to know how far past the house the kid went before his second pass and how fast he was going.

What answers to any/some/all of those questions do you think would make this a justified shoot?

 

[OAKTOWN]

Sure... rammed them... right. I'll make a prediction here, and may be proven wrong, but I doubt it.

-Girls do something stupid
-Girls hit bike
-Girls do a runner
-Motorcycle guy chases girls to get plate #
-Motorcycle guy decides to follow them
-Girls call daddy, "boo hoo, a bad man is following us!!!"
-Daddy, (who is a moron) goes out to the street to be Mr Tough Guy
-Mr Tough Guy gets stupid and shoot motorcyclist
-Girls bring Daddy soap on a rope for Christmas
-End of story

I don't know about that area, but cops here don't give a rats ass about hit and runs. I'd be tempted to follow someone, because if you know where they live, it will make persuing civil action easier.

That being said, it's funny how if someone couldn't be bothered to clear their firearm, had an ND and killed someone, people would want their head on a pike. Can't be bothered to check your mirrors and run over a motorcylist; too bad, so sad, sucks to be you.

 

[siglite]

Especially since I'm not familiar with any bikes that come with a reverse gear.

Wings have reverse. But it's pretty darned slow. It'd be roughly like being charged by a box turtle.

 

[Wineoceros]

-Daddy, (who is a moron) goes out to the street to be Mr Tough Guy

I'm OK with his actions at that point. If my daughter called me in a panic about someone chasing her then I'd be inclined to be armed and standing in my front yard when she arrived home.

-Mr Tough Guy gets stupid and shoot motorcyclist

Which is, of course, where he went wrong.

-Girls bring Daddy soap on a rope for Christmas

Which would be dumb, too. The guards would never let the rope through, and no good can come of that slippery bar of soap.

Wings have reverse. But it's pretty darned slow. It'd be roughly like being charged by a box turtle.

Oh, sure...remind me of that harrowing box turtle incident from my childhood. :::shudder:::

 

[#shooter]

All parties should have called the police. The biker should have taken the plate number down and reported it, the daughters should have reported it to the police or drove to a police station, and the father should have called the police to meet them all at the house. Instead everyone took matters into their own hands and acted irresponsibly. The girls will lose their father, the father will lose his freedom, and the biker lost his life.
We don’t know what the biker’s intention was, but most of us here assume when someone follows you home after a confrontation no good will come of it. It seems to me the biker wanted to give the girls a piece of his mind and possibly a fist, saw daddy in the driveway with a gun and turned around and then was shot. It seems it was not a justified self defense shoot. The sad part is it didn’t have to end this way.

 

[OhioPaints]

How do you shoot a guy coming at you in the back?

You have to be a REALLY good shot!

I agree, 911 should have been called instead of daddy...IF the girls were telling the truth.

 

[ROCKSHUND]

There are a couple points that keep coming to mind after having read this thread...

1) ...and the most salient point of all: The rider was shot in the BACK. In the street. As in not approaching the shooter at that point, in any way. Bad, bad, bad juju. The rider evidently didn't enter the shooter's property, either...

2) ...the shooter's decision to fire was largely initiated by his teenage daughters' telephone call to him... basically heresay, especially as grounds for capping said rider. Yeah, I could see strapping on an iron, but also making a call to 9-11 would have: A) provided some valuable documentation on the dispatch recording should a situation developed while the caller was on the line, and/or B) would have possibly allowed responding PD to sort out the situation before escalating...

And, I'm no stinkin' pacifist, either.

3)...The truth ALWAYS lies somewhere in the middle...and "F-ups" piled on top of more "F-ups" usually equals bad times. Daughter(s) may have erred, rider may have erred, but...the shooter REALLY erred, and will most likely not like how this will end.

The last of my 3 daughters just turned 18, I'm very "protective" of my family, my 1911 is probably my best friend (next to my FAL's, anyway), and I'm now on my ninth motorcycle...so there's no bias here from me.

-FNR...

 

[buzz_knox]

You have to be a REALLY good shot!

Or you shoot as the guy is passing, miss with the first two, and connect with the last. Shooting someone in the back isn't what determines if it's a good shoot or not; the totality of the circumstances does. The latter is what we are completely missing.

 

[SCOOTER_DOD]

MackAttck, That's Not what I am Getting Here I am getting a lot of opinions and scenarios. And AS Far as it goes

<I quote from you>

It's funny, here are the facts that I've been able to glean from this thread:

Many bikers immediately stand for the defense of fellow Bikers.

Many bikers are scary people who think property damage is the way to deal with people's mistakes.

Many car drivers think all Bikers are hot-headed psychopaths.

Many gun owners look for ways to explain this as a good shoot. Many bikers try to say the guy was innocent as an angel. <End Quote>

Any one that See's this as a justifiable Homicide , Is Absolutely NUT'S. Because it was not it was complete murder in the 1st degree ! ! ! And after seeing it on the news today That's what they are going for! as For the daughter's I hope they prosecute them too for obstructing the law And with holding evidence! from what forensics said It did NOT go down like the girls said it did..... AS far as Bikers go Yes we do stick together Their is a certain amount of respect a biker has for another biker.... As to people that just drive a vehicle all the time they don't have no respect for other motorists,,YOU don't see too guys pass in a car and waive or give them a thumb's up or acknowledge their presence. Also When has their ever been a report of Two motorcyclists have road rage with each other... YOU DONT BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT'S DANGEROUS! ! ! Someone Will die!! Or get hurt badly! ! ! ! Now i am not defending or saying that all people that drive Bikes Are Innocent Because they are not ,,,,,There are a few bad apples out their that will ruin it all for everyone! But I have never followed any one home that has pissed me off NEVER, Us Bikers Don't destroy property as it has been put here...But yes we are Hot Heads And the ones that are hot Heads Are normally the Respected Rider Or driver And people being Pure Ignorant On the Road Pisses us off, Because they don't us the same respect that we would give them... And i guess if i get brake checked for no reason, or someone slide into my lane on top of me.. Or is just flat out messing with me...I am going to get mad Just like any one else would...in a car or on a bike, So no one should be quick to jump down someones throat over what they ride or drive. EVERYONE IS A HOT HEAD IN THERE OWN WAY ! ! ! every one has a boiling point!

 

[Joe Demko]

I got my first motorcycle when I was 12. I've had a bunch of them. The amount of respect I have for another person has never been influenced by whether s/he rides a motorcycle. I know some very fine people who ride bikes. I also know some first-class idiots. Same goes for people who drive automobiles.
Let's try not to get too much of our self-image tied up in vehicles, shall we?

 

[rjohnson4405]

For me the getting shot in the BACK isn't gonna fly in court, whether or not it was justified might not even matter to a jury at that point.

I mean regardless of what happened on the freeway there's no way to justify the shooting. The reverse on motorcycle idea wouldn't really fly either, not to mention you're probably going to be flying through the air after running someone over on two wheels at just about any speed.

Can anyone find a way to back up the shooting regardless of what happened on the freeway? It's irrelevant anyway, even if the police are looking at the car because the biker is dead.

 

[buzz_knox]

Can anyone find a way to back up the shooting regardless of what happened on the freeway?

Based on the facts presented, probably not. The biker might have been guilty of motoring while looking peeved, or perhaps brandishing a snarl, but unless the father can articulate a reasonable belief that the biker was posing an immediate danger of grave bodily harm to himself or the girls, he's screwed.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

whats law down there? if he says hes gonna kill you while moving at you whats the deal.

 

[Biker]

C-Daddy...

Where did you pick up that info?

Biker