Shotgun blasts kill two intruders

[Desertdog]

From the title, you could think the shotgun didn't need any help to kill two people. A more accurate title would be, "Home owner kills two intruders with shotgun."


Shotgun blasts kill two intruders
ROBERT W. DALTON, Staff Writer
http://www.goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060831/NEWS/608310334/1051/NEWS01


LYMAN -- A home invasion early Wednesday morning ended with two of the intruders dead and a third in custody after one of the residents opened fire with a shotgun.

Travis Earle Anderson, 22, and his brother, Marshall Lashaun Anderson, 28, both of Spartanburg, died after William Rodney Thomas shot them after they broke into the house at 76 Lawrence St. and attacked his roommate, Lee Timothy Freeman.

A Lyman police officer responding to a call at about 2:40 Wednesday morning found Marshall Anderson lying on top of his brother at the bottom of the deck steps at the rear of the home. Travis Anderson died at the scene, while Marshall Anderson died at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, Lyman Police Chief Scott Suttles said.

Spartanburg County Coroner's Investigator Mike Shaw said that Travis Anderson died of a shotgun blast to the chest. Marshall Anderson was shot in the right arm and bled to death, Shaw said.

Travis Anderson was a talented receiver on the Byrnes High School football team and was named to the North-South all-star game following his senior season in 2001. He signed with Gardner-Webb University.

Police arrested a third man, 21-year-old Nicholas Vandale Oglesby of 1051 Nazareth Road as he tried to drive away. He was charged with assault with intent to kill, aggravated assault and battery and burglary and was awaiting a bond hearing Wednesday night at the Spartanburg County jail.

Oglesby was awaiting trial in Greenville County on criminal domestic violence and second-degree burglary charges, according to his arrest record.

The Anderson brothers and Oglesby were armed with handguns, according to a police report. After they broke into the house, one of the Andersons whipped the 21-year-old Freeman with a pistol, opening a severe cut on his forehead, the report stated.

Thomas, also 21, was in his bedroom and grabbed his shotgun when he heard the commotion, Suttles said. When Travis Anderson opened the bedroom door, Thomas fired the shot that hit him in the chest and then closed the door.

Marshall Anderson then came through the door, and Thomas shot him, Suttles said.

Oglesby fired a shot at Thomas before fleeing, according to a police report. It is unclear whether Thomas returned fire at Oglesby.

Suttles said he didn't know whether Thomas and Freeman knew the suspects.

"We're still investigating that. There are several unanswered questions," Suttles said.

Thomas and Freeman were unavailable for comment.

Suttles said Thomas will not be charged because he killed the Andersons while defending his home.

The violent start to the day stunned area residents, who said the neighborhood is a peaceful one.

"I've been here 34 years, and there's never been anything like this," said Donny Woodward, who lives at 72 Lawrence St. "It's really eye-opening, like a bad storm. You think it will never happen to us, and then it does."

Woodward said that Thomas and Freeman have lived two doors down from him for less than a year. He said that they usually kept to themselves.

Jennifer Anders, who lives next door, said that she's a light sleeper but that she didn't hear the gunshots. She said that Thomas and Freeman often borrowed tools from her husband and were always willing to help out with a project.

She said that Thomas once asked her for a cooking lesson.

"He came over one night to ask how to make broccoli and cheese," she said. "He was cooking dinner for his mom and he wanted to get it right."

Anders said she didn't see Thomas after the shooting, but that she was concerned about how he would cope.

Daniel Morgan Jr., who lives about half a block away, said he doesn't believe the attack was a random one.

"I've lived here four years and there's been no trouble," Morgan said. "They've been here six or eight months and this happens? This is not a freak thing; it happened for a reason."

Robert W. Dalton can be reached at 562-7274 or [email protected].

 

[Rabbi]

Maybe it's just me .............. but I'm glad the Fokkers are dead.

 

[WayneConrad]

I think I could make a living, if someone would pay me for it, of correcting dumb headlines.

The editor should have written, "Homeowner kills two intruders."

As if that isn't sensational enough, he could have added, "with a shotgun."

Or do these guys still think that guns just pull their own trigger?

 

[sm]

Well two of the intruders certainly won't be intrusive again now will they?

Now that third one, only one going to be taking up court time , 3 hots and a cot and all, still be a bit until he can intrude again it seems...

 

[Don't Tread On Me]

Great story.

A couple less scumbags in society. Although, the age of the roomates along with the age of the attackers seems to be highly suspicious. These guys were getting payback or something, probably drug related. Something STINKS about this situation.

In any event, there's something to learn here from a home defense perspective.

Thomas did a fantastic job. He used his shotgun defensively. He didn't go rampaging. He shot one of the Andersons as he came through the door, then when the other one came through also - he got his too. This is shooting from an advantageous position. You are relatively safe, while THEY have to come through the door to get to you. This is almost like a "defensive ambush"...which is the best plan for home defense. Stay in your room. ROOM CLEARING is for the tactical-swat-specialforces dudes. Win the day and LIVE. There are no rules to gunfighting other than to survive at all costs (and to have a gun).

Lee was probably already out of the picture due to a massive impact to the head (got pistol whipped)...Not that Thomas might have seen or known that - that is unclear.


Also, the shotgun blast wasn't COM on the 2nd guy. Proving to the hollywood-brainwashed that a miss with a shotgun is still a miss. Fortunately (for society), the load (I'm assuming it was some type of shot) tore up his arm bad enough that he bled to death. Sorry for being so cruel - but our justice system is a total JOKE and would have let these thugs out early and they'd go rape or murder some woman or child. This is exactly the type of justice we had when America was a much safer place.


Anyway. Interesting story. Good find. Should inspire some interesting discussion. I wonder if the shotgun was a SEMI or a PUMP?

 

[HKUSP45C]

Thomas, also 21, was in his bedroom and grabbed his shotgun when he heard the commotion, Suttles said. When Travis Anderson opened the bedroom door, Thomas fired the shot that hit him in the chest and then closed the door.

Marshall Anderson then came through the door, and Thomas shot him, Suttles said.

Am I the only one here that thought "Hmmm, that sounded like a shotgun blast from over behind that closed door, I'd better go check it out" was a tactically unsound move?

I've heard a handgun in a house, it's loud and largly can't be confused IMHO for anything other than just what it is. But a SHOTGUN, that's got to sound like artillery in a bed rooom. I don't think I'd be too interested in whomever fired it .... I'd be A$$-over-tea-kettle on my way far away from there.

Meh, then again, I'm not dumb enough to break into someones house in the first place.

 

[RioShooter]

You think it will never happen to us, and then it does."

I could make a living if I was paid $1000 everytime someone said this.

 

[Spot77]

Am I the only one here that thought "Hmmm, that sounded like a shotgun blast from over behind that closed door, I'd better go check it out" was a tactically unsound move?

I love starting the day off with a good laugh.

 

[Headless]

Am i the only one who thinks this was personal in nature?

 

[Fosbery]

Actully I think the headline should be "Trauma and bloodloss kills two intruders"

 

[jmcraven]

"Citizen Defends Home, Self; Intruders Dead"

 

[thumbody]

Oglesby was awaiting trial in Greenville County on criminal domestic violence and second-degree burglary charges, according to his arrest record

I would not be surprised if Freeman or Thomas were witnesses in the other case

 

[WayneConrad]

"Citizen Defends Home, Self; Intruders Dead"

Perfect! I was hoping someone would improve on my poor attempt. Well done!

 

[sturmruger]

"Brave citizen uses force to stop threat"

This sounds like a great shooting to me. I am sure this guy will not be charged.

 

[sturmruger]

More news

Article published Sep 1, 2006

Father: Previous altercation must have led to fatal break-in
JESSICA L De VAULT, Staff Writer

Invading a home in the wee hours of the morning.

Pistol-whipping a man, and then firing a handgun.

Marshall E. Anderson says these aren't the actions of the sons he raised. The father of Travis and Marshall Leshun Anderson said Thursday night that he wants to know more about the circumstances surrounding his children's violent deaths.

"I raised my boys differently than this," the father said, during a phone interview. "People make mistakes but it's not in their nature to do something like this."

About 2:40 a.m. Wednesday, the Anderson brothers and their friend, 21-year-old Nicholas Oglesby, barged into the small home at 76 Lawrence St. in Lyman, armed with handguns, police say.

Once inside, one of the Andersons whipped one of the home's residents, 21-year-old Lee Timothy Freeman, with a pistol, according to police incident reports. Upon hearing the commotion, William Rodney Thomas, Freeman's 21-year-old roommate, grabbed the shotgun in his bedroom. When Travis Anderson opened the bedroom door, Thomas opened fire.

Travis Anderson, 21, was shot in the chest. His 28-year-old brother followed and was shot in the right arm, according to police reports.

In the end, Travis and Marshall LeShun Anderson were found lying in a huddled heap on the back steps of the home. Travis died at the scene. Marshall, found lying on top of his brother and bleeding to death, died later that morning at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.

Police say Thomas will not be charged because he was defending his home. Efforts to reach Freeman, Thomas or either of their families proved unsuccessful Thursday.

What's unclear to the Anderson brothers' father is why his sons were in that home in the first place.

"We've come to the conclusion that they must of have had an altercation with one or two of those guys at some point and that caused them to do what they did," Marshall E. Anderson said. "According to the Lyman detective, they didn't recover any drugs, they didn't see anything in the house that was worth stealing."

Even if Freeman and Thomas owned valuable items, Marshall E. Anderson said his boys would never have a need to steal.

"My boys had everything. LeShun had two vehicles, a condo... Travis, had a computer and was a student in college," the father said. "They had everything they needed, they're not wanting for anything. I work, I provide for my family, my wife works. So we ruled out those two things, so it had to be some kind of altercation."

If his sons did get in a fight with Freeman and Thomas, Marshall E. Anderson said he wonders whether they all knew one another.

Travis Anderson was a receiver for the Byrnes High School football team and was named to the North-South all-star game prior to his senior season in 2001. He's played for Gardner-Webb University and Newberry College.

Marshall LeShun Anderson was married with two sons. He attended Benedict College and the University of South Carolina Upstate and was a member of Army Reserves, according to his family. His father described him as a straight arrow.

Neither of the brothers had criminal records.

'The wrong thing'

Oglesby, the brothers' friend who police say carried a .357 caliber handgun to the home Wednesday morning, had known the brothers since they were children.

Oglesby was the only man charged in the incident. He says his friends "got wrapped up in the wrong thing" and that nothing was taken in the incident because "it didn't get that far."

Sitting in a cell at the Spartanburg County Detention Facility, Oglesby says he's still grappling with the incident and the negative light in which he believes his friends have been cast.

"I'm just trying to keep my head clear," Oglesby said, casting his eyes down. "Just trying to pull my friends out that house at the (brink) of death..."

He shifted in his chair uneasily.

"They didn't fire no shots first," he said. "If they did, I wasn't aware of it."

After Thomas shot the brothers, incident reports state Oglesby ran into the bedroom and fired his weapon.

Police say Oglesby tried to drive from the scene but was apprehended. He is charged with assault with intent to kill, aggravated assault and battery and burglary.

Since he's facing charges in connection with Wednesday's incident and awaiting a trial in Greenville County in connection with criminal domestic violence and second-degree burglary charges, Oglesby remained hesitant to divulge details about Wednesday's invasion.

He maintains he had nothing to do with the shooting.

"I think its way blown out of proportion," he said. "It's big because two people died. But my friends died, my family."

Good people, bad decisions

It still takes Marshall E. Anderson aback when he thinks about what his sons may have done. He said he's willing to accept the truth, whatever that may be.

"Good people sometimes make bad decisions, and my boys are good people," the father said. "If they were wrong they paid the ultimate price, but if they went up there, were invited in, it's a whole other scenario you can come up with."

"But if my boys did this on a vindictive, revenge-type thing I can accept that."

 

[C. Rabbit]

Well, I think the father isn't acting like the stereotypical "my baby wouldn't have done that!", and it must be hard for him, so I'm not going to call foul on what he said.

That Oglesby guy is a laugh, though:

"They didn't fire no shots first," he said. "If they did, I wasn't aware of it."

Like that makes any difference, you twat.

CR

 

[striker3]

"Good people sometimes make bad decisions, and my boys are good people," the father said. "If they were wrong they paid the ultimate price, but if they went up there, were invited in, it's a whole other scenario you can come up with."

"But if my boys did this on a vindictive, revenge-type thing I can accept that."

Wow, that is not something that you usually hear now a days. Most parents cry about how their kids did not deserve to be killed when presented with obvious facts to the contrary. This man is willing to accept that his son's may have brought their deaths upon themselves.

I would like to know what led up to this incident.

 

[Jim March]

It sounds like one of them was disarmed.

 

[sturmruger]

Jim I would say he either lost a limb or was seriously hit in an artery.

 

[MechAg94]

I they were armed and they pistol whipped a guy (attacked him), I would say it doesn't matter if they were invited in or if they fired their weapons. The shooter would still have reason to believe he was in danger.

 

[Taurus 66]

Travis Earle Anderson, 22, and his brother, Marshall Lashaun Anderson, 28, both of Spartanburg, died after William Rodney Thomas shot them after they broke into the house ...

Bah, a run on sentence! Where did this journalist get his/her education? Whatsamattawit U?

Oh yeah, ahem, Kudos to the victim. Well done.

 

[EvisceratorSrB]

As for the headline...

The fact is, two shotgun blasts did kill intruders. That being said, yes the shotgun blasts did have human assistance, but it's a catchy title stating a fact. The fact is, two shotgun blasts...killed...two intruders.

As for other titles to the sound of "Brave, heroic, extremely cool (?) homeowner defends himself with lethal force" gives the impression that you should be brave, heroic, and extremely cool. These titles condone this action.

I agree with the charges, or lack thereof regarding the homeowner. Justified! Police don't want more cases where unjustified shootings occur.

In conclusion, the title is catchy, filled with facts, and on top of that does not condone this action.

Ok get mad mad at me now, I'll be waiting.

 

[sterling180]

A man crying out for help
- but nobody heard

The trial brought issues of rural crime and policing to the top of the political agenda. CHRIS BISHOP reports

October 30, 2001

Just hours before the shooting, a local politician warned people living around Emneth would start taking the law into their own hands unless something was done to stem a flood of petty theft and vandalism.

Tony Martin walked straight into a vacant soundbite when he picked up his gun and headed downstairs. While he was spirited away to a safe house to await trial, his supporters - most of whom he had never met before the shooting - continually pushed the Englishman defending his castle angle, rather than Martin’s mental health.



Most of them probably didn’t even realise how ill he was. The debate was all about how far would you go in the same position, classic jaw fodder from the church fetes and coffee mornings of Middle England to the market squares and village pubs of Fenland.

If the true picture of Martin’s mental health had emerged at the trial things would have been very different. The defence would certainly have cast serious doubts over the degree of responsibility he was capable of at the time he pulled the trigger.

One question which needs to be asked is how someone can reach the age of 56 with a profound mental disorder which goes without detection until he shoots someone. Here was a man crying out for help, in his own bizarre way, but nobody heard him.

Another is why three burglars with more than 100 convictions between them were still roaming the countryside. They found a pink bail sheet in Fred Barras’s pocket when they came across his broken body lying in the undergrowth. He had been arrested on suspicion of stealing garden furniture a few days before his final thieving expedition.

Darren Bark had only been free for a few weeks before he drove Barras and Fearon from Newark to Norfolk. A four-year sentence for antique theft had just been commuted to two years on appeal.

In an interview published in the EDP two weeks ago, Brendan Fearon pledged he was going straight. Darren Bark had other ideas when he was released from prison, after serving part of a 42-month sentence for his part in the Bleak House break-in and an unconnected burglary.

On the day Martin stepped into the dock at the Appeal Court, Bark admitted burglary, making threats to kill and causing actual bodily harm in front of Judge Linda Sutcliffe at Sheffield Crown Court. He was remanded in custody and sentence was adjourned until November 12.

One thief lies in his grave, one says he’s learned from the experience and the other hasn’t on the face of it. So where does all this leave the man who pulled the trigger?

I bet Martin wishes that when he found the gun which shot Fred Barras - which was allegedly left at his farm with a note signed by a well-wisher - he’d slung it in the nearest ditch.

The pump action Winchester shotgun used by Tony Martin to kill Fred Barras.

Although Tony Martin,was a bit of a weirdo and a racist bigot-he still had a legal right to use lethal force,to defend himself against the pikies.Martin,then had to do time in a state prison.Disgraceful or what.

 

[phoglund]

I often wonder in these reports why facts such as these are deemed important enough to include:

"Travis Anderson was a talented receiver on the Byrnes High School football team and was named to the North-South all-star game following his senior season in 2001. He signed with Gardner-Webb University."

Somehow it seems if you are a sports star perhaps your transgressions should be excused. I personally don't care how good the guy was at football if gets together on the off season with his buddies to work on his home invasion techniques. (Which were pretty weak it seems).

 

[KD5NRH]

"I raised my boys differently than this," the father said, during a phone interview. "People make mistakes but it's not in their nature to do something like this."

Ever notice how nobody ever says "Yeah, I raised my kids to be worthless welfare leeches and bullies with no respect for human life?"

The violent start to the day stunned area residents, who said the neighborhood is a peaceful one.

Ever notice that nobody ever says their neighborhood is a run-down hellhole of a war zone where they wake up everyday just to see who got killed last night?