Student kills intruder with "Samurai Sword"

[shesulsa]

This story seeded some ongoing, serious conversation in my home today.

FULL ARTICLE (excerpts below)

The student told police he found a man hiding under a counter in the garage, and when he yelled for his housemates to call 911, the man lunged toward him.

...

But for Monica Baker, "I mean to arm yourself to investigate is one thing, to act like that is totally different."

...

A final ruling on whether the student will face charges is up to the state's attorney's office. That decision could take a couple of weeks.

The news broadcast today stated that the burglar had recently been released after having served time for Grand Theft Auto.

From this article:

At approximately 1:20 a.m., officers responded to a report of a suspicious person at a home in the 300 block of E. University Parkway.

Neighbors reported to the police that a heavyset black male wearing a black T-shirt was on the porch around the house, detective Dony Moses, information officer for the Baltimore Police Department, said. At that time, they did a preliminary investigation on the matter.

“A short time thereafter, we were called back to the house for an injured person,” Moses said.

The homeowner stumbled upon the suspect in the garage of his home and was carrying the samurai sword at the time. The student ordered the burglar to stand still, according to Moses, and the suspect lunged at the student.

“The student, in a panic, swung the samurai sword, striking the left wrist of the suspect and partially severing his hand,” Moses said. “The suspect then fell to the floor, at which time he bled out and died on the scene.”
Rice had been released Saturday from a Baltimore County facility and has “a lengthy record” with the police department, Moses said.

From another article:

Police responding to neighbors’ calls said they found the intruder with a nearly severed hand and cuts to his upper body. The man died shortly after police arrived, and the student remains in custody while police verify his story. A police rep said that it legal to own a sword in Baltimore, adding that "individuals have a right to defend their person and their property," but would not comment on the legality of this specific case.

Let the countdown begin towards the day "Samurai Swords" will be declared illegal to own in the United States.

Some varying accounts in the articles as to some details, but I'm quite curious how this will play out.

 

[arnisador]

My iaido instructor once used his to get a dog to let go of a kid it was biting. He only gave it a minor injury, but could have cleaved it in half.

 

[blindsage]

The article I saw this morning on the news had some 'official' saying that the kid cut the guy once, and that cut went across his chest and down to his wrist. The report also noted that the police had been going door to door through the neighborhood earlier letting people know of a string of burglaries in the area, and that the kid and his roommates had been burglarized recently (I think earlier that day) and had their Xbox stolen out of their living room.

 

[shesulsa]

The article I saw this morning on the news had some 'official' saying that the kid cut the guy once, and that cut went across his chest and down to his wrist. The report also noted that the police had been going door to door through the neighborhood earlier letting people know of a string of burglaries in the area, and that the kid and his roommates had been burglarized recently (I think earlier that day) and had their Xbox stolen out of their living room.

That was on the TV broadcast here; that and the police had already come and looked around and left.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Let the countdown begin towards the day "Samurai Swords" will be declared illegal to own in the United States.

Some varying accounts in the articles as to some details, but I'm quite curious how this will play out.

Not the same story, but related to knives and illegality...

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/14/content_12049302.htm

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Swords banned in UK:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7139724.stm

Swords banned in Ireland:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0901/samurai.html

 

[sgtmac_46]

Righteous use of force. Cleared a bunch of open cases no doubt.

 

[BLACK LION]

Strange dude hiding in a garage cabinet at 1am .... once he is found he decides to lunge at someone with a sword... come to find out he was recently released from an "institution" and has a history of "priors"...
he should have been following proper parolee procedures and not lying in wait in the cabinets of a house that is not his...

I would have used # 7 shot instead of a sword but to each his own...As far as I am concerned he was planning on knifing me in my sleep and doing strange things with my corpse...


Sorry if that seems cold but if I find someone hiding in my cabinets and they decide to lunge at me I am not going to get out my pen and pad and attempt to evaluate thier intentions... I am going to let the 12guage decide...

 

[Nomad]

To me, the interesting part of the story is the difference made by the choice of weapon. If the intruder/burglar had been shot instead, this never would have made the national news... maybe not even the local if it was a busy night in Baltimore.

If he'd taken the bad guy out with a knife, it wouldn't have attracted nearly as much attention.

Change the tool to a more exotic weapon, and suddenly this makes national headlines.

 

[grydth]

There is another recent thread here much like this.... is this a duplicate or has there been a new and very similar incident?

 

[jks9199]

It's the same incident, from a different angle.

I haven't been able to get more than the useless blurb, but it seems that there may be more to the story... Something about calls the defender made.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Strange dude hiding in a garage cabinet at 1am .... once he is found he decides to lunge at someone with a sword... come to find out he was recently released from an "institution" and has a history of "priors"...
he should have been following proper parolee procedures and not lying in wait in the cabinets of a house that is not his...

I would have used # 7 shot instead of a sword but to each his own...As far as I am concerned he was planning on knifing me in my sleep and doing strange things with my corpse...


Sorry if that seems cold but if I find someone hiding in my cabinets and they decide to lunge at me I am not going to get out my pen and pad and attempt to evaluate thier intentions... I am going to let the 12guage decide...

Nothing cold about it.........a prime example of a complete failure of the victim selection process.

 

[Tez3]

Swords banned in UK:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7139724.stm

Swords banned in Ireland:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0901/samurai.html

Please note the first words in the BBC article...IMITATION samurai swords are being banned. Perfectly legal to own swords that aren't the cheap ten pound ones, I have six swords and various other edged weapons, all owned perfectly legally. My son has even more. Martial artists can own swords legally as can collectors.

 

[MBuzzy]

I was just in an "Asian Souvenier store" two days ago that had a wall full of swords. According to the shopkeeper, they are all sharp and can cut things, but that is the extent of her knowledge. They ranges in price from 50-150 dollars.....Who knows where they were forged, the quality of the blade, quality of the handle, quality of construction. In my opinion, those types of swords are nothing but trouble. Anyone can buy them and they are potentially dangerous. To me - it is no different than selling a gun to anyone that walks in off the street without ID, background checks, waiting period, etc. At the minimum (while I think that it is AWESOME that this guy was able to successfully defend himself and his home), some type of control should be placed on serious weapons like that - although I'm sure that if anyone even proposes that, people will be up in arms with predictions that they will be taking away everything next if we allow it.

 

[BLACK LION]

Nothing cold about it.........a prime example of a complete failure of the victim selection process.

Wholeheartedly agree..

 

[BLACK LION]

I was just in an "Asian Souvenier store" two days ago that had a wall full of swords. According to the shopkeeper, they are all sharp and can cut things, but that is the extent of her knowledge. They ranges in price from 50-150 dollars.....Who knows where they were forged, the quality of the blade, quality of the handle, quality of construction. In my opinion, those types of swords are nothing but trouble. Anyone can buy them and they are potentially dangerous. To me - it is no different than selling a gun to anyone that walks in off the street without ID, background checks, waiting period, etc. At the minimum (while I think that it is AWESOME that this guy was able to successfully defend himself and his home), some type of control should be placed on serious weapons like that - although I'm sure that if anyone even proposes that, people will be up in arms with predictions that they will be taking away everything next if we allow it.

Tell me about it... you can go in the mall here, buy a sword and come out pretending to be a ninja, samurai and even "Blade" for crying out loud... Its actually rediculous how many dangerously cheap imitation blades get circulated around here...
You should see the look on the guys faces when you take one of thier "immitation" swords out of the scabbard to check it out and they say things like "that one very nice" or "that one used for"... then you politely smack the blade and thier mouth drops to the floor... "dont do that" ... I always laugh say things like "becuase its not real huh" ...they notmally shake thier head in disgruntled accordance...

Thats not to say that there are no good swords for 200.00 becuase there are... Paul Chens are awesome...Hanweii has a good line of quality blades... so does Cold Steel

They can all go to the scrap yard for all I care... If its not quality "battle ready" metal then to hell with it...

 

[James Kovacich]

I think the fact that he cut him once saved him from a future case. The size of his chosen weapon could of been a serious factor against him especially since the burglar died and they were outside the house.

 

[still learning]

Hello, Another case of early release of dangerous crimnals with history of past crimes....

...and the good guys..may get punishment for protecting themselves..

Laws are made by man...man is NOT perfect...the laws made by man may find the Student guilty? ..because he could of use a safer instrutments?

DA laws..is what we go by...not MORALS ...or common sense...

Glad the bad guy die and not the good people here...

Aloha,

PS: The bad guy could have surrender...decide to charge and loss..
on the other hand ....sword could have being taken away..kill the student instead? ...other hand?

 

[kaizasosei]

Katana are very dangerous. One good cut can pack so much power. If swung hard enough and hits a vital target, the katana can easily deliver killing blows more often than not. Ippatsu-one hit and it's game over.
The construction of the katana is quite genious. Being light, with a light wooden handle and many small parts working to hold the sword together so that it is like one solid object. Whoever invented the katana, must have had very much experience with swords.

Any object can be dangerous in a given situation, but few objects can be used to cut with such precision and power.

j





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[Tez3]

I was just in an "Asian Souvenier store" two days ago that had a wall full of swords. According to the shopkeeper, they are all sharp and can cut things, but that is the extent of her knowledge. They ranges in price from 50-150 dollars.....Who knows where they were forged, the quality of the blade, quality of the handle, quality of construction. In my opinion, those types of swords are nothing but trouble. Anyone can buy them and they are potentially dangerous. To me - it is no different than selling a gun to anyone that walks in off the street without ID, background checks, waiting period, etc. At the minimum (while I think that it is AWESOME that this guy was able to successfully defend himself and his home), some type of control should be placed on serious weapons like that - although I'm sure that if anyone even proposes that, people will be up in arms with predictions that they will be taking away everything next if we allow it.

That's the ones that are banned here, they are sold as ornaments, usually in sets of three with a cheap wooden stand. They aren't sharpened along the edge but have a sharp tip, they could be bought by anyone including children. As shopkeepers sold them as ornaments you could buy them in all sorts of shops and market stalls.