By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A Memphis, Tennessee man is facing multiple counts of vandalism and aggravated assault in the aftermath of an incident early last Saturday in which he fired at an apparent car prowler outside his home.
According to WMC News, Demarcus Collier, 27, went to investigate movement outside his home after being alerted by security cameras. He reportedly confronted a suspect who extended his arm as though he had a gun, and told Collier to “Get your a** back in the house.”
Instead, Collier, who feared for his life, opened fire, hitting the suspect. The suspect fled, and a red sedan also sped away. He’s not in trouble for shooting the car prowler. He’s in trouble for missing because his stray bullets struck neighbor’s house, where there were children present.
The wounded suspect, who turned out to be 14 years old, fled to another house about a block away. He was transported to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest.
The case got the attention of Amy Swearer, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, who will be speaking at this weekend’s Gun Rights Policy Conference in Dallas, Texas. She posted on “X” that this is not the first time such a thing has occurred in Memphis.
“Unless there’s some additional evidence that he was actually reckless (i.e., blindly mag dumping at an unidentifiable target in the dark, Joe Biden-style),” she wrote, “what even are we doing here?
“On the one hand,” Swearer continued, “you’re responsible for every round you fire from your gun. He missed at least three times and could have – but in fact did not – harm any innocent third parties.
“But I’m sympathetic to the homeowner for the grotesque overcharging here. Especially when it means he’ll face way more time than the actual violent criminal whose actions created the entire situation.
“This is NOT a guy who deserves a ‘violent felon’ tag.
“This is a scenario where I’m probably fine with making him civilly liable for the property damage to the car and the house (though I’m more fine with ultimately making it the liability of the criminal who created the conditions, in the first place). Certainly, if he had actually harmed an innocent third party victim, in most states you’re going to be civilly liable to some degree, and potentially even criminally liable.
“But this was a guy who went out to protect his property, on his property, and was actually threatened with violence by a criminal actor who wanted him to believe he was armed and capable of carrying out that threat.”
According to WMC, Collier’s stray bullets also struck a Dodge Charger parked nearby.
A criminal defense attorney identified as Michael R. Working told the news agency that the state’s “castle doctrine” statute actually extends legal protection outside the walls of someone’s home.
“A driveway would most certainly qualify for the curtilage of the home,” the attorney reportedly said. “If someone assaulted you in your driveway, you don’t have to drag them into your house and then shoot them.”
Self-defense laws vary from state-to-state. Some states have a “duty to retreat,” while in other states, such as Florida, an armed citizen defending himself or herself has no duty to retreat. In some states, this is called a “Stand Your Ground” law.
It is incumbent on armed citizens to learn about the laws of self-defense and use-of-force.
