Car thief shot in Omaha. No charges yet.

https://www.omaha.com/news/crime/ye...7ce5bbb-2ec9-5df3-96e6-b475578afe06.html

They used to hang horse thieves.

Made a person think twice, aye?

I'm sure the shooter was fearing for his life when the thief rammed the car he was driving.

That's nuts. 5:30 pm at a gas/mart I would think there were other folks around.....12 shots fired, two hits....lucky no one else was hit.

Doesn’t matter in any state I know of, the moment they started looking and then confronted the thief they then became the aggressor and it no longer is self defense unless your a law enforcement officer who’s duty it is to apprehend criminals

It’s no different then if you get in a gunfight and put the other person down and out but then walk up and shoot him again as they are laying on the ground, you have lost the right of self defense and have moved into being the aggressor and subject to prosecution for assault if not murder

I was wondering how long it would be before the car thief became the victim.

here in ks we have citizen arrest laws. stopping a thief is very legal. if that thief puts your life in danger your right to defend yourself is recognized by the government.

You really shouldn't deal with a thief in a public place.

reading the story , he was just as justified to shoot as the DC police were a few years ago when they had a woman trying to ram them with her car. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_United_States_Capitol_shooting_incident

and if the court finds otherwise then any time you are boxed in you are then justified to ram the car front and back and endanger others in your getting out.


sounds like the guy was using the car as a weapon.

I would been scared to try hunt down thief, hard to say if charges be filed, as povereted as law is, it seems like cops stuck up for criminals an wouldn't help u or want to bother with it, I am not a cop lover, always hear on news about cops shooting someone over nothing or mistake or just gun happy

Curious about how hard these kids tried to involve the police to get their car back?

If the guy was a LEO it would be justified. That being said and from the information available in this short story, the guy should get off. If it's justifiable for police, it should be just as justifiable for a citizen. whether or not that will happen is anyone's guess.

When I took my conceal carry the instructor pretty much told us you can carry anywhere in Nebraska, but I wouldn't attempt to carry in Omaha. They'll find a way to keep your gun. This story seems a little western. They seemed to be playing vigilantes. I'm all about using a weapon to defend yourself but when you go looking for it I'm not so sure. Can they really say their life was in danger when they were still in a vehicle that they had blocked the guy in with? Don't take this as me defending a thief.....his actions started this chain of events, but I'm not sure he needed to be pinned in by two vehicles and shot to death over it.

If somebody is trying to run over or into you with a vehicle your life IS being threatened. doesn't matter whether your a cop or just trying to recover your buddies stolen property.

My wife was in the local gas station convenience store when a man gave the cashier a fake credit card to fill up. He drove off and the cashier saw it was really a fake. My wife followed him while talking on the phone to police dispatch. For about 15 minutes. Dispatcher refused to dispatch an officer telling my wife to quit following. In spite of having the tag number, in spite of two witnesses, in spite of being told where the thief was, nothing was ever done. So I can easy see why the thief in this instance was confronted by non LE.

Danny what would you do if you had two cars pin you in full of men about to whip ya? Lay down and take it? I'm not victim blaming here, but the whole thing seems a little over the top.

Would you feel the same way if the thief felt his life was threatened and dropped 12 shots into the other two cars?

Now that would be first degree murder since the thief was in the commission of a crime.

I have no time for debate class anymore... It didnt take long did it Gary.

I don't have much sympathy for thieves.

The thief started this whole chain of events by stealing the car.
The car owners buddies did nothing illegal by searching for the stolen car and by boxing it in at the gas station.
At this point the thief pushed the envelope by attacking the friends using the stolen car as a weapon.
Responding to the thief's attack one of the friends responded by shooting 12 shots of which a couple hit and eventually killed the thief.

I'd say the thief got what was coming to him, he had 2 chances to avoid this both totally in his control. 1 by never stealing the car to start with and 2 by accepting fate when caught for the theft. He chose poorly.

I would say the shooter should have some consequences for his actions. Some kind of training in firearms use so that he'll be a better shot next time.

^^^ Yup.

Well done!

"Why did you shoot him 12 times????"
"Because I only had 12 rounds..........."

2 hits out of 12 is probably pretty average. Lots of times people empty a whole mag without hitting anything, cops included. Stress does crazy stuff. It's not uncommon for people to shoot the ground in front of them because they start pulling the trigger as soon as the gun clears the holster.

So if you want your stolen property back you become the aggressor that's a interesting thought

The first 10 were only warning shots, then things got real.

Always worked well in the past.. This guy may be a liberal.
Back in the old days, actions had consequences. Lots and lots of young fellas wanted to be gunfighters. Didn't work out well for most of them.
Some guys wanted a horse without buying one. Didn't work out well for them.
I guess there weren't enough liberals back then to protect thieves.
These days, some guys want a car without buying their own. Don't work out well for them sometimes. .