Charges against man who fired warning shot at man suspected of robbing his home dropped (NH)

[shadowrider]

FARMINGTON, N.H. (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston) - A New Hampshire District Attorney has dropped a felony charge against 61-year-old Dennis Fleming bringing an end to a case that sparked national outrage.

Last Saturday, the great-grandfather fired a warning shot into the ground to get the attention of an accused burglar.

Under the reckless conduct felony charge leveled against him, Fleming faced the same amount of time in jail as the suspected burglar, three and a half to seven years.

(SNIP)

The same man is accused of breaking into Fleming's home just moments before, and stealing his father's pocket watches. Fleming says he took his 38 millimeter, and went looking for the suspect, whom he found burglarizing his neighbor's home. That is when he said he fired the shot into the ground, and held 27-year-old Joseph Hebert until police arrived.

It sparked national outrage when Fleming was later charged out of concern that the warning shot could have put others in danger.

(SNIP)

"I shouldn't have done that. I should have called the police. That's what you're supposed to do. I let emotions take over when rationale should've taken over and I went after the guy and I shouldn't have done that."

Strafford County District Attorney Tom Velardi says even the suspect corroborated Fleming's story. Velardi says he's received calls from people in 25 states, mostly gun advocates.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/charges-against-man-who-fired-warning-shot-at-man-suspected-of-robbing-his-home-dropped-20120223

[ileus]

1. One small victory...now to get some laws changed.

So this atrocity doesn't happen again...

38mm that's a big gun.
Me thinks someone got their English and Metric system foncused.

[shadowrider]

2. 38mm. Just our informed media reporting the facts.

[clffrdjk]

3. "38 millimeter"

See that changes everything, those flare and chalk rounds can be dangerous even if they hit within a few feet of a person. But I guess we now have proof that "grenade launchers" can be useful for home defense.

This is why knowlage of the subject matter and a good dose of sense should be prerequisites for the editor and writer.

Good to hear the D.A. Got his head unstuck from that whole.

[Hoyt]

4. Glad to see gun owner didn't shoot unarmed burglar as many in gun culture would.

If only more in gun culture were like this guy . . . . . .

[Callisto32]

8. Right.

I mean, we are so full of hate and vitriol that we go around all day, just waiting, WAITING, mind you, to get into a fight, it isn't even that we like fighting, nope, we just like KILLIN', yup, we just love KILLIN' so much we LIVE for it, haha, live for KILLIN' I should be a comedian, some people may not think that's funny, because they aren't members of the gun culture, but those of us in the know, we know fuckin' COMEDY, you know what I'm sayin', hell, sometimes, I can't even WAIT for somebody to start a fight, and I just cap some unsuspecting bugger, no reason necessary, I love shootin' people so much, sometimes I do it just to watch them bleed, yup, red, pretty color, though blood red is not really my style, I MUCH prefer DRIED blood red, like the kind that gets made after all us gun owners are done shooting the vast majority of society, just for the helluvit

[BiggJawn]

5. Just seeing the guy holding that "38mm" would have made me wet myself...

Maybe they meant 37mm?

[Johnny Rico]

6. Or this, perhaps...

[BiggJawn]

7. Flare gun?

Looks almost like something Buzz Lightyear would carry...

[Johnny Rico]

9. 38mm gas gun. Found it on a Chinese website.

I actually collect military flare guns, but they're all 26.5mm.