Monday, November 2, 2015

Man armed with paintball gun, shot- Emily Eppig 8th period

     On Monday in Chicago, an armed witness shot a potential robber in a store. The robber was concealing a paintball gun which the bystander thought was real. The shooter shot and killed 55 year old Reginald Gildersleeve and will not be charged for the killing. This case raises the question of whether the bystander acted justly or not.     
     He stated that he truly believed the gun was real, and not a harmless toy. The idea of acting before he knew all of the facts can relate back to many historical events including the Boston massacre. The Boston massacre became deadly after the British authority thought the colonists were being more aggressive then they really were just protesting. It resulted in 5 dead colonists. 
     The shooter in this story may have acted on his impulses before he knew what was really going on. Although his intentions were noble, a man ended up dead and I think repercussions should be taken. 

3 comments:

  1. I completely agree, his actions may have been just in his head, but he did indeed kill an innocent man (even if he did look suspicious). This deserves some sort of punishment, maybe not as severe as the norm in these situations, but something should definitely be done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great synthesis! I can completely see the direct connection to the Boston Massacre. It is hard to justify the terms in which the bystander killed the "potential threat" in both situations. It is easier to assume that the redcoats did shoot for more reasons than the one at hand because of the background knowledge we are able to have on what was happening around them at the time.

    Jasmine Rodriguez Period 4

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why would he be "concealing" a paintball gun in the first place? Although they dont kill you i can say from experience that paint balls hurt A LOT so he may have been planning something else even if he did not intend on killing anyone.

    ReplyDelete