Quote :

"VERONA, Ky. -- Earl Jones had just turned off his new TV shortly after 2 a.m. Monday when he heard a bang in the basement. The 92-year-old Boone County farmer walked eight paces to get his loaded .22-caliber rifle from behind the bedroom door. He unwrapped a beige cloth and returned to the living room, sitting in a chair with clear view -- and shot -- of the basement door, waiting with the gun across his lap. Some 15 minutes later, when he heard footsteps moving closer up the stairs, he raised the rifle to his eye. The intruder kicked open the door. Jones fixed his aim on the center of the man's chest and fired a single shot. The Boone County sheriff later announced the death of the intruder, Lloyd "Adam" Maxwell, 24, of Richmond, Ky. "These people aren't worth any more to me than a groundhog," Jones told The Enquirer. "They have our country in havoc. We got so many damned crooked people walking around today." Two men with Maxwell, Ryan Dalton, 22, and Donnie Inabnit, 20, both of Dry Ridge, Ky., were charged with second degree burglary and tampering with evidence. Police say they removed Maxwell's body from Jones' home. The Boone County sheriff had no information Monday night on whether Jones would be charged, but he appeared clearly to act within Kentucky's legal definition of justifiable force in defense of his home and property. An investigation is ongoing. Police haven't said if the intruders were armed. Kentucky, like at least two dozen states, has a "castle doctrine" enshrined in its laws. That's the right to defend one's home with deadly force. Kentucky law allows the use of physical force if someone believes it's needed to prevent criminal trespass, robbery or burglary in his or her house. Some states, including Kentucky, have expanded the castle doctrine in recent years, giving people the right to use deadly force outside of their homes. Called "no retreat" or "stand your ground" laws, they do not require an individual to retreat before using force and allow the individual to match force for force, including deadly force, in public places. Florida's stand-your-ground law is at the core of the Feb. 26 shooting death of black teen Trayvon Martin by crime-watch volunteer George Zimmerman. The number of killings by private citizens nationally of a felon during the commission of a felony has increased in recent years, from 196 in 2005 to 278 in 2010, according to FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics. In Earl Jones' mind, his actions are justified. He said he was completely within his rights to defend his life and ranch home on the 500-acre farm he has worked since 1955. "I was hoping another one would come up -- I aimed right for his heart," said Jones, who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1941 through '46. "I didn't go to war for nothing. I have the right to carry a gun. That's what I told the police this morning." Not long after the shooting, Kenton County police responded to a call of a man who had been shot. There they found Maxwell's body and two uninjured men in a 2001 Chevrolet Impala who later, during questioning, would admit to being at Jones' home. The break-in was the third Jones has experienced on his farm this year. In April, thieves stole 90 head of cattle from a field behind his house. In August, burglars took his television, a few thousand dollars cash and a personal check they unsuccessfully tried to cash, and they ripped his phone out of the wall. "I can't leave the damn house to do my work outside," said Jones, removing his World War II veteran cap with his right hand and running his left through his thin white hair. Jones has lived alone since his wife, Virginia Pearl, died in 2006. The couple had no children. Jones grew up hunting squirrels in Boone County and volunteered for the forerunner to the Air Force in 1941. He went through weapons training in the military. He is not happy that police took the rifle used in the shooting. "How am I going to protect myself if they come back looking for revenge?" he said. Maxwell fell back seven steps onto a landing. Jones didn't pursue the intruders into the basement. He called a neighbor and calmly said, "I need help. I just shot a man,' " Maxwell said. At the same time, the two unhurt intruders, Dalton and Inabnit, fled Jones' property with Maxwell's body. Not long afterward, having driven across the county line, they called Kenton County police with a bogus story of how Maxwell had been shot. When Boone County sheriff's deputies arrived at Jones' house, they found the basement door ajar and no one except Jones in the home. Jones didn't like how deputies treated him. "They stood down there with their guns on me, yelling, 'Get your hands up! Get your hands up!' " he said. "I told them, 'I'm not putting my damn hands up.' " Finally, he did. Police approached up the long gravel driveway, flanked by a field of tobacco that Jones rents to another farmer, and questioned him. "Was I scared? Was I mad? Hell, no," Jones said. "It was simple. That man was going to take my life. He was hunting me. I was protecting myself.""

9/9/2012 12:00:01 PM

+1 for the good guys. Well done, sir.

9/9/2012 12:13:22 PM

+1 for the good guys. Well done, sir.

9/9/2012 12:21:47 PM

Pretty lucky/good shot to kill a guy with a .22

[Edited on September 9, 2012 at 12:25 PM. Reason : ]

9/9/2012 12:24:44 PM

This is why we this guy can't have nice things.

9/9/2012 12:26:52 PM

The 22LR round wouldn't be the preferred round for mafia hits if it wasn't so lethal.

The cops sound like assholes in this article.

9/9/2012 12:30:11 PM

Quote :

"He is not happy that police took the rifle used in the shooting. "How am I going to protect myself if they come back looking for revenge?" he said."

WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAHWOAHWOAH


HOW THE FUCK DID YOU MISS THIS? WHAT THE FUCK. THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE HIS SHIT.

9/9/2012 12:40:26 PM

To quote busta rhymes:

"fuckin wit the wrong nigga hope you know what you doin"

He deserves another medal honestly

[Edited on September 9, 2012 at 12:43 PM. Reason : G]

9/9/2012 12:40:35 PM

Also, dude's a night owl.

WTF is he watching at 2 am?

9/9/2012 12:55:41 PM

USA Up All Night

9/9/2012 12:59:14 PM

Here is something you can't understand


How I could just...kill a maaaan

9/9/2012 1:02:28 PM

Here is something you can't understand.

[Edited on September 9, 2012 at 1:08 PM. Reason : ^ fuck you fucker]

9/9/2012 1:08:30 PM

^^ evidence.

Police are dopes sometimes.

9/9/2012 1:17:25 PM

^^^^LOL

[Edited on September 9, 2012 at 1:19 PM. Reason : ...]

9/9/2012 1:18:54 PM

Quote :

"WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAHWOAHWOAH HOW THE FUCK DID YOU MISS THIS? WHAT THE FUCK. THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE HIS SHIT."

Yes they do, dumbfuck. He fucking shot a man in his house. His house is a crime scene and the gun is evidence.

9/9/2012 1:27:39 PM

I wonder if he shot him just to watch him die.

9/9/2012 1:29:24 PM

Quote :

"The cops sound like assholes in this article."

tbf it said the other two called the cops with a bogus story. They also took the body with them so there was probably blood all over the place. for all the cops knew, he was dangerous. can't blame them for that.

This guy however was completely in his rights. I'd shoot someone who broke into my house at 2am too.

9/9/2012 1:30:00 PM

hes like the cranky old man that doesn't give a shit that Clint Eastwood plays in all his movies

9/9/2012 1:33:23 PM

They'll probably give his gun back after they complete the investigation.

9/9/2012 1:48:38 PM

Quote :

"+1 for the good guys. Well done, sir."

9/9/2012 2:07:16 PM

Hopefully somebody can loan him another 0.22 in the meantime.

9/9/2012 2:39:56 PM

or better yet, a .45-70 or something.

Nice shooting, old man. Well done.

9/9/2012 2:55:58 PM

Mama, . . . just killed a man. . . . Put a gun against his head, . . . pulled my trigger, now he's dead.

9/9/2012 3:12:42 PM

9/9/2012 3:17:10 PM

Quote :

"The Boone County sheriff had no information Monday night on whether Jones would be charged,"

I don't understand why there is even a question about it. If a dude breaks into your house at 2am and kicks open the door it's not like he is just coming to borrow some sugar.

9/9/2012 4:21:19 PM

^^this

9/9/2012 4:22:40 PM

Quote :

"I don't understand why there is even a question about it. If a dude breaks into your house at 2am and kicks open the door it's not like he is just coming to borrow some sugar."

it depends on how the state's so-called "castle doctrine" is written.

in some states, you can't legally just shoot an unarmed intruder.

the deal is, if you use a firearm in self defense, you better be ready to be guilty until proven innocent. you will be arrested or at least detained. the firearm you used (and sometimes any others you own) will be confiscated and it may be a pain in the ass to get them back. some agencies will engrave numbers and shit in your firearm and ruin any value it has. if it has blood on it, the blood will ruin the finish as it sits in the evidence or property room for months or years.

[Edited on September 9, 2012 at 4:32 PM. Reason : adsf]

9/9/2012 4:28:14 PM

Pretty sure that's only if you *know* he's unarmed.

9/9/2012 4:30:15 PM

depends on the state. usually it's some fucked up wording about what a reasonable person would assume.

the thing is, when someone just kicked in your door, you don't find yourself to be very reasonable.

[Edited on September 9, 2012 at 4:35 PM. Reason : fads]

9/9/2012 4:34:18 PM

I thought if a person was killed during a robbery all the other perps were legally responsible for murder. Maybe that is only in FL.

9/9/2012 5:27:44 PM

Some people on TWW would rather this man be dead and robbed, yet again.

9/9/2012 6:31:25 PM

Quote :

" Yes they do, dumbfuck. He fucking shot a man in his house. His house is a crime scene and the gun is evidence."

The only crime here was committed by the guys who broke in and robbed the old man. Shooting a robber who just kicked in a door isn't a crime in kentucky.

This old man is a cool cat in my book.

9/9/2012 6:31:47 PM

In the old geezers defense, when you are 92 just getting knocked down can be fatal, these guys were going to fuck him up as soon as the realized he saw their faces....which could have easily killed him even if that were not their goal.

He did the right thing by posting up across from the basement door so he could blast the first person that came through it. He is probably at the gun shop today getting a new rifle and probably a sidearm too, even if the cops took his gun as evidence he can legally have more since he has not, and likely wont be charged with anything.

9/9/2012 6:51:03 PM

is it necessary to defend the guy?

someone is blaming him?

i actually blame him for not killing all three

9/9/2012 6:53:22 PM

Real men don't need 100 rounds in their clip.

9/9/2012 7:01:51 PM

9/9/2012 7:04:27 PM

Great story, thanks for posting the article. Please share the link

9/9/2012 7:06:22 PM

This thread is like a strawman holocaust.

9/9/2012 7:08:50 PM

he had no right to shoot the guy whatsoever

it couldve just been a neighbor or confused elderly relative

9/9/2012 7:10:59 PM

This man is obviously bigoted against thieves. That makes this a hate crime.

9/9/2012 7:15:25 PM

9/9/2012 7:22:24 PM