The Violence Continues. . .

I am back in Jackson at the home office after scurrying away from Hurricane Gustav over the weekend and I expect to get back to Gulfport later this week once some modicum of normalcy has returned.

I saw an article in the paper this weekend about a home invasion/shooting and passed over it with barely a glance and an "oh well" shrug. The violence in Jackson is sickening and a blight on an otherwise nice town.

That "oh well" didn't last long. One of my long time secretaries called and said she probably wouldn't be in today as her sister was having surgery to remove a blood clot from her brain. It still wasn't clicking in my mind until she mentioned a bullet. Turns out her sister was the victim.

According to the news reports, the assailant took her own gun from her and shot the 76 year old woman in the head. All neat and tidy. No witnesses right? Well, she's still living. I don't know what the outlook is for her recovery, but at least she is alive. Please keep her in your prayers.

The police have no leads in the case and are still searching for clues. Articles can be found here, here and here.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the Jackson Police Department at (601) 960-1234 or (601) 355-TIPS.

The madness in Jackson just has to stop.

Ironically, Eric Stringfellow wrote an editorial in the weekend paper about the Castle Doctrine and it's interpretation in the eyes of the law. Several incidents involving the use of deadly force against unarmed criminals in defense on one's business or home have brought to light the vaugeries of the law. Yet, maybe this is just what we need to drill it into the thin brain matter of these criminals. THINK before your break the law. I'm not advocating a Wild West interpetation, but if some crackhead comes into my home or business uninvited he's a dead man, whether he steals my doughnuts or tries to hurt my family. It's the same to me.

I remember years ago an incident over in the Georgetown area where two or three neighborhood kids, in broad daylight, went into an elderly woman's house, tied up her grandbaby and an aunt or some other family member to rob them. And before it was all over with, Granny had dropped one of these kids with a .357 to the back in the front yard. She knew everyone of them from the neighborhood. Kids. Teenagers.

Charges were never filed against her and rightfully so.

These criminals know no bounds and if there was ever a time for shoot first, ask questions later, now may be the time in Jackson.