Attempted Apple Store Holdup Goes Bad: Suspect Killed

[StoneyG]

And on that note, I'd say this pretty much sums it up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZnEpaSOFwk

 

[andrew8404]

Hey, people defending the robbers if a guy pulls a gun on you are you going to assume he's not going to shoot you? I think if anyone pulled a gun on you, you would shoot first and ask questions later.

 

[leisenstein]

I love stories like this. One more useless person off the street and no innocent people harmed.

If these guys will rob a store, they will also break into your house and kill you in the middle of the night. We've had a lot of home invasions in my area where innocent home owners are getting killed by guys like this.

So no, I don't have any sympathy for these kind of criminals.

 

[ChrisA]

...For sure, if I was that guard and was getting shot at, I would definitely shoot to kill. Maybe his buddies will learn a lesson now that crime really doesn't pay. ...

This is where we "normal people" fail to understand. Our error is to assume everyone is like us.

The people who did this are not like us. they don't think like us. These people are actually and literally unable to think through the likely outcome of their actions. We all know and can list 3 or 4 possible outcomes that could result from pointing a gun at an armed security guard. (1) you hit the guard and kill him and likely spend the rest of your life in prison, (2) you miss him and get 25years, (3) he shots back. None of those are worth getting a free Apple Macbook. The smart move after you smash a window and find a guard has noticed. Is to stop and let the pocile fine you for vandalism. A teft had not yet taken place, at that point we only had broken glass. But these guys are dumber than rocks butno, this guy pulls a gun and thereby risks his life (and looses) to avoid a vandalism charge.

Seeing your buddy get shot in a robbery and learning from that assumes a person can think more than 30 seconds into the future. It's literally true that these people have a hard time with a simple mental skill we all take for granted. Yes when they calm down and have a few hours to reflect they might even agress "man was I dumb" but they fail to think like that on their feet.

The bottom line is that if criminals were able to think clearly about the result of their actions there would be no criminals.

 

[Mal]

The bottom line is that if criminals were able to think clearly about the result of their actions there would be no criminals.

You know what, I simply don't believe that. These types of people are no less human and no less capable of thinking through the consequences of their actions than any of us. Perhaps less intelligent, but I haven't ever seen any research proving that. I think it's simply a lie we like to tell ourselves to separate ourselves from them.

How about this for a change: "these people", the ones that go shoot up a store to steal a few laptops and make a couple thousand dollars at most, they don't do it because they are unable to think about the results of their actions. They do it because they don't care if others get hurt in the process of them getting what they want. They simply have decided that their own selfish desires, whether it's greed or simply a desire to cause destruction, is more important that the safety of anyone else, including their own partners usually. They have chosen to take the risk, knowing full well the possible consequences.

I give you the ones that are on drugs. At the time, they wouldn't necessarily be capable of understanding the consequences of their actions. But any person who is not taking mind-altering substances is perfectly capable of reasoning out the necessary thought processes, and anyone who has taken them was able to understand that they would lose that capability by doing so. In all cases, it's a choice, not a disability.

And that's key to remember.

jW

 

[skunk]

You know what, I simply don't believe that. These types of people are no less human and no less capable of thinking through the consequences of their actions than any of us. Perhaps less intelligent, but I haven't ever seen any research proving that. I think it's simply a lie we like to tell ourselves to separate ourselves from them.

Funnily enough, I tend to look at it from exactly the opposite direction: these types of people are indeed no less human and no less capable of thinking than "us", but that is because they are "us". I believe each of us is capable, given the circumstances, of behaving just as badly as anyone else, which is why I am thoroughly against the death penalty and summary justice. Yet more killing being cannot be the solution to the incidence of murder and violence in our societies.

 

[JAT]

Funnily enough, I tend to look at it from exactly the opposite direction: these types of people are indeed no less human and no less capable of thinking than "us", but that is because they are "us". I believe each of us is capable, given the circumstances, of behaving just as badly as anyone else, which is why I am thoroughly against the death penalty and summary justice. Yet more killing being cannot be the solution to the incidence of murder and violence in our societies.

So, what do we do with them?

 

[skunk]

So, what do we do with them?

Incarcerate them.

 

[smithrh]

More info from signonsandiego.com

Man pleads not guilty in Apple Store burglary

By Greg Moran

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 5:01 p.m.

CHULA VISTA — A 25-year-old documented gang member pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges Wednesday stemming from a burglary attempt at an Apple Store in Chula Vista that ended with one man dead in a shootout with a security guard.

Johnny Chenda faces many other charges, including conspiracy, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, attempted robbery and being a felon in possession of a gun, said Deputy District Attorney Carlos Varela. Chenda was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

A second person arrested in the Monday morning incident at the Otay Ranch Town Center, 21-year-old Melissa Ortiz, was not charged Wednesday. Varela declined to explain why she was not being prosecuted.

Few new details about the shootout were revealed durring the arraignment in Chula Vista Superior Court.

Alex Somphonh Choulamontry, 23, died during the incident, but it is unknown if a fatal head wound he suffered came during the shootout or as a result of a car crash when he and two suspects attempted to flee. Varela also declined to clarify that part of the story.

The incident began about 6:45 a.m. Monday, when Chula Vista police said two men and a woman smashed the front glass door of the Apple Store and burst inside. One pulled a gun, prompting a gun battle with an armed security guard who was in the store along with the store’s manager. The guard, retired sheriff’s Deputy Jose Jimenez, 58, was not injured.

The shooting continued into the mall parking lot where the three tried to flee in a silver Acura driven by Choulamontry, but he crashed into a light pole not far from the store. The two others got out of the car and ran away.

Ortiz and Chenda were found about an hour later on the patio of a nearby home.

Chenda is scheduled to return to court on May 11. He faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison, Varela said, if convicted of all of the charges.

 

[bigjnyc]

So no conscience then.

yeah I'm sure you would have a conscience if someone was shooting at you. I'm sure you rather drop your gun, let the guy shoot you because then your conscience would be clear as you eat through a tube for the rest of your life.