KY: Man Keeps Committing Crimes... Gets Shot and Killed

On 8 August, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky, at about 06:30 a.m., Shawn Michael Woods is reported as breaking into multiple apartments in an address near Martin Luther King Dr.  He is said to have broken into one woman’s apartment and tried to crawl into bed with her.  A business owner in the area said he had multiple problems with Woods. From wkyt.com:

Lexington police say the shooting happened around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday. The person who shot Woods lived in the apartment complex.

Investigators believe Woods was breaking into multiple apartments throughout the morning after talking to witnesses.

A neighboring business owner told WKYT he had several run-ins with Woods in the last few days.

At first, local reporting was that Woods was the victim, because he had been shot and killed in one of the residences. He is said to have lived at the apartment complex. Police investigated the shooting and determined it was self defense, only a few hours later. The district attorney could make a different finding, but it seems unlikely.  The finding by the police was quick. It was aided by multiple witnesses who corroborated violent criminal behavior before Woods broke into the residence where he was shot and killed.

A business owner, interviewed near the scene, said that he appreciated what the defensive shooter had to do.  He felt sorry for the difficulties the shooter would be going through.

This case illustrates the mathematical problem of people who repeatedly violate the rights of others.

Most people do not want to become involved in violence. But violence only takes one party. Violence can come to people if they want it or not.

Eventually, perpetrators run into someone who fights back. Sometimes, the perpetrator does not survive the encounter. Smart criminals learn and decide not to continue their criminal acts.  Some learn to carefully evaluate victims and choose those who are helpless or unwary. Successful burglars learn to commit crimes when no one is at home.

A lot of crime is committed by people who are intoxicated on drugs or alcohol. Judgment is reduced, actions become less inhibited. Some drugs induce paranoia and/or hallucinations. Many break ins occur when someone on drugs believe they are being pursued and threatened. Victimization studies in the United States indicate about a third of the perpetrators were under the influence. Crime committed by people under the influence can be particularly frightening because the perpetrators do not act rationally.

It does not take a lot of criminals to create a lot of crime.  In Sweden, one percent of the population commits 63% of the violent crime. I have not found similar statistics for the United States. 

Removing a few criminals from society, either by shooting them or putting them in prison, can lower the crime rate significantly.  Fear of arrest, jail, or of being shot can cause criminals to reduce the number of crimes they commit.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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