Georgia man shoots and kills young Latino who accidentally pulled into his driveway

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

sheep logic isn't the same as patriot logic.

[decocker 7,198]

you need to set yourself apart from the herd. need to borrow this?

™

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Why didn't you post the whole article??

Rodrigo Diaz, 22, was driving around with his girlfriend and two friends when he pulled into a driveway, thinking they had arrived at another friend’s house, his brother says. But instead he pulled into the driveway of Phillip Sailors, 69, who thought his home was being robbed, his lawyer says. Sailors then shot Diaz, according to the police report, citing what Sailors told officers at the scene. Diaz later died while in the intensive care unit.

“Basically, what happened is they were looking for one of my brother’s girlfriend’s friends,” says his brother David E. Diaz-Valencia, 23. “The guy came outside and my brother’s girlfriend said he was screaming, ‘Get off my property!’ and he shot into the air. My brother was backing out fast because he was scared and he rolled down the window to say he was sorry and he was not doing anything wrong. Then the guy shot him in his head.”

When officers arrived, Angie Rebolledo, Diaz’s girlfriend, had blood on her jeans, both arms and both hands as she was attempting to get a response from him and screamed frantically that her boyfriend had been shot, according to police.

Police arrested Sailors, of Lilburn, Georgia, who was booked into the Gwinnett County jail Sunday afternoon and charged with murder, according to the police report.

“At this point we have established probable cause to charge Mr. Sailors and when the investigation is complete, we will turn over the case file to the Gwinnett County District Attorneys Officer for processing,” Lilburn police Chief Bruce Hedley told NBC Latino. “To preserve the integrity of the case, I will not be releasing further information concerning this incident.”

Sailors’ lawyer says his client is a Vietnam veteran with no prior criminal history and thought he and his wife were about to be victims of a home invasion. “You have to understand this is a 69-year-old man who is a military veteran who has been honorably discharged,” Michael Puglise says. “He dedicated his life to community service, specifically the Christian Lay Ministry in Latin America.”

Puglise adds that Sailors’ small, quiet, quaint town is now plagued with gang activity and the home next door was vandalized weeks before. He fired a warning shot and then when the car was accelerated to go in reverse he perceived it differently.

“He’s an elderly man, he perceived the car going towards his house, towards him.”

Asked about the contention that the victim rolled the window down and said sorry and he wasn’t doing anything wrong, Puglise said he wasn’t aware of the statement.

“Each person in the situation perceived things differently,” he says. “He most certainly did not hear anything.”

The victim’s brother, Diaz-Valencia, says Diaz was going to school to be an auto mechanic.

“He was a really happy person, he was a really good brother and he never had problems with anybody,” he says.

Diaz-Valencia says their father has been in the United States for more than 10 years and he and his brothers had been in the U.S. since 2006, coming from Medellín, Colombia. “My dad got us our papers and green card,” he says. “He had been here and he wanted to give us a better life.”

Diaz-Valencia, who goes to the Aviation Institute of Maintenance and is set to graduate in 9 weeks, says no one thinks his brother was gunned down because he was Hispanic.

“Nobody has said that,” he says. “We don’t think it’s about racism. Maybe the guy was angry, trying to protect his own property, but that’s why we have police.”

The funeral will most likely be on Thursday, Diaz-Valencia says.

He adds that he has no ill will towards the suspect, Sailors.

“I don’t want anything bad for him, just for him to be put in jail, he needs to pay for what he did,” he says.

“It’s not shooting first and asking second.”

Emphasis added.

You have an elderly gentleman at home with his wife, in a neighbourhood that is a target of crime (only weeks before the house next door was vandelised), who believes he is protecting his house and wife.

He has trained and served during war times, that alters his perception a lot. He shoots in the air (nothing wrong with that, it's a warning shot). The car then accelerates and he isn't sure whether it's into him, or away so he shoots. Did you want him to wait 2 seconds to be hit to find out what was the case?

The kid rolled down the window, there's no proof he DID apologise, only the sisters statement that that's why he rolled down the window.. "to say he was sorry..." The gentleman didn't hear it anyway, saw the window coming down and shot (probably thought of all those crime shows with drive bys)

Either way, a kid died and this gentleman is probably going to jail. His wife is left alone because of his decision to protect himself the way he was trained. I feel bad for everyone involved.

You can believe what he did was wrong (yes killing someone was wrong) but unless you were there, unless you were in his shoes and lived his life you can't possibly say you wouldn't have done the same thing. That's the benefit of hindsight and living a different life. Myself (now I have the opportunity to think about it) I would have raised my hands and had everyone in the car do the same thing. Then I would have slowly backed away. This kid was raised differently, he got the h*ck out of there because that's his experience in the face of "crime". It was a sad and sorry chain of events that resulted in a mans death, that's never a good thing.

The original article also states that the family doesn't bear him ill will, but that he needs to "pay for what he did", and he will, for the rest of his life whether in jail or not.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Why didn't you post the whole article??

Emphasis added.

You have an elderly gentleman at home with his wife, in a neighbourhood that is a target of crime (only weeks before the house next door was vandelised), who believes he is protecting his house and wife.

He has trained and served during war times, that alters his perception a lot. He shoots in the air (nothing wrong with that, it's a warning shot). The car then accelerates and he isn't sure whether it's into him, or away so he shoots. Did you want him to wait 2 seconds to be hit to find out what was the case?

The kid rolled down the window, there's no proof he DID apologise, only the sisters statement that that's why he rolled down the window.. "to say he was sorry..." The gentleman didn't hear it anyway, saw the window coming down and shot (probably thought of all those crime shows with drive bys)

Either way, a kid died and this gentleman is probably going to jail. His wife is left alone because of his decision to protect himself the way he was trained. I feel bad for everyone involved.

You can believe what he did was wrong (yes killing someone was wrong) but unless you were there, unless you were in his shoes and lived his life you can't possibly say you wouldn't have done the same thing. That's the benefit of hindsight and living a different life. Myself (now I have the opportunity to think about it) I would have raised my hands and had everyone in the car do the same thing. Then I would have slowly backed away. This kid was raised differently, he got the h*ck out of there because that's his experience in the face of "crime". It was a sad and sorry chain of events that resulted in a mans death, that's never a good thing.

The original article also states that the family doesn't bear him ill will, but that he needs to "pay for what he did", and he will, for the rest of his life whether in jail or not.

I posted the entire article. I quoted the first large chunk and linked to the rest.

Taking a shot into the air is dangerous. So yes, there is something wrong with that.

I don't care that he served during war times. Show some restraint and don't lose it just because someone pulled into your driveway. Nobody even got out of the car.

Yes, it is a sad chain of events when an overreaction and paranoia causes the loss of a life.

Their family is far more forgiving than I would have been.

Edited January 30, 2013 by Evylin

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Why didn't you post the whole article??

Possible copyright violation?

[decocker 7,198]

Why didn't you post the whole article??

Emphasis added.

if there was regular gang activity next door and the shooter assumed that because the driver was latino he was therefore in a gang, that's still racism in my book.

Edited January 30, 2013 by val erie

[sandinista! 1,816]

Why didn't you post the whole article??

Emphasis added.

You have an elderly gentleman at home with his wife, in a neighbourhood that is a target of crime (only weeks before the house next door was vandelised), who believes he is protecting his house and wife.

He has trained and served during war times, that alters his perception a lot. He shoots in the air (nothing wrong with that, it's a warning shot). The car then accelerates and he isn't sure whether it's into him, or away so he shoots. Did you want him to wait 2 seconds to be hit to find out what was the case?

The kid rolled down the window, there's no proof he DID apologise, only the sisters statement that that's why he rolled down the window.. "to say he was sorry..." The gentleman didn't hear it anyway, saw the window coming down and shot (probably thought of all those crime shows with drive bys)

Either way, a kid died and this gentleman is probably going to jail. His wife is left alone because of his decision to protect himself the way he was trained. I feel bad for everyone involved.

You can believe what he did was wrong (yes killing someone was wrong) but unless you were there, unless you were in his shoes and lived his life you can't possibly say you wouldn't have done the same thing. That's the benefit of hindsight and living a different life. Myself (now I have the opportunity to think about it) I would have raised my hands and had everyone in the car do the same thing. Then I would have slowly backed away. This kid was raised differently, he got the h*ck out of there because that's his experience in the face of "crime". It was a sad and sorry chain of events that resulted in a mans death, that's never a good thing.

The original article also states that the family doesn't bear him ill will, but that he needs to "pay for what he did", and he will, for the rest of his life whether in jail or not.

the victim was in his vehicle, in the driveway. nothing wrong with calling the police and waiting, armed, from the safety of his house if he was so damn worried about 'gangsters' running around.

by his lawyer's logic, pedestrians who are concerned that cars approaching crosswalks aren't stopping fast enough can open fire on drivers if they perceive them to be a threat.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I'm more amused that people are this bothered by the situation. It's on incident in a Georgia neighborhood that has no effect on your life or those around you. It's one of those *gasp* news stories that someone is just trying to take the guns out of the hands of citizens.

You wanted to make a murder political. You made your bed, so now lay in it. It's really that simple.

You can't be shocked by reactions when you don't get the answers/reactions you were looking for.

Sucks to be the kid, and sucks the old man is going to be bent over in prison. Sucks for them and their families, but as I said. It doesn't go much further beyond that.

I wonder how bent all our resident anti gun wing nuts are about the 100's of murders done everyday by criminals with bad intent. The man was wrong and has been charged with murder.

[sandinista! 1,816]

if there was regular gang activity next door and the shooter assumed that because the driver was latino he was therefore in a gang, that's still racism in my book.

that's the risk you run, when you dare to be latino in public...

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I wonder how bent all our resident anti gun wing nuts are about the 100's of murders done everyday by criminals with bad intent. The man was wrong and has been charged with murder.

Not many people are arguing with the fact that the man was wrong and has been charged with murder.

In fact, I bet this thread would have had a short life if the few people hadn't come in here and tried to blame the victim. That's what caused the reaction, more than the story itself. Read the thread.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

the victim was in his vehicle, in the driveway. nothing wrong with calling the police and waiting, armed, from the safety of his house if he was so damn worried about 'gangsters' running around.

by his lawyer's logic, pedestrians who are concerned that cars approaching crosswalks aren't stopping fast enough can open fire on drivers if they perceive them to be a threat.

Liberal logic--- Pedestrians approaching crosswalks are equal in the law to private property owners on their own property. I swear you can't make this stuff up ?

[sandinista! 1,816]

I wonder how bent all our resident anti gun wing nuts are about the 100's of murders done everyday by criminals with bad intent. The man was wrong and has been charged with murder.

show me one anti-gun or gun-blaming comment in this thread.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

show me one anti-gun or gun-blaming comment in this thread.

Yup.

Not anti-gun.

Anti-paranoid people like this owning them.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

that's the risk you run, when you dare to be latino in public...

Funny how the family said it was not about racism and understand that but , yet here we go.

[sandinista! 1,816]

Liberal logic--- Pedestrians approaching crosswalks are equal in the law to private property owners on their own property. I swear you can't make this stuff up ?

cars approaching crosswalks. cars. you have the worst reading comprehension skills ever, gah.

by law, the crosswalk, when pedestrians are in it, is sacred. they have the right of way. if they perceived a threat by an oncoming car, by that lawyer's logic, it sounds like they should be free to open fire. "i thought he was accelerating, not slowing down. i "perceived" it that way".

Funny how the family said it was not about racism and understand that but , yet here we go.

victim's families are not the end all opinion. their feelings, their being latino, is not the last word on what's racist, and what isn't.