Friday, June 24, 2016

Gun violence archive dishonesty

There is a website calling themselves the Gun Violence Archive. They claim to be cataloging all of the gun violence in the nation without bias.

I did a brief search through their data, and I found this listing on the first page:

June 19, 2016 Arkansas Jonesboro 1300-block of Flint Street 1 dead 0 injuries

Clicking on the source link leads to this story:
JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) - One person is dead following a shooting late Sunday night in Jonesboro.
Brandon Edwards, 30, of Jonesboro was killed in the incident, according to Paul Holmes, public information specialist for the Jonesboro Police Department.

What was Edwards doing when he met his end? Not attending choir practice, that's for sure:

Edwards and James Campbell were listed as suspects in an aggravated residential burglary at the same address, the incident report states.
The man living in the apartment has not been charged with a crime at this time, according to [Police].
The 33-year-old Jonesboro man told Officer Jonathan Wood he shot at Edwards [the decedent] and Campbell [the accomplice] saying, "I did it, but I had to shoot them," according to Woods in the report.
Woods reportedly asked the man where he put his gun. An "AR-15 style weapon" was recovered and found loaded.
According to the man, Edwards and Campbell forced his unlocked apartment door open following an earlier phone conversation.
Edwards reportedly came in first with a rope telling the man "he was going to kill him." Campbell followed behind holding a rifle or shotgun.
As clear cut a case of self defense as I have ever heard. Surely they can't be blaming a homeowner for defending himself from an armed burglar? So, I clicked on the incident link, and this is how they categorized the shooting:
  • Type: Victim
  • Age Group: Adult 18+
  • Status: Killed

  • Type: Perpetrator
  • Age Group: Adult 18+
  • Status: Unharmed, Arrested

The perpetrator (I refuse to call him the victim) was NOT arrested. The decedent's accomplice was. The shooter was the victim, and he was not arrested. I would say that any data or numbers that come from this website are highly suspect.

I also thought it important to note that an AR-15 was used for self defense. There is no better self defense weapon in your home than an AR-15, especially when you are faced with multiple armed attackers who are intent on killing you.

1 comment:

m4 said...

Wouldn't be surprised if they include suicides too. These people like to use Gun Deaths to bloat their numbers of Gun Crime.