Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A Louisiana homeowner was forced to act in self-defense after a man believed to be on drugs tried to force his way into the armed citizen’s home early Sunday morning, punching through a glass door in attempt to get inside the residence.
Authorities in Ascension Parish, Louisiana say they were called out to the home around 6 a.m. last Sunday on reports of an attempted break-in, but found the suspect, identified as 20-year-old Kameron Serigny, shot when they arrived on scene.
Deputies said when they arrived Serigny was found in the rear entrance threshold of the home. The homeowner told deputies he fired several shots at Serigny who was attempting to break in.
Investigators say the suspect first tried to break into a car in the driveway, setting off the car alarm and alerting the homeowners.
The home is equipped with several security cameras which showed the suspect eating grass and beating on his chest, investigators said.
Video shows the suspect punching a hole in the glass on the home’s door, investigators said at that point, the homeowner fired one shot and the suspect fell to the ground. The suspect then reportedly got up again and punched another hole in the glass.
The homeowner then shot him again, sending the suspect back to the ground. The suspect then got up and slammed himself into the door, breaking it open, the video shows. At that point, the homeowner fired 3 to 4 additional shots, killing the suspect, investigators said.
Sounds like a very judicious use of force on the part of the homeowner, who fired only to stop the ongoing threat posed by Serigny. If the 20-year-old had stayed down after the first shot was fired he’d probably be alive today, but it sounds like the suspect wasn’t exactly in his right mind at the time. Toxicology tests have yet to be released, according to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, so we don’t yet know for certain if the young suspect was on drugs or mentally disturbed, but either way he continued to pose a threat to the homeowner until those fatal shots were fired.
Incidents like this are a reminder of just how silly the arguments against “large capacity” magazines are, as well as the importance of being able to protect yourself against a violent encounter. In federal court in Oregon this week attorneys representing the state are trying to convince a judge (who sadly, probably won’t need much persuading given her previous ruling allowing the state’s magazine ban to be enforced) that magazines that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition can be banned, in part because the average defensive gun use (according to one study) involves fewer than three rounds being fired. In this case, the homeowner fired at least five rounds, and it’s easy to picture a scenario where he would have needed more than ten rounds, especially if Serigny had been accompanied by a similarly disturbed friend. We don’t get to decide if and when we’re the victim of a violent crime or the number of assailants who might target us, but we do have the right to decide for ourselves to protect ourselves with a firearm and it shouldn’t be up to the state to tell us just how many rounds are acceptable to use if our lives or the lives of our loved ones are threatened with deadly force.