After the fatal shooting of a Eunice resident Scott Daville in December, some residents may be wondering when it is appropriate to use a firearm in self defense.
St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz outlined the use of a weapon at a meeting about neighborhood watches on Jan. 24 at the Liberty Theater.
Guidroz first stressed that the public should contact law enforcement about suspicious activity.
Daville, 56, was fatally wounded at about 6:30 a.m. Dec. 27 as he interrupted the burglary of his pickup truck in the 700 block of Juanita.
“Concealed weapons in your vehicle: How many of you think you have to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon on your vehicle,” Guidroz asked.
“Wow, we’ve got about 10 people who think that. Wrong. In Louisiana, if you are not a convicted felon and you want to carry a weapon, pistol loaded in your vehicle you can do that,” he said.
I’m going to go a step further. You don’t have to wait until they get in our car to shoot somebody that is trying to hijack your vehicle,” Guidroz said.
“You must be able to articulate that your life was in great danger. Somebody was trying to bust your window, bust your door to get into your car and to hurt you. If you feel your life is in what?” he asked the crowd.
“Great immediate danger, you can stop the violence,” Guidroz said.
“In your home, the same thing. In 1978, in Louisiana there was a Shoot the Burglar Bill ...” he said.
“If can be outside your door or outside your window and if you feel what?” he asked the crowd again.
He answered again that the person must feel their life is great danger to shoot, but he said person must be able to explain the danger they believed they faced.
“I’m not a proponent of you killing people, but I’m am, as your sheriff, telling you protect yourself. We live in a different society. We live in a dangerous world,” he said.
