A 72-year-old Alzheimer’s victim was shot by a gun owner in
Chickamauga, Georgia early Wednesday morning. The elderly man, Ronald
Westbrook, had wandered away from his home and got lost. He wandered for
about 3 miles in the early morning hours, possibly believing he was
returning to a home where he used to live. He was holding mail from that
home’s mailbox when he died, police said.
A wandering Alzheimer’s victim lost in the middle of the night.
Westbrook had been wandering for about four hours, Sheriff Steve
Wilson told reporters. At about 2:30 am a deputy on patrol had seen the
Alzheimer’s victim at the mailbox of his former home. When he questioned
the man, Westbrook told the deputy that he was just getting his mail
and “lived up the hill” and the deputy drove on. If this had been 2:30
in the afternoon, I could see this. But at 2:30 in the morning, why
didn’t the deputy look into it a little harder? It just seems odd, to
me.
Westbrook wandered about for a couple more hours with his two dogs,
wearing a thin windbreaker and straw hat. The wind chill Wednesday night
was around 20 degrees. This poor man was probably cold, tired and, most
definitely, confused. Then he spotted a beacon of, what could have
been, hope:
“This one house at the end of the cul-de-sac had a porch light on,” Sheriff Wilson said. “I tend to think [the Alzheimer's victim] was drawn to that light.”
Westbrook went up to the home, rang the doorbell and tried to turn
the doorknob. Joe Hendrix and his fiancée were awakened and called 911.
While his fiancée was on the phone with dispatchers, Hendrix went
outside. He was carrying a .40-caliber handgun. When he saw the
Alzheimer’s victim behind the house, Hendrix says he issued “verbal
commands.” When Westbrook didn’t stop, Hendrix fired four shots, hitting
the Alzheimer’s victim in the chest and killing him.
Shooter may invoke “stand your ground” law as defense for killing the Alzheimer’s victim.
No charges have been filed against Hendrix but the sheriff is
investigating the shooting with the help of The Georgia Bureau of
Investigation. Sheriff Wilson and the local District Attorney may yet
file charges. Georgia passed a “stand your ground” law in 2006 and it
may apply to this case, Wilson said.
The dispatcher who was on the phone with Hendrix’s fiancée says that
neither of them were aware that Hendrix had gone outside with a gun. The
Sheriff noted that, while Hendrix did not break any laws by doing so,
he should have stayed inside the house. With two patrol cars having been
dispatched to deal with the situation, there was no reason for it.
Sheriff knew the victim and his family.
Sheriff Wilson went to the same church as Westbrook. He says that the
family didn’t realize the Alzheimer’s victim had wandered off until
about the time of the shooting. Wilson said that Westbrook was “a fine
man” and that he felt bad for his family. He also stated that Hendrix
was “saddened and heartbroken” and that he “will have to live with his
actions” for the rest of his life.
I can’t imagine how it must feel to shoot an innocent person. But I
can’t help but think that if Mr. Hendrix had simply stayed inside and
waited for the police, that innocent man might still be alive. What
possesses a gun owner to think that he (and it’s usually a man) can or
should handle any out-of-the-ordinary situation on his own? With his
gun, of course. As responsible gun owners, my husband and I have put in
place a procedure for such a situation. We wouldn’t go creeping around
in the dark with a loaded weapon, ready to fire at anything that moves.
Surely we can’t be the only ones who are prepared like this? I don’t
understand why every gun owner can’t be as conscientious. If this one
had been, an elderly Alzheimer’s victim would be sitting down to
Thanksgiving dinner with his family today.
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