Heard this on the news today.  

story

What this article does not say that was being said earlier on television was that the police took the old man's shotgun after the first time they were robbed.  One story said he fired two shots.  Another said five shots.  Most people, especially 80 year olds, do not enable their shotguns to shoot five rounds.  Also, they claimed on the TV news and showed a photo of where the neighbor's house was supposedly hit by a round.  It did not look like the damage that buckshot (or less) would do.  Only one impact point and much too large.  I guess it could have been a slug.  Whole thing seems strange.  After the first couple of reports they stopped saying the police took the guy's weapon. Started playing up the fact he shot his neighbor's house.  So the poor old guy heads off to Home Depot to buy some passive defense measures and his wife gets slashed and is in critical condition.  I say if the guy still had his gun then we would have been home and been able to do somethng.  Instead his wife was reduced to bleating like sheep as she was nearly killed.  Do you think this couple has recourse?


86-Year-Old Woman Stabbed in St. Louis County Home
created: 10/5/2005 6:29:08 PM
updated: 10/5/2005 6:32:04 PM
 

KSDK-A savage stabbing of an 86-year-old woman in her home has St. Louis County Police looking for her attacker.

The incident occurred Monday afternoon in Spanish Lake, but it wasn't the first time police had responded to the woman's home.

The serenity of the quiet street in the 1500 block of Trampe was jolted Monday when 86-year-old Dorothy Knoblick was brutally stabbed by an intruder.

The attack has stunned neighbors like Lisa Hayes, who says, "It's very upsetting. Poor lady, all she did was work in her yard, had a little hat on, and they cut her so bad."

St. Louis County Police Lt. Terry Doyle says, "As our officers showed up at the scene, they observed an elderly woman covered in blood."

It wasn't the first time police had been here.

Last month, an intruder confronted Knoblick and her husband Edward, robbing them of their $2,500 Social Security benefits.

Edward Knoblick, police say, had fired two shots from a shotgun into the air, to scare the intruder away.

Two weeks later, the couple spotted the suspect peering into their windows.

Monday,Edward Knoblick left to go to the store to buy a motion security detector for the house.

When he returned, he found his wife slashed.

"This happened as soon as the husband left. We're not sure if this is some type of revenge type of assault, or what circumstances surround it," says Lt. Doyle.

The crime is forcing other neighbors to take their own action.

"We're leaving," says Hayes. When asked why, she says, "There's just too much stuff going on. We're scared now."

The St. Louis County Police Crimes Against Persons is handling this case.

We're told they have several strong leads, including the possibility the suspect might be someone who lives in the neighborhood.

The "people" responsible for attacking and terrorizing these poor old folks needs to be stoned to death.  Nothing pisses me off more than violence against elderly people.  May the bastard(s) burn in hell

Quoted: Edward Knoblick, police say, had fired two shots from a shotgun into the air, to scare the intruder away.

Shotguns work better if they are fired at the robber. And if you kill a robber, he won't be back to slash your wife.

That guy should move to TX. There are tons of armed neighbors here just looking for an excuse to shoot a perp.

why the hell did they seize what was undoubtedly a legal firearm?

Quoted: why the hell did they seize what was undoubtedly a legal firearm?

That would be my question.

Quoted: Quoted: why the hell did they seize what was undoubtedly a legal firearm? That would be my question.

Probably did the "evidence" thing.  He shot at the bad guys the first time, the cops said this is evidence blah blah bye bye Consitution.  

Edited to Add: Here in Texas the cops would have likely helped him get a replacement if they had to take it.  

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: why the hell did they seize what was undoubtedly a legal firearm? That would be my question. Probably did the "evidence" thing.  He shot at the bad guys the first time, the cops said this is evidence blah blah bye bye Consitution.   Edited to Add: Here in Texas the cops would have likely helped him get a replacement if they had to take it.

I used to live in Texas and that's a fact.

Unfortunately, those doomed to live in St. Louis County are not so lucky.  I think the law hands out jars of vaseline because they are so screwed.