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Firefighters enter home, elderly woman opens fire

March 29, 2016

gunAfter firefighters responded to an accidental medical alert signal inside a San Luis Obispo home, a disoriented elderly woman feared burglars had entered her house, grabbed a revolver and fired two shots, according to the San Luis Obispo Police Department. No one was injured.

Early Sunday morning, a medical alarm activated at a home home in the 100 block of Del Norte Way. San Luis Obispo firefighters and SLO Ambulance employees responded to the house. The fire department has agreements with some citizens which allow firefighters to enter their homes when a medical alert is activated.

When emergency personnel arrived, they determined two elderly residents were sleeping inside. Responders contacted both individuals and concluded they were not in need of medical attention.

Firefighters and ambulance personnel then returned to their vehicles. They were about to leave the scene when they heard the sound a single gunshot inside the house. Seconds later, the elderly woman stepped out of the home and fired a gunshot into the air, according to the police department.

Police officers responded to a “shots fired” call at approximately 2 a.m. Officers then established a perimeter around the home and spoke with a family member who had arrived at the house before them.

The woman said the elderly couple inside the home were her parents and she had secured the firearm.

During an investigation, police determined the elderly woman became disoriented and confused when fire personnel awoke her. She grabbed a family-owned revolver in order to protect herself and her husband from burglars.

The woman accidentally discharged a single round while loading the weapon. At that point, she was still in fear and wanted to scare the intruders, so she fired a single shot into the air, according to the police department.

Police say she did not fire any shots directly at emergency personnel.

Officers did not arrest the woman, but police say she negligently discharged a firearm. The police department is submitting a report to the county district attorney’s office, and prosecutors will consider filing a charge of negligent discharge of a firearm.

San Luis Obispo police say the incident brings to light training, safety and security concerns associated with responsible gun ownership.


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obviously far too old to be wielding a weapon; period.


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“She grabbed a family-owned revolver in order to protect herself and her husband from burglars.


The woman accidentally discharged a single round while loading the weapon.”


I have never heard of a REVOLVER accidentally discharging while being loaded; it is physically impossible, as the revolver is positioned away from the hammer (which needs to be cocked, manually or if it’s a double-action) to accept the rounds into the cylinder. Someone perhaps got the story wrong (either in explaining it or reporting it).


I hope they are allowed to keep the firearm, as it’s probably their only protection.


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She did great. Fired off a couple of rounds to show she meant business because she was frightened. She aimed at no one or else this story would be tragic. Perfect gun control in my opinion. Way to go Granny!


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Uh, for one it’s illegal to discharge unless actually using to fire at someone or something. Into the air is negligent risk as that bullet can hit anyone when it comes down.


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Good thing no one was hurt. I wonder if this will cause the medical personnel to rethink how they respond to these medical alerts.


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I hate it when those burglars show up with their sirens blaring and red lights flashing. Granny probably can’t drive anymore either and this is not a Second Amendment issue. Granny can get a second button that dispatches the police.


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She is loading the weapon and accidentally fired it, then reloaded walked out front and fired off another shot? Maybe granny should not have the gun, I don’t it would protect her at all.


If you are going to own a gun, know how to handle it, go through gun safety classes and practice using it on a regular basis, otherwise don’t have one.


If someone had broken into the house I don’t think they are going to give you the time to wake up, get the bullets, get the gun, load the gun and then aim it. They would have heard you moving around and either left or gone to investigate what the noise was, with possible tragic endings.


This is the perfect example of someone owning a gun who should not. I hope the daughter removes the gun before someone ends up dead or injured from it. Put an alarm system on the house, so if someone breaks in an alarm goes off. No one dies that way and most burglars will run off because of the noise.


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Your expertise in this matter amazes me. Do you teach a class we can all go to?


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Perspicacious, stop it.


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Gotta love you city/county employees. They, with their certifications, are the only ones that can comment on public safety issues and all the rest of us who pay their salary are mere mundane civilians.


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citygirl,


So, you are going on record in being against the Second Amendment. Duly noted.


Under your hypothetical, under all break-ins, the perpetrator is suppose to run when an alarm goes off, surely you jest? You’re out on the outskirts of town, there is a break in, granny sounds the alarm and it takes the sheriff 20 minutes to respond. Meanwhile, granny is suppose to just entertain the burglar until help arrives because you say that granny shouldn’t own a gun in this instance?


How about granny brandishing a 44mag, and uses it if need be to protect her life and let the cards fall in any way afterwards. You don’t award a burglar breaking the law with sweet little words when your life may be on the line.


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You only load once, then you have 5-8 rounds available, depending on model of revolver. No safety. She didn’t ” reload again “


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This elderly woman had every right to protect herself if she was a true Christian, and thought there was a burglar break-in at her home!


“If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.” (Exodus 22:2-3)


Since her firearm discharge was a 2am, and the sun wasn’t up as Exodus 22:2-3 proposes, she wouldn’t have been held culpable if she had unfortunately killed any of the SLO ambulance and police personnel. It would have been a different story if the sun was appearing because then she would have payed dearly, and if she didn’t have any possessions to sell, she would have been sold as a slave.


If the county district attorney’s office prosecutes this poor lady, it is just another attack upon Christianity, as if we’re not attacked enough over our Bronze Age religion in the 21st Century.


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I don’t care if you’re 15 or 100, if you let off multiple shots inside the city, you should be arrested. Where did that 2nd bullet land? It could have killed someone or something for all we know. How about last week when 4 people got arrested for shooting a BB gun?!


Can we say….double standard?


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Are you just now figuring out there is a double standard, it’s been around for a long long long time. A regular person blows a >.08 BAC go to jail, if you are a LEO blow a >.08 BAC get a free ride home. The double standard has been out there and they don’t want to change that.


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No argument there. SLO’s finest are notorious for getting away with DUI, drug smuggling, human rights violations, letting people die in the jail, etc.


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demiseofslo,


Can we say “assumed burglar break-in relative to casual shooting of a BB gun?”


Hypothetical: you are awakened in the middle of the night and hear people breaking in to your home, what is the first thing you’re thinking? “Oh, it’s the SLO police and ambulance people in my house, how nice, let me put on a pot of coffee for their visit!” OR, do you think it’s someone breaking into your home to do harm and you want to scare off the intruders?


It is NOT a double-standard. 2+2=4.


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You ARE the demise of SLO with your mindset. This poor woman does NOT need to be arrested. She needs family members to get her to a place to live where she is not living on her own and not with another elderly person(spouse) responsible for taking care of her. “Double standard”? Sheesh…


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Perspicacious, stop it.


No one was talking about you.


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People incompetent to know how to handle a fire arm should not have one. Now we have an incident were a person clearly cannot handle a gun, specifically a revolver, which is pretty hard to accidentally fire if its a double action piece. You have to pull the hammer back and then pull the trigger. An old lady would probably have trouble pulling that trigger if she has arthritis, etc.


It doesn’t matter how old or young you are. You break the law, you pay the consequence. If my grandmother fired a gun in the city limits, I would expect her to be charged with something. FAIR TREATMENT FOR ALL


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She can still be arrested, and is facing the DAs decision. Police might avoid immediate arrest when there is no danger and a question if whether the DA wants to prosecute. You can’t make the DA prosecute, is his Job to decide.


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