Oklahoma druggist arrested for killing holdup man...

[Varmit]

Thats a bit of a stretch ain't it?  Yes, he was retired Air Force, but that is all we know.  Maybe if he was a Ranger, Green Beret, SEaL, Marine Force Recon..I could see the trained killer bit.  Not only that but this guy was wearing a back brace..I don't see too many trained killers sporting one of those.  Just because the guy is retired military doesn't make him a lethal weapon.  

[Diane Amberg]

What you all have just said is exactly why I am really glad I'll not be called to be on that jury. Frank, The reason I asked about the gun, and no it doesn't matter, was to try to predict the amount of damage the head shot could have done. At one point when the pharmacist was on the phone you could see him look over from the counter. In my mind I could just about hear the call taker asking "Is he conscious, is he breathing?"

[frawin]

This Morning's paper carried this update:

Druggist Jerome Ersland says he feared for life during shooting
Man remains free on bail after turning weapons over to his attorney

Published: June 2, 2009
A pharmacist charged with first-degree murder said Monday he shot a robber again on the city drugstore's floor because he thought the robber was about to get up and kill him.


He said he thought the robber, Antwun "Speedy" Parker, 16, had shot him and killed a female employee when the holdup began.

He said he wanted to protect himself and the other female employee crying in the back.

"I went up to him. And he seemed to be just dazed. And he started talking to me, and he started turning to the right," he said in an interview with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor." "I'm crippled. ... I thought I was going to get killed in the next few seconds."

He said the two employees were a mother and daughter. "The mother was yelling, 'Megan, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry,'" he said.

Jerome Jay Ersland, 57, is accused in the first-degree murder case of going too far in defending himself May 19 during the robbery at Reliable Discount Pharmacy in south Oklahoma City.

Prosecutors allege physical evidence proves Parker was unarmed, unconscious and on his back when the pharmacist shot him five times in the abdomen. They allege Parker already was incapacitated because Ersland had shot him in the head.


Attorney says guns have been turned over
The interview Monday was Ersland's first to the media since he was charged Wednesday.
"I still think he had a gun," Ersland said Monday. "Because he was closer to me, and I felt a sting on my hand and my watch fell off. I had a shot in my hand, and I thought it came from that side and that was the side that the girls were on and I thought ... that he shot Megan."

Prosecutors contend only Ersland fired any shots during the holdup.

A police detective said Ersland gave statements to the media earlier and to police that do not match a drugstore video depiction of the shooting.

Ersland is free on $100,000 bail.

Oklahoma County District Judge Tammy Bass-LeSure on Thursday allowed him to be released from jail on bail as long he no longer has any access to any weapons.

The judge questioned him Monday to determine if he had complied with the restriction.

"I gave every weapon of mine to my attorney. I swear to the Lord," Ersland told the judge Monday. "I have no rights to them."

The attorney, Irven Box, said Ersland gave him ownership of the weapons as a down payment on the legal fees in the murder case.

The attorney said he personally picked up the weapons Friday at Ersland's home in Chickasha. "It took several hours," Box said.

Ersland had been expected to turn over the guns to his attorney for safekeeping until the trial was over.

Instead, the attorney said he took the weapons as payment toward his legal work.

Box said he has accepted other unusual payments in the past, including comic books in one case.

Box said he will keep the guns for now because he is too busy with Ersland's case to sell them.


What's next for pharmacist?
Ersland will return to work today, his attorney later told The Oklahoman. The pharmacy's owner has hired an off-duty police officer to guard the store whenever Ersland is there, the attorney said.
Ersland on Monday began wearing an ankle bracelet that monitors his location, the attorney also said. Ersland can only be away from home to be at work, to be in court, to shop for groceries, to eat, to worship at church, to see doctors or to meet with his attorneys.

The hearing Monday turned tense when the judge asked Ersland how many weapons he had owned. Box told Ersland not to answer, and the judge warned them Ersland would go back to jail unless he gave her the total. "This is so unfair!" Box said to the judge.

The judge let Ersland stay free, though, after both the defense attorney and District Attorney David Prater argued he shouldn't have to answer. They said requiring Ersland to answer would violate his constitutional rights. Box said Ersland has a right under the Fifth Amendment not to incriminate himself.

Prater said a statement about the number of weapons could be used against Ersland at trial.

The judge, however, said she will never again let a defendant turn over his weapons to his defense attorney. "I learned a valuable lesson," she said.

Ersland's supporters have dropped off more than $2,000 at the pharmacy toward his legal fees, his attorney said.

Box said a cab driver stopped at his law office Monday to contribute $20.

Box said on Fox News on Monday a drugstore surveillance video shows the incident lasted 46 seconds.

The video showed Ersland first shot Parker as Parker pulled on a ski mask. The pharmacist then chased an armed robber out of the store, returned to get a second gun and shot Parker again.

Prosecutors say the two guns Ersland used in the shooting were collected as evidence.

Two ex-convicts and a 14-year-old boy also have been charged with first-degree murder in the case.

Under Oklahoma's felony murder law, conspirators in a robbery can be charged with first-degree murder if someone dies during the robbery.

[Diane Amberg]

Thanks Frank,  now if I were on the jury, I'd like to know which weapon/s had indeed been fired.  Did the kid who ran really have a gun? Why did Mr. Ersland think the female employee had been "killed?''  If so, why didn't he stop to help her and call 911 then, instead of going out the door to try to catch the other kid?  Did he hear gunfire and if so, how many shots did he hear?  Did the girls who were hiding hear any shots, if so how many?  At the beginning of the robbery or later on?   Who were the people in the blue car? What, if anything did they  see and hear? If they were not the getaway drivers, why didn't Mr. Erskin ask them for help, to call 911? I'd like to see the watch. Did he really have a shot in his hand?  Which hand? What did the wound look like? Where is the bullet? If Antwun's body hadn't been moved, how was he positioned when the police and ambulance arrived?  After the head shot, if Antwun was talking to the Pharmacist, what did he say? ( the autopsy will likely show whether he would have been capable of speech after the head shot.) and on and on.

[sixdogsmom]

Diane, I think that you just disqualified yourself from being on this panel. Sorry, maybe next time? 

[Dee Gee]

Just like any other case, the account of what happened keep changing as it progresses.  I don't think the first or the current account agrees with the video tape.  I wouldn't want to be on the jury because I would have vote with the laws for conviction with what I have seen and heard so far.

[srkruzich]

didn't Mr. Erskin ask them for help, to call 911?

What good does 911 do?  Seriously think about this.  Seconds count in a situation like this. it is over with usually in the time it takes to dial 911.   The police can't do anything. their miles/minutes away when you need immediate action.

The police are not required to protect us either. The supreme court has ruled on this.  THeir job is to protect public property and serve warrants. Not protect us from anything.  The fact that they try is above what their duty calls for.

[Dee Gee]

Diane this statement should answer one of your questions.

Last week Ersland told NewsChannel Four he had no other choice.

"All of a sudden the first thing I know there's gunfire, and I feel a sting on my left arm, and I pull out my keltec 380 out of my pocket," Ersland said. "They were firing at me from so close, and I could feel the bullet go by my right ear."

[frawin]

That is interesting Dale, the Keltec 380 has a 6 shot Magazine capacity, there must have been more than one shot fired in the first volley. I am sure in that enclosed area it was difficult to tell who was shooting, the sound would have been deafening and added to an already confusing and difficult situation. The shooting, the woman screaming, must have been terrifying.

[Dee Gee]

Yes Frank, it would have a confusing few seconds, I read in one of the reports there were at least fifteen shots fire and with the druggist having to get another gun or reload to do the final shooting I would say he had emptied his first weapon.