The Name of a Shooting Victim Is Uncovered, and a Divide Is Exposed in Phoenix's St. Matthew Neighborhood

Sadly our goverment has let down many mentally ill people. I have seen it for myself, I worked with people with mental issues. A lot of the time the mental hospital will medicate them and once there better they release them out on the streets with little or no medication and no place to go. So once the medications are out of their bodies it's back to how it was in the first place. Also the goverment is cutting funds for the mentally ill. So their not getting proper treatment.

I carry a gun at work for protection, thank goodness I've never had to use but I do believe that carrying one has prevented at least a few confrontations. I know what it is like to have an unbalanced person, perhaps high on meth or pcp, yelling an threatening to harm you. Nobody knows what someone is capable of until they act it out. So, you saying that you've never had to carry a gun doesn't mean anything. Try saying that to innocent people who've been robbed or raped at knife or gun point. Bet they wished they had a weapon to defend themselves. Don't be so quick to judge a man because he defended himself. This homeless person was on Russell's property and threatening him. What if someone was in your house and started attacking you? Yea, I bet you wouldn't hesitate to defend yourself.

Maybe he should have used a similar weapon as Bagley and just beat his brains in with it. That would have been more humane/fair, right?

This article passes for news? It's as biased as any blog and certainly doesn't hold anymore credibility. It's nothing more than speculation on an incident with few facts, set up to "prove" a misinformed bias about the Arizona population. Since we're apparently nothing more than backward conservative gun-slinging hicks who need to saved from ourselves. As an independent and social liberal, I find myself butting heads with my neighbors on many occasions. But I understand and respect them, their viewpoints, and their rights. You apparently do not. Of course you're welcome to waste your time as long as you would like trying to convince Arizonans that we're a backward people reminiscent of our old west days. You might actually succeed with instilling more pride within us. This is Arizona, love it or leave it... pardner.

Most people who have HAD to carry firearms for a living - feel they're more of a burden than a joy to have lug around and not leave then hanging off the back of the crapper at the airport...Worry it will be under the seat of your just stolen vehicle as it heads south -

It's the wackjob Fish type who need to 'feel the power of the gun'!...The balance! The beauty of the cold steel! The fear turns into ego and self-confidence is restored!."ARE YOU TALKIN TO ME" ?

Arizona is chock-full of these clowns and that's why I carry one 24/7.

As for Ray Stern and Stephen Lemons, feel free to take your happy jack asses back to wherever it was you came from before slithering into AZ. Once again, the New Times has continued it yellow journalism by letting amateurs continue to write for their rag.

When I left military service in '82, I stopped carrying a weapon. In '92 because of the way the city was rapidly changing I purchased a handgun. Now, I do not leave home without one.

Because of people like Ray and Stephan, this city and state have changed dramatically and NOT for the better. Liberalism helped get that man shot. Because of the democratic liberals who have tried to take over this state, many ways of governing and of the sate assisting people has gone to hell in a hate (yes hate) basket. Greed by politicians has destroyed programs that might have helped the man who was homeless and now continues to fight for his life. Ignorance of proper governing response by law makers has caused people who normally wold not carry weapons to do so because of the games they still play. The open border is a prime example of this.

Not having been there, I cannot say what I would have done. But you can rest assured that any hint that my life is on the line, I will draw my weapon, knowing that as soon as it clears it's holster, I will defend my life and anyone else whose life may be in jeopardy by an attack. Otherwise, my weapon remains out of sight and hopefully will never be drawn in self defense again.

On the other hand, I know two pf the people that this article was written about. The primary, I would not trust to even have a handgun. His temper and past actions in community warrant someone finding out why he is even allowed to posses a weapon of any kind.

As for the witness, I have known her for many years and highly question her testimony. I know that she see things in her own individual way and while she means good, her actions can rarely be associated with a close connection to the truth as it really is in almost any manner. She has been let go from a position with the state because of her inability to maintain the difference of the truth and things which are untrue. If she was not wearing her glasses while riding her bicycle, many times like she does when driving her hearse or one of her military vehicles, then I highly doubt that she was able to see what she claims to have seen and that her comments were sided with the person who insures that she has a paycheck.

So many things wrong with this and still the author and his comrade in journalism truly need to find a state that aligns itself with their warped views of the truth.

What a biased crock of an article. Obviously Mr. Lemons(the author) is against any sort of firearm self defense. I wish that reporters would simply "report" the news instead of filling articles with worthless biased opinions instead of facts. I hope that someday he encounters a similar situation. If there is someone on my property violently attacking me or my family with a weapon you should have the right to use lethal force.

a garbage dump in this area would be an improvement

so the white guy should just let the black guy beat him senseless? this is clear cut self defense. the fact that the attacker was black is the only reason the "new times" is even writing about this incident.

Dear Mothernbennsonn... Thank You. I knew this call would come for years. But I did everything I could do to help him. He was mentally ill, and was trying to get himself off the streets. But you can't force someone to take meds, after they become of age. I responded to this article because, although the details differ, the end result is the same. A desperate struggling soul was shot, some ; like my son are dead.. Society sends it's resources to help strangers overseas, but ignore it's own. The resources in this country are thin, and the mental health system turns patients back out on the streets without the meds they were stabilized on in the hospital. I'm sure the man in this article who was shot had been a nuisance, but he was treated like scum, not like a hurting and lost soul. Which is what they all are. Personally, I am also sick of being hit up by homeless for change everywhere I go. And I rarely give money to anyone. But I will give them food. I usually have a powerbar or an apple or similar item in my bag. Not every situation is the same. Not everyone gets violent all the time. But we all have our limits. Everyone can be pushed and kicked down just so many times. I really want to see our ADVANCED SOCIETY show some compassion for people. Anyone in this world can find themselves down and out by any given number of reasons. And it just could be someone you love, and are unable to help. Everyone of those people out there has a family SOMEWHERE. I am not disclosing the particulars of my son's case, which is very recent. There is an ongoing investigation to be completed. My heart goes out to other mothers and relatives of the hundreds of thousands of kids on the streets, some may actually advance in age, some will not. Please think twice before you write a heartless comment. It could be someone you loveends up like this.

Parents of Murdered Children POMC®, provides the on-going emotional support needed to help parents and other survivors facilitate the reconstruction of a "new life" and to promote a healthy resolution. Not only does POMC help survivors deal with their acute grief but also helps with the criminal justice system.The staff of the National Headquarters of POMC will assist any survivor and if possible, link that survivor with others in the same vicinity who have survived their loved one's murder. In addition, the staff is available to provide individual assistance, support and advocacy. The staff will help interested parents or immediate family members form a chapter of POMC in their community.http://www.pomc.org/Toll Free: (888) 818-POMCPOMC Vision StatementTo provide support and assistance to all survivors of homicide victims while working to create a world free of murder.MembershipMembership is open to those who have been cruelly bereaved by the murder of a loved one. Professionals who are in frequent contact with grieving families are also welcome to join.

I'm hearing a repitition in stories of unarmed homeless men being shot dead. In all three instances, they were said to be the attacker. But they weren't the ones with the gun.Maybe there's a lot more to these stories than we're being told?One of these stories was of someone I knew. My son.