SUFFOLK
A man who was shot to death early Sunday by the owner of the store he had broken into did not have a gun, a police spokeswoman said Monday.
James Howard Durden Jr. fired from outside his convenience store and in through a window at Ernest Scott Roop, 38, after he was alerted from home in the early morning hours Sunday to the break-in at his nearby business.
Debbie George, the police spokeswoman, said Durden told police that Roop "pointed something at him," but she said she did not know if that was when Durden fired. In the store, police found a tire iron that they think Roop used, but it was not near his body, she said.
Meanwhile, police tested Durden's blood for alcohol after they noted - and a breath test confirmed - the presence of it on him shortly after the shooting, according to a search warrant filed Monday in Circuit Court.
Those details, as well as a review of surveillance camera footage, are part of an investigation into whether Durden, 46, was justified in firing his .45-caliber handgun at his J&L Food Mart in the rural village of Whaleyville.
The case then will be sent to the commonwealth's attorney to decide whether it warrants criminal charges, George said.
In general, the law is very grudging on private citizens' use of lethal force, but it is more clear on the right to kill to protect a life than on doing so to protect property, said Anne Coughlin, a criminal law professor at the University of Virginia.
Such cases are rare, and there is no recent Virginia case law on the topic, Coughlin said. Details such as how threatened Durden felt will come into play, she said.
"This is a tough, tough call for a prosecutor," she said.
Durden did not respond to a message left at his store Monday, and no one answered the door at his home.
He was badly shaken by the incident, said Mike Fowler, a friend who was with Durden's family the day after the shooting. He said he was confident Durden did what he felt he had to do.
The friends both own businesse s and have talked about how they would handle a burglary. Their consensus, Fowler said, was to shoot only if their life depended on it.
"There's no way in hell James Durden would have fired on somebody unless he felt 100 percent his life was in danger," Fowler said. "If anybody thinks he went up there like John Wayne and started shooting through the window like a damn fool, they're crazy."
The window, at the side of the store, had four bullet holes. Two men from Suffolk Glass Inc. replaced the 3-foot-by-7-foot pane Monday. One of them, Sam Morris, said he replaced the same window about six months earlier on another burglary attempt.
Durden had been the victim of multiple break-ins, Fowler said. None had been reported to the police within the past two years, according to the department's crime analyst, George said.
Less than half a mile down the road, Michele Dunning said her general store has been broken into four times since September. A suspect in two of th e cases was being prosecuted, she said.
Few other businesses operate on the road that runs through Whaleyville. At the Food Mart, farm fields border two sides of the parking lot. Durden's home is just across the street.
Inside the store, business seemed to run as usual Monday. Three men smoked cigarettes at a small table between the soft drink coolers and the racks of bread. One of them, Emmett Jessee, said he felt sorry for the man who was shot but believed Durden was in the right.
Over by the register, at least three surveillance cameras looked down. Another pointed out toward the gas pumps through the window Durden shot into.
The call to police came at 4:04 a.m. from someone from Durden's home, according to the search warrant. Minutes earlier, a device similar to a baby monitor had crackled to life in the house, alerting the Durdens to the break-in, George said.
Fowler said the couple kept the device by their bed. Durden's wife went along to check on the store, saw the man inside and yelled at him through the window to leave, Fowler said.
About two minutes into the call to police, the caller said shots had been fired, George said. The search warrant said the caller told police an unknown man was dead in the store.
That man was Roop. To friends and family, he was "Scotty."
He had struggled for years with drug addiction, his parents said Monday from their home, where Roop had been living.
He had a criminal record, including a felony burglary conviction in 2003 that earned him jail time and was revoked twice, according to online court records.
He also had an energetic, playful way about him and a 13-year-old daughter whom he adored, his parents said. He had recently befriended a 6-year-old neighbor boy who has cystic fibrosis.
"Whenever he was sober, he was a sweetheart," said his mother, Diane Roop.
Scott Roop recalled the time his son insisted on camping out on the side of a mountain, way up past where his family's hunting party spent the night. Then there was the time his cheap reel broke on a big catfish, so he stripped to his underwear and jumped into a cold pond to pull the line in by hand.
The Roops said their son tried to quit his drug habit several times. He'd get clean and start eating right and exercising for a few months, but inevitably he'd falter.
"He was a kind guy," Scott Roop said. "That's the thing about it that's so disturbing."
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Break into my home in the
Break into my home in the middle of the night........I'll ask one question.......what funeral home do you want??
The death is sad
It is sad that the thief was killed. However, it must be noted that if he had not been where he was at the time then he would be alive right now. This does not mean that I condone outright shooting of thiefs but they have to understand mistakes are made.
Shoot first Ask Questions Later!
A guy tries to steal a bike, Kill him! Just get your gun and blow him away! Who needs the police? You have rights! A guy tries to steal a pack of gum from a store, just kill him. You have a right! A kid picks a apple off your tree, just take you gun and blow his head off. You have a right! Here is the new rule. Shoot first and ask questions later. You have a right to be sole judge and jury. Hey, so what if you make a mistake, you were just "defending yourself" right? Forget an alarm system, just get your gun and start shooting, who cares, you have a right! Want to be labeled as a hero, just blow some petty thief away in his tracks and bingo, your an instant hero! Who want to be the next hero? Come on, step up to the plate and use that gun. Just be careful it's not you that made your neighbor a local hero.
jwb
Shoot first Ask Questions Later! Slow down!
Aren't you going overboard on reasons to shot first?no one is talking about petty shootings.This guy broke in to a business,(to bad it worked out the way it did)my guess is to rob it.Ok what if the owner of said business would have walked in to confront him,better yet just went over to check something(hey people check things all the time)and ran into him?would he have got said tire iron over the head?What if when he got done with the store?would he have headed next door.
Extremist
JWB - your remarks throughout this thread have been rather extremist. I don't think anyone who's commented here would agree with what you wrote. Good luck.......
KUMBAYA
Gee, it seems like the store owner could have handled this differently. If someone was to break into my home or business perhaps it would be better if I just try to talk to the robber and reason with him because he is probably a great guy once you get to know him and is just having a bad day. Another choice would be to let him go about his business and take whatever he needs - I suppose I could even offer to help him find what he is looking for and then help carry it. Another alternative would be to wait for the police to arrive (even though he would probably be long gone) and IF they ever were able to apprehend him, I realize I wouldn't get any of my things back and it would create a financial hardship for me and my family but, hey, the main thing would be that the robber was safe. Maybe later on, instead of thinking I'm an easy target and robbing me again, he would feel bad about what he did and bring my stuff back and then he and I could hold hands and sing Kumbaya together. I just don't know what the store owner was thinking!!!
To a big hearted guy: WOW!
That is just so totally awesome of you.Man you just gotta let me know where live you at,because there's a few things I,d like to pick up.Hey do you take orders by chance?because it would be great if you had a big screen plasma on hand(new would be fantastic but I'll take used)thanks in advance!!
P.S LOL I'd blow the s.o.b.s head of personally
"Scotty committed
"Scotty committed burglary-he didnt rape a young child, or murder a pregnant woman-the consequences do NOT fit the crime...& all of you that say he deserved it for breaking in his"
Oh well. At least the public is a fraction of a percent safer today. But honestly, if repeated burglaries put this man out of business, and say he was supporting children, couldn't this in theory lead to the decline of those who depend on the shooters outlook, future, and well being? isn't it an issue when you drive an honest person out of business? This is not a venture that makes you rich. This is not the faceless corporation so many like to defend stealing from. This is food off of a families plate. The burgalar understood the risks involved. Stealing is a risky occupation.
Like I said, oh well.
Slvrwolf
Sorry about your loss, but a crime was committed. Burglary is a crime just like rape. At 3:30 AM, it's dark and probably little light on in that store. Any sudden movement by a felon would have caused the store owner to have concern for his life. If I were confronted by a man with a gun, I'd drop down and hide, and if I couldn't do that, surrender and yell don't shoot, but if your brother-in-law was drunk or on drugs he wasn't acting rationally. Put yourself in the store owner's shoes. He had only seconds to react. Some have said on this board that the store owner should have stepped aside or hid behind a wall. Really? Can anyone step faster than a speeding bullet that may be coming your way?
just a sad thing....
The world is so up side down right now,people are so lost with the moves they make on both sides of this event,I know things could have been better but that's just the way the ball bounced on this things,I pray for both sides and people let's get it together,help eachother not hurt one another all races it's sick when all you see on the news is another kiling for nothing........
If not for the fear of being
If not for the fear of being confronted with an armed citizen, there would not be any reason NOT to rob another of his life or lively hood. Should a life have been taken? Who knows, no one here on this board was there to witness what happened. I know for a fact that an alam company can call and you can show up at your store and the police just happen to not be there yet, although that is rare. Did the guy put his hands up in a passive manner or did he make a threatning motion? You nor I know so we all need to just chill. The only facts we know is that a store owner shot an addict with a mile long rap sheet but was a great guy. I would not shoot such a sweet man, unless of course his actions as a result of his addictions made me fear my life was in danger.
"Looks like an obvious
"Looks like an obvious successful attempt at suicide to me"
Isn't this your earlier comment?? Sounds like you also need to "chill" as you suggest all others do because, and from your own words, "You nor I know so we all need to just chill".
Robber Shot
As American as apple pie.
Loosers
I am sorry but I have to agree that this looser dirt bag did not own the store and was in it for his own self satisfaction not caring that he was trying to take what was not his. I applaud the owner and would have done the same thing. IF IT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU THEN YOU MUST BE STEALING?? This was not rocket scientist stuff and if you live by the sword you will die by it. If you have never been robbed, YOU DO NOT HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON TO COMPLAIN. You feel you have been violated mentally and physcically. You get to where you fear everyone around you and can't trust anyone and it is a HECK of a way to live. You poor old cry baby liberals need to get your heads out of the dirt and see what is going on around you. If I catch you trying to rob me, I WILL shoot you no matter if you are in or out or I am in or out - PERIOD, no questions asked.
Sudden death, a side effect of crime.
Maybe, just maybe, if more of these "common criminals" read more stories that end this way it might make them stop and think before they commit their next crime. If they are smart enough to learn the lesson by reading great. If they end their carreer the way this one ended they are no longer a thrteat to society. Sounds like a win-win to me. When will the bleading hearts see the light? Hopefully when it happens to them their thought process will change. Put the blame where the blame belongs. With the criminal committing the crime. Was a few dollars or some cigarettes or beer worth him losing his life over? Not in my mind, but he did make his own choice only this time he lost. Many average people, just like this store owner, are tired of being victims. All you criminals out there reading this all I can say is I'd think twice before I put myself in the position your criminal friend did. Crime really dosen't pay. I hope it all works out for Mr. Store owner.
Many Need to Read This Book
A lot of people should read Massad Ayoob’s book In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection. Clearly a lot of people commenting on this situation do not understand the issues associated with using a firearm in self defense. A little knowledge will help. Ayoob’s book is on Amazon but you can go through the Amazon search capability on www.abettersociety.info and the charity will get a few pennies from your purchase.
My brother in law Scotty may
My brother in law Scotty may have been wrong in breaking & entering, but since when is it ok to kill someone over it? Dont give me the "he felt his life was threatend" story b/c if Im correct, Scotty didnt approach the owner-the owner approached & killed Scotty...he went to the store knowing a burglary was IN progress & that the suspect could be armed. the owner knew the cops were on the way & he grabbed a loaded gun, arrived BEFORE the cops did, APPROACHED the window, & shot & killed someone. No one in their right mind would risk their life for some run down, empty store, UNLESS they were PLANNING on sneaking up & killing the suspect b4 he even knew what happened. There was no NEED in killing him, he could have shot him once & wounded him enough to keep him there until the cops arrived-yet the owner shot him 4 freakin times in multiple areas...all chest area & up! Theres NO way he WASNT intending on killing him-the suspect had NO weapons at all, so its not like there were shots fired BACK at the owner...Scotty committed burglary-he didnt rape a young child, or murder a pregnant woman-the consequences do NOT fit the crime...& all of you that say he deserved it for breaking in his
Shooting multiple times
All of us are taught to shoot multiple times when feeling threatened to ensure the perp is killed. You cannot purposely "fire a warning shot" (against the law), show your gun (brandishing a firearm - against the law), or just try to wound someone (against the law). It's apparent that your brother in law did something that caused this guy to feel as though his life and that of his wife were threatened. The only way you can come to that and the other conclusions you and others have made is if you were there and witnessed enough to do so. Sorry for the loss of your family member, but he was in the wrong more so than the shop owner.
thanks
Thanks for providing details we were unaware of. Does this mean you were there, or just knew about the burglary? The police may want to chat with you. Thanks for your input and/or clarvoyance.
Uh...
If he/she really is a brother/sister-in-law of the deceased suspect, then I would think they would have alot more info than those like yourself who rely on and believe everything the news reports. I also think that knowledge would have been acquired from the authorities and not neccesarily because they were "involved". Your comment was nothing more than an attempt to bash the family of the deceased just because he was a criminal...and you probably thought the rest of the family was no different.