Friday, September 18, 2009

Gilchrist: 'No charges will be filed'

Here is the statement released today by District Attorney Peter Gilchrist in the shooting death of Marcus Fluker:

"THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE HAS DECIDED THAT NO CHARGES WILL BE FILED AGAINST C.L. MCCLURE IN THE SHOOTING DEATH OF MARCUS FLUTER


The investigation into the shooting death of Marcus Fluker by Mr. C.L. McClure has been completed and turned over to the District Attorney’s Office. The investigating officers utilized a procedure established by this office which allows departments to request that we make the charging decision. This procedure can be followed when investigation indicates probable cause to arrest is present but officers have questions and request we review the evidence they have gathered in order to determine whether charges should be brought.

On August 22, 2009, 76 year old C.L. McClure was sitting in his basement room cooling off after cutting his yard. At approximately 12:30 in the afternoon, he saw a young black male walk past the door of this room. He thought it was his grandson coming by to see him. When he didn’t come into the room, Mr. McClure walked to the door to see what he was doing. He was greeted by a young man with his face covered and armed with a weapon.

Mr. McClure was told to get on the ground. He was duct taped and robbed of cash and jewelry. Another man entered into the basement as well. Mr. McClure was asked who and what was in the main house. Mr. McClure told them his wife was upstairs and to please not hurt her. One man left the other stayed. Mr. McClure’s wife was also a victim of this home invasion when they entered the home and took items from there as well.

After a brief period, the other man left and Mr. McClure got off the ground, retrieved a gun he had in the basement, and went to check on his wife. He saw a number of young men running from his house into the woods. From previous break-ins at his residence he believed that the robbers were running to a vehicle on the other side of the woods. His wife told him she was okay and he got into his vehicle. His intention at that time was to get to their car before they did and to shoot out the tires to immobilize their car until the police arrived.
As Mr. McClure approached the area where he thought a car might be parked, there was no car, and instead he saw all the young men running towards him. At this point he fired a shot in the air in an attempt to scatter them away from him and his vehicle and back into the woods. Instead, they kept running towards him. Some passed in front of his car and some behind. As Marcus Fluker passed his car he began to turn towards Mr. McClure. McClure, an Army veteran, had identified the weapon pointed at him at his house as some type of automatic weapon. When Fluker turned towards him he thought he was about to get “sprayed” by fire from this automatic weapon. He fired at him. McClure did not know if he struck him because Mr. Fluker turned back around and continued to run. At this point, McClure no longer felt in danger and did not fire his weapon again.

After the police arrived they went with Mr. McClure into the apartment complex where the individuals had been last scene. At this point, it was learned that Marcus Fluker had been struck by a single gunshot wound. At the place where he was found there was no gun. This location was not secure until the police arrived.

The investigation of this case recovered two firearms taken from Mr. McClure’s home and it is clear that Mr. Fluker was one of the individuals involved in the home invasion robbery. As a result of these events, Mr. McClure’s 70 year old wife suffered a heart attack.

In making a decision as to whether to charge Mr. McClure in this case, the District Attorney’s Office has considered all of the above facts as well as the law of self defense.

The only eyewitness to this shooting is Mr. McClure. The physical evidence corroborates what he told detectives. His idea to find the vehicle and try to delay the escape of those who invaded his home did not make him the aggressor nor did that take away his right of self defense. Mr. McClure believed that his life was in danger and fired in self-defense. It is the burden of the State in a criminal case to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a charged individual did not act in self defense. The State cannot meet that burden in this case as it appears from all the credible evidence that Mr. McClure feared for his life."

- Doug Miller

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank God.
If Mr. McClure needs any protection, I would proudly volunteer for he and his wife.
May God bless him and keep him safe. For any that wish him harm, may God have mercy on your souls, because we law abiding gun owners will not.

Anonymous said...

lol, i'm sure he wants your protection or your friendship.... not. crawl in a hole and die plz, kthxbye

Anonymous said...

Good job Mr McClure! Keep shooting these rotten pieces of filth that destroy our community. Give the man a medal and a key to the city!!! Attention all would be criminals....commit crime and you WILL be shot!

Anonymous said...

Well the previous comment was real mature. I'm very glad they didn't charge the homeowner for protecting his property and family from the criminal thugs wandering around out there.

Now hopefully they will (very soon) nail the punk criminal that shot Officers Clark and Shelton.

Anonymous said...

P.S. I was referring to the 10:12PM comment that wasn't very mature. Why would you want them to crawl in a hole and die?

Anonymous said...

I hope other homeowners and citizens take a lesson from Mr. McClure. Protect what is yours and take this country back from those nasty pieces of garbage that that are stealing the freedoms of this country. The jails can't hold any more criminals so they turn them lose on the street to commit more crimes, might as well take care of them ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Justice has been served regarding Mr. McClure

Anonymous said...

There is no doubt in my mind that had Mr. McClure been white that charges would have been levied against him, if for no other reason than to satisfy those who see color before substance. I too resent the earlier comment about black-on-black crime. Does that mean you do not hate black-on-white or white-on-white crime?? The year 2010 is almost here folks. Can we PLEASE move our evolution along??!!

Anonymous said...

This needs a rewrite:

Mr. McClure, whose great grand parents were victims of slavery, was setting in his home with his life long wife, in which they raised fine children, thought his Grandson was coming to see them as all great Children do for their loving Parents and Grand Parents.

Instead he was confronted by three young males who apparently thought, from the current media, and the large billion dollar non-profits who future depends on victimization, that they were the current victims of slavery and needed to take others money and things from other to pay them back for their lack of freedom and opportunities here in America.

Mr. McClure did not have time to discuss this with them as they were too busy tying him and his wife up and threatening them with firearms. They also took several precious items, and worst of all things which contained precious memories.

Freeing himself and his loving wife, Mr. McClure found the opportunity to go and seek these young Men, and took his own gun along to show and impart the correct use of a gun he had learned from his decorated time serving our country in the armed forces.

Up seeing these young males in an equal situation, these young males were just as disrespectful as they were when he was at their mercy, and even attempted to enslave Mr. McClure once AGAIN. Mr. McClure feeling that his great grandparents would approve defended himself.

Anonymous said...

1:14 am put YOU in your place, 12:47 am.

Mr. Jarrell said...

My house has been broken into many times and one time my mother was bound and had a heart attack and died as a result thereof. After returning from yet another funeral, my family found our house broken into again, my son recieved a call on who did it and confronted them and shots were fired and a young man died. My son sits in jail for murder. What's the difference ? I'll tell you, my son is White, that's all. Justice in this town is for the Blacks only.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"Mr. McClure, whose great grand parents were victims of slavery,..."


Victims? You mean beneficiaries? Where would 35 mill Africans in America be today had it not been for slavery and the great white elite savior? Can you say back in the poorest most poverty striken diseased aids infested uncivilized sub 3rd world continent on earth?

Never in a trillion trillion years or with a trillion trillion dollars could the American blackman ever repay the elite whiteman for removing him from the hellhole of African misery and putting him in the European white world.

Victims? To call it eternal beneficiaries would be putting it mild.

Fall to your knees blackman and worship the very ground the white elite walks on for you were one of the few lucky ones to escape ... You owe your eternal lives to him ...

Anonymous said...

Black or white if you break into my home when I am home, I am going to defend my life. Good job Mr. McClure. I am so sick of these lowlife thugs getting a slap on the wrist. I have had teens try to break into my home twice. Had I been home, I would be in the news also. I don't care how their childhood was. Mine wasn't great. But you don't see me out here breaking into homes. No the little thug got exactly what he deserved. Maybe if he had been locked up years earlier for B&E he would have stopped.

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