A Tale of Two Neighbors

Much of the National Rifle Association’s current agenda in federal and state legislatures is aimed at expanding Americans’ ability to employ lethal force with a firearm in self-defense, which they assert is a “fundamental, God-given right.” This agenda includes weakening the requirements to obtain a concealed handgun permit, expanding the number of places (public and private) where concealed handguns can be carried, and enacting “Shoot First” laws that remove an individual’s duty to retreat from potentially violent confrontations. “When seconds count, the police are minutes away,” is the mantra frequently heard from self-defense proponents in the gun “rights” community.

When you allow and encourage untrained individuals to make unilateral decisions in heated situations involving firearms, however, the rule of law is weakened and there is a heightened potential for accidents and unnecessary violence. Last summer, two would-be vigilantes in Utah learned this lesson the hard way, and the result was a tragedy that has devastated two families and divided a community.

During the summer of 2009, there had been a string of car burglaries and mailbox thefts in the Bluffdale, Utah community of Parry Farms near Salt Lake City. Reginald Campos, 43, and his family had been the victims of several mail thefts. In addition, late at night, someone had broken into his garage, forced open three cars, and stole some of the family’s credit cards. The police were contacted.

Another resident in the community, David Serbeck, 37, had warned neighbors of the thefts and organized a community watch group. On July 21, 2009, Serbeck, a former army sniper, and Troy Peterson, president of the local homeowners’ association, drove through the neighborhood looking for criminal activity after being given photos of suspicious cars by a friend in the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department. Serbeck, who holds a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Utah, brought a loaded handgun with him.

At one point in the night, the men almost hit two girls walking in the street and stopped them to ask some questions. The girls continued on to a friend’s house, picked up two others friends, and started driving to one of their houses. When they saw Serbeck’s SUV again, they thought they were being followed. In reality, they were—their car matched one of the photos Serbeck and Peterson had.

One of the girls was the daughter of Reginald Campos. She called her father and he got in his car to find the girls. After locating them, he escorted them back to his house. Then Campos and his daughter went back out to find the SUV Serbeck was driving. Campos brought a loaded handgun with him. Although Campos does not have a permit to carry a concealed handgun, Utah law allows anyone age 18 or over to legally carry a handgun in their car without any formal safety training.

According to Serbeck, Campos sped his own SUV in front of Serbeck’s vehicle and “slammed on [the] brakes, forcing him to stop.” Campos then exited his vehicle with his handgun drawn and ordered Serbeck to put his hands up. Serbeck states he got out of his SUV holding his handgun upside down, by the barrel. He then placed the gun on the ground and kicked it away. Campos then fired two shots at Serbeck, striking him once and damaging his spinal cord. Peterson, who remained in Serbeck’s car, corroborated this account. Detective Paul Nielson of the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office reported that, “Serbeck’s firearm was on the ground when officers arrived [at the scene], and…had the safety lock on.”

Serbeck is now paralyzed from the chest down and Campos has been charged with attempted murder. He is claiming self-defense, despite Serbeck and Peterson’s statements. Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Alicia Cook sees things Serbeck’s way. “We determined that there was no reason to use deadly force in this situation,” she said. “There is just simply not a justification for that shooting.”

Campos’ attorney, Greg Skordas, blamed a gun culture run amok in Utah. “If you and I jumped out of our cars [unarmed], we shove each other, maybe walk away embarrassed. But they had to make a decision,” he stated.

Levi Hughes, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office Crime Prevention Deputy, agreed that the presence of firearms turned what should have been at worst a fistfight into a tragedy. “If you have a gun, sometimes people will feel more empowered. Problem is they don’t have the training, knowledge or experience to handle a confrontation that would require a gun,” he said. The Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office stopped sponsoring mobile patrol programs about ten years ago after patrol members were involved in a similar incident involving a car chase and shooting.

The Sheriff’s Office does, however, sponsor neighborhood watches. “We come to [residents’] homes. We talk to them about the things they need to watch out for, things they need to do to protect themselves.” But residents are not encouraged to become vigilantes. Officers tell them, "Don't take firearms with you and don't get involved. You don't stop people and interview them, don't question people you think might be involved in a crime. Leave that to law enforcement.”

To Hughes, the Bluffdale shooting should be a clear warning to other would-be vigilantes: “This is an example of what’s happened before and could happen to you if you take the law into your own hands.”

In one final tragic irony, federal authorities are close to indicting four suspects for the thefts at Parry Farms. Authorities credited the information given to them before the shooting by Reginald Campos with helping them crack the case.

Bottoms Up

On January 13, a 26 year-old Salt Lake City man was using the restroom of a local restaurant when his concealed handgun went off unintentionally. The gun, a .40-caliber Kahr P40, apparently fell out of the man’s pants as he was pulling them up, hit the tile floor, and fired. The bullet struck the toilet beneath him, sending sharp pieces of porcelain flying. Some of this shrapnel lodged in the man’s arm, causing minor injuries. While no one else was hurt, an employee of the restaurant in the next-door women’s restroom was treated for chest pains after hearing the gun shot and panicking.

The man, whose name is being withheld by authorities, holds a permit to carry a concealed handgun in the state of Utah. Utah is a “shall issue” state, meaning that concealed carry permits are issued to applicants who pass a background check and complete four hours of firearm safety training.

According to Centreville Police Lieutenant Paul Child, “the accident would have been prevented if the man had used a secure holster. A good quality firearm also should not fire if it is dropped.” Several visitors to the Deseret News website, however, questioned why an individual would need to have a loaded handgun in the bathroom of a fast food restaurant.

Police confiscated the man’s handgun at the scene, but have indicated that the firearm will soon be released back to him. No charges have been pressed against him nor is there any indication that authorities will seek to revoke his concealed carry permit. There is apparently little concern that the man could have killed an innocent bystander, or that he violated several of the National Rifle Association’s most basic gun safety rules, including “ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use” and “Remember, a gun's mechanical safety device is never foolproof. Nothing can ever replace safe gun handling.”

One Deseret News commenter mocked the gun lobby’s talking points in capturing the absurdity of the incident: “Guns don't kill people,” he/she said. “Toilets do.”

"Reasonable Belief"

On July 9, a confrontation between an Indiana resident and a homeless man led to tragic violence in Salt Lake City, Utah. That day, Michael James Mays—who had a history of substance abuse problems—was seen pacing across the street from Mama’s Southern Plantation restaurant while talking on a cell phone. He then turned towards restaurant patron George Harrison, who was sitting outside Mama’s with a group of people, and approached him while shouting expletives. Harrison—who said that Mays lifted his shirt up and reached for his waistband—pulled out a concealed handgun and fired once at Mays, killing him. Police later determined that Mays had been unarmed.

Harrison is a concealed carry permit holder in the state of Indiana. Individuals who hold a valid concealed carry permit in any other state may freely carry concealed handguns while in Utah due to a reciprocity law.

The District Attorney’s office has exonerated Harrison and spokesperson Alicia Cook has stated, “We believe this incident falls within the parameters of self-defense and that the shooting was justified.” Oddly, Cook was also quoted in the same statement as saying, “You cannot use lethal force to respond to a fistfight.” Utah law allows the use of lethal force for self-defense when an individual “reasonably believes” that it is necessary “to prevent death or serious bodily injury.” Additionally, the law contains “Shoot First” language that removes an individual’s duty to retreat from a situation if possible before using deadly force.

What makes Cook’s statement puzzling is that Harrison fired his gun without the situation even escalating to the level of a fistfight. Yet the District Attorney’s office has found that Harrison was justified in his actions because he believed that Mays had a gun, without making any visual confirmation of the fact.

Mays’ son told the media, “If they do have a weapon, they should like pull out the gun and point it at them and say ‘freeze,' like cops would do. The guy who shot him is very immature...he needs to be ashamed of himself.” Numerous other relatives and friends said that they never knew Mays to be a violent person.

Responding to the District Attorney’s decision to not press charges, Mays’ first wife, Holly Mays, said, “I totally think it was unjustifiable … at least they could have written [Harrison] a ticket, something. I think now people think you can basically open fire in a residential area and say, 'I did it in self-defense.'” Family members are considering a civil lawsuit.

While it was wrong of Mays to confront Harrison, the situation should not have resulted in a fatal shooting. Without the introduction of a firearm into the confrontation by Harrison, the outcome could have ranged from a verbal confrontation to a fistfight. Even given the presence of a handgun, Harrison could have simply brandished his weapon until police arrived, or attempted to move away from Mays. In the end, he chose none of these options, shooting Mays without even giving a verbal warning. The result was an unnecessary death—or, as Steve Gunn from the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah put it, a "sadness, for both the victim and the shooter, because the shooter is going to have to bear that burden for the rest of his life.”