OCALA, Florida (PNN) - July 18, 2012 - A Florida man who shot and wounded two people as they tried to rob an Internet café was not likely to face criminal charges because his actions appear to fall within the state’s Stand Your Ground law, according to prosecutors.
Under the law, a person who fears imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or others can use deadly force without first attempting to retreat.
Prosecutors said they had reviewed surveillance video from the Palms Internet Café in Ocala, Florida, and believe patron Samuel Williams, 71, was acting lawfully when he shot two men during an attempted robbery July 13. The video shows two masked men stroming the café, one of them armed with a gun. Less than a minute later they were chased from the establishment by an older man firing a handgun. The robbery suspects appear to have escaped on foot.
Williams was unavailable for comment, but The Gainesville Sun said one of his fellow patron’s at the Internet café was grateful for his quick actions.
“I think he is wonderful. If he wouldn’t have been there, there could have been some innocent people shot,” said Mary Beach.
Florida’s Stand Your Ground law has been subject to much debate after neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman cited the law as his defense in the fatal shooting of the hoodlum teenager Trayvon Martin in February. Martin attacked and brutalized Zimmerman before his would-be victim shot and killed him.
