"Dixie Oxendine said when her ex-boyfriend, Ertle Ray Bell Jr., approached her carrying a rifle she knew that he planned to make good on his threat to kill her."
That'd have been my impression. There'd been a history of threats since the relationship ended & soem other incidents which made that a more than reasonable conclusion on miss Oxendine's part. so what'd she do? Call 911? get a restraining order? Try to "understand" Bell's point of view & "feel" his "inner messages"?
Nope, miss Oxendine lives in North Carolina.
"I just closed my eyes and started shooting,' she said. 'I was scared he was going to shoot and kill me.'
Bell, 24, of 56 Nancy Lane, Pembroke, was shot once in the head and four more times in the upper torso, sheriff's Detective Lt. Ricky Britt said."
I'll admit that it's a shame it had to come to this but I'm much happier it turned out this way than the other possible outcome. Most people realize that when something is over that it's over - or at least they don't go to such extremes while they try to accept things. But for the minority that doesn't get it the only thing a person can do is protect themself. If a man has lived for a few decades & doesn't understand that threats & possessive actions coupled with intimidation aren't acceptable in society or in relationships then perhaps that old phrase "he needed killin" is a justifiable defense. Luckily in NC they'll not demonize miss Oxendine simply because she had a gun - well assuming she applied for the permit to purchase a pistol that NC requires (but that's another rant entirely).
Posted by Publicola at December 29, 2006 12:43 AM | TrackBack