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VIDEO: OKC Pharmacist shoots, kills robber; charged with his murder
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A pharmacist who shot a would-be robber six times was charged with first-degree murder Wednesday, and the prosecutor said only the first shot was justified.
A security video shows two men bursting into the pharmacy May 19 and one of them, 16-year-old Antwun Parker, is shot. Pharmacist Jerome Ersland then is seen chasing the second man outside before he walks past Parker to get a second gun, returns to Parker and opens fire.
District Attorney David Prater said Ersland was justified in shooting Parker once in the head, but went too far when he shot Parker five more times while Parker lay unconscious on the floor.
"It is alleged that Parker was unarmed, lying on his back, unconscious but alive, when he was shot in the abdomen by Ersland," Prater said.
Ersland's attorney, Irven Box, said Ersland was protecting himself and two women inside the Reliable Discount Pharmacy. Box said he thinks a jury will exonerate Ersland.
"I think he did something in his eyes that protected both himself and two ladies in there," the attorney said. "He put an end to the threat."
An affidavit written by Detective David Jacobson said Ersland's account doesn't match the video or the evidence collected at the scene.
"Ersland shows no concern for his safety as he walks by Parker, and turns his back to Parker as he walks behind the pharmacy counter," Jacobson said. "Ersland is then seen to put the pistol he is carrying on the counter, and retrieve a second pistol from a drawer."
Ersland used this pistol to shoot Parker on the ground, the detective said.
Jacobson said the suspect who ran away from the pharmacy was armed, but no gun was found near Parker. The person who fled had not been identified, and police said the investigation was ongoing.
Ersland told The Oklahoman newspaper that he was grazed by a bullet during the confrontation, but Prater said Wednesday the evidence didn't support that.
"There was no evidence at the scene that the robbery suspects ever fired a round inside the pharmacy," Prater said Wednesday.
An autopsy determined Parker was alive after being shot in the head and died from the abdominal wounds.
Ersland, 57, was being held without bail in the Oklahoma County Jail.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole, or receive the death penalty. The district attorney has not indicated whether he plans to seek the death penalty, which would require proving an aggravating factor in the crime.
What others are saying
- Absolutely justified!Those 2 people CHOSE to commit robbery, and therefore should accept what happened. The Pharmacist was justified in the shooting IMHO, no doubt. Clerks who work at a 7-11 or gas station who get robbed can shoot back if they want to, right? Here is a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL who is trying to help people much like a doctor. Who cares if he shot the gun 5 or 6 times? Pull the trigger until it is empty or the danger has gone. That Pharmacist is a HERO. Now there is one less weirdo/criminal out on the streets.
- pharmacist herohero, one less loser
- Ersland ShootingWhat everyone, including the D.A. has neglected to state during all of this, is that Oklahoma does have what is termed a "make my day" law, which states, that if someone enters your residence or place of employment and waves a gun at you, you have the constitutional right to take his life if you feel that your life is in danger. Did Mr. Ersland feel his life was in danger? Judging from the posture of the teen with the weapon, I would say "Yes." And judging from my understanding of the statute after having read it, there is no clause or such that says, "You must try to disarm or subdue him first." It does say that the individual attacking must be inside the premises where he is commiting the assault for the assaultee to take his life, and Mr. Parker never left the premises after entering, and we can't see what Mr. Parker was actually doing while laying in the floor after being shot the first time. But the bottom line is that when those two misguided teenagers went into that store waving a gun with ski masks on, their lives were in the hands of the people inside that store. Did Mr. Ersland go too far? That's between him and the Lord. As for Oklahoma law? No. Why then is D.A. Prater pressing charges against Mr. Ersland? To cater to the black community, who, from their statements at the very beginning, made it a "black/white thing." And by the same token, now Prater has filed charges against thte robbers as well. Why? Because now he is trying to cater to the white community, and in effect, agreeing that it is a "black/white thing." But is it? NO. It is a robber/victim thing, and all Prater is doing is wasting tax dollars charging Ersland during a recession when the tax dollars could be spent in a much better fashion. I'm truly sorry that the boy was killed, but he did make his choices. He was not a "good kid" as he has been portrayed. Good kids do not rob pharmacies. And what about the kids mother whose boyfriend was in on it? Don't you kind of think that maybe she had a little more to do with it all than she has let on?
- How about this?If David slew Goliath with one stone, why then did he have to chop his head off when the threat had been removed? Imagaine how "offended" the enemy must have been! The entire army probably had to undergo psychiatric treatment because they lost the will to fight. David would have been thrown under the jail and required to take anger management classes. What the hell was that boy thinking? SHEESH!
- We're missing somethingWell, I certainly agree that the pharmacist is no murderer.
What we clearly can not see from the video tape is what the deceased black teen did when Mr. Ersland came back. How do we know whether or not the black teen did not get up or try searching for something?
Also, the gun was not placed by him, the gun was obviously empty if Mr. Ersland needed to switch to a new one. It is possible that when Mr. Ersland left the gun on the counter, the black boy tried to get up and go grab it, but fortunately could not.
Threat eliminated. The only reason there is an issue here is because Mr. Ersland is white and the assailant is black.
The media has no shame and will always manipulate the truth. There is an obvious agenda here.
As the saying goes, I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6. - Good videoFirst of all, this was a great video, and the pharmacist did a good job at exterminating scum that made the decision to end their lives when they picked up a gun to threatan other lives. The pharmacist is naturally a hero, and deserves a medal. I would personally give the guy the key to the city for his act of bravery, and commend him for making sure the hoodlum was good and dead... Crime must be met by an armed civilian population and effective police force.
- Did he know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the man lying on the floor was neutralized? In the heat of the moment? With lives hanging in the balance? With just seconds to decide? Maybe you have the chutzpah to judge that the pharmacists actions were excessive ... maybe you would have acted with more restraint. Then again, maybe your headline would have read: Pharmacist Killed After Wounding Assailant. His response was reasonable. Don't armchair QB a life and death decision that saved innocent lives.
- Justified alsoI have been in his shoes with would be robbers.He may have gone a little overboard according to the law. He does not deserve the same charge as the low lifes who tried to rob him and take away his life and livelihood. The robbers probably have a long criminal record already the pharmacist probably doesn't. I dont think a grand jury will try him and if so I cant see a jury convicting him on murder maybe a lesser charge. He (pharmacist) did not run into a store with intent to rob and murder someone. When you are a criminal and you pick up a gun to do bodily harm for your on gain you put your life at risk and so the responsibility for your actions lies soley on your own head. NOT GUILTY!!
- Walk in his shoesIt is hard to judge the man without being there and feeling the danger. We are talking about 46 seconds total.The pharmacist has some type of back disability as he wears a brace. He is also responsible for a store full of drugs and narcotics that could be sold to your kids by the armed robbers. Also he is responsible for his other employees that are in the store. He also had been a victim of a prior robbery in the same store. The robbers bear the responsibility for iniating the whole thing. The pharmacist eliminated the threat. Robbing people is a high risk job and the robbers know it so they take their own life into their hands. I don't think a jury will convict him and may not even make it past the grand jury. When someone points a gun at me I take him at his word that he intends to do harm, he will not show mercy and do you think he is thinking about the law when he is robbing someone. My family was once almost a victim of a 2 am breakin by two black males at my home. Breaking in through the back door of the family room with my children sleeping 25 feet away on a sleeping bag because my parents were visiting. Now I know they weren't making social calls at 2 am. Lucky for them I saw them and they ran off. If I had caught them in the house I would have shot them both armed or not. The lives of my children are worth more than 2 criminals. My rights are worth more than 2 criminals. That I can feel safe in my own home is worth more than 2 criminals. My business is worth more than 2 criminals. So I can feel were this man is coming from. Yes he overreacted some at the end but does it justify a murder charge like the other 2 criminals would have had and do have. Maybe involuntary manslaughter with probation and he gets to keep his job and pharm lic. Its time that the victims have more rights than the criminals who put themselves in these situations. I think the jury will let him walk as he should. Good luck.
- unfortunately this pharmacist needs to be charged with 1st degree murder. I agree that the first shot was justified even though he shot the kid who was still putting on his mask. He should have shot the kid with the gun in his hand. But running out the store to finish the job and walking over the one on the floor and coming back to switch guns and continue to shot is not right.
As a black female i don't care who is what race and if the tables were turned it would still be the same way. How do you justify the 5 extra shots? In no way in that video did that man look scared of the victim/scumbag on the ground. I truely believe that this man deserves some time in jail for this. If he would not have shot that kid the 5 extra times and the kid still died my opinnion would be different since it can be justified. This man went to far and he knows it. This is uncalled for.
Just my opinnion - Pharmacist ShootingFirst let me say that I am an avid second amendment supporter. And a firm believer in defending inocent lives to the fullest. WHat this guy did was excessive. He clearly had enough time to determine if the kid was still a threat but instead he chose to be his jury and executioner. After a shot to the head most if not all people would be rendered incapacitated. This guy is the reason anti-gun quacks get the time of day. This was vigilante ignorance. Yes the kid was a scumbag and the streets are safer now but shooting kid was not the way to accomplish this.
- Something to think aboutLet's think about the idea that this is resulting in one more "scumbag" off of the streets. Are there not other ways to get them off the streets? If someone would take the time and take an interest in our minority youths and what is best for our society I think that would ultimately result in a much more positive outcome. Rather than complaining about these kids, get out there and do something. I feel that if you are not personally working towards solving a problem, you have no basis to complain about it's current status. It is a shame "scumbags" walk the street. It is also a shame that people are so self involved that they refuse to help out a child and prevent that "scumbag" from ever feeling that they have to live that life. (They would rather sit around and complain about it because that is what results in change) From reading your comments below, I don't expect most of you to understand this, just something to think about.
- scumbag gets just rewardIf that pharmacist gets convicted of anything, then there is something bad wrong. I agree-one dirtbag less! Doesn't matter what color you are, when you take a gun and go in to a building or home, with the intentions of robbing someone (or worse), then whatever you get in the way of punishment-serves you right. Shame someone had to die, but it's also a shame that scumbags walk the streets, and any of us could be his next victim. If he had gotten away with it, undoubedtly he would do it again, the next time-someone innocent could be the one that gets killed. The Pharm did us all a favor. Good luck and prayers for him.
- HE DESERVED ITLet the pharmacist go. The thugs shouldn't have tried to rob him. He got what he deserved and it's too bad he couldn't get the other one in the store AND the adults that helped plan the robbery! One less piece of trash on the street to victimize others!
- This is not a crime of passionLook the facts stand and some of you idiots who are trying to twist the law might not like it. The first shot was justified ad i agree with that. However, the man left the facility to "chase" the other robber. Upon finding that he could not get him he returned to take "his" form of justice out on the one he shot before. He was not trained to determine if the boy was dead or alive nor did it look like he checked. IF the boy was down and posed no threat then its simple. HE CAME BACK TO GET ANOTHER GUN.....He was thinking and it amazes me that many of you cannot see this. Lets see if you like it when you are incapacitated and someone decides to come back and kick the shyt out of you killing you. Would you think it was justified then. Of cut someone off in traffic and they follow you home and exact their own vigilante justice on you.. See if you will be singing that same tune. I believe in fighting back, but there is a line that need not be crossed.
- Just--->OverkillLet me start off by saying I'm all for CCW and gun ownership, and I also think that city just got one scumbag cleaner. Problem is though, this pharmacist past the situational-hero-apex and slid down the slope of Mad-guy-with-a-gun. You guys/gals can talk all that big stuff from your keyboards; but you darn well know you wouldn't want to live in a country where once someone THINKS they are in danger, they can just go on a rampage and get a 5-minute freebie on killing.
- No compassion for human life!Shooting a defenseless kid on the ground. There is truly no justice in our country anymore. I know one who will bring justice and that is Christ that man will be dealt with by God.
- HomicideIt is a new day and age when the criminals are now the victims.
- Vigilante tacticsNow you wonder why we get scared when we get stopped by cops. And they have guns too..with badges.. Justifiable my ass
- Question:If it is oaky that the first bullet killed the robber, we say that is justified as self defense. Then the other 5 were just target practice and not murder? Right? So, by what standard are we to judge the store clerk? Is target practice on a corpse illegal? Just thinking out loud as to how to apply the law.
- Gravity LawWe humans tend to overdramatize natural laws. If one decides to jump off a bridge or a tall building, gravity usually does not have sympathy on the person. There was an event, and the law of gravity exacted a judgement upon the event. Sometimes one will survive, sometimes not. However, we humans try to justify those events because it makes us feel....well, "human". We discuss it from every angle, we dramatize it with video, and before it's over, we will play the sadest music in the world to create an atmosphere of sympathy and compassion. Similarly, two males walk into a pharmacy with guns, and by a twist of fate, one is killed. Does it matter if it took 1 shot or 6? Does it matter how much time elapsed between each shot? What happened was merely an event and a judgement, or a gravity law if you will. Nothing can change it. That person made a choice, and he is now dead because of his decision. Now we humans are compelled to exploit that event to the max. Why? Because that's what we humans do. After all, we "care" because we are instilled with a basic knowledge of what's right and wrong. That's what separates us Homo Sapiens from the animal world....or does it?
- Pharmacist shootingNot only did he save himself and the others in the pharmacy, but he did society a favor. We should give this guy a medal and make public announcements about his heroism so that other lowlife punks will get the message. An innocent citizen should have the right to finish a job the criminal started. We need more like him. Good guys 1 Criminals 0
Society (-1) for prosecuting him... - It is a sad, sady day in America when you defend yourself and you are the one who gets victimized yet again by our own court system.
And as far as Jeremy's comments go: this guy was a Gulf War veteran, He had PLENTY of training in firearms and the emotions that one undergoes in combat. I haven't seen the video but in the military and in every Concealed Carry class I know of teaches that you continue firing until there is no longer any threat. If the kid didn't pose a threat I can see there being some action taken- but to charge this guy with 1st degree murder after he defended himself and his business by off-ing some low-life street punk is absolutely insane. - Pharmacist shootsAll in the game!
- give him a medalTheonly reason charges were filed was because the "victim" was black. Give me a break. You go into a business waving a gun around and you get killed, too bad!
- Sorry - can't do that..OK - everyone is going to hate this. I'm just going to explain to you what the law is. Even the pharmacists attorney knows this which is why he skirted around the issue in the video and said he understood why the DA filed those charges. if you don't beleive me, do your own research.
The law is, you are to meet the level of force that you are threatened with. If you are threatened with deadly force, you can respond with deadly force. But once the threat has passed, you no longer have that right to use deadly force. The reason is because people would take the law into their own hands. It would be ok to kill someone for far less serious offenses and we can't live in a society like that. It would be very, very dangerous and would result in chaos...the wild west. Now these boys were doing something they shoudln't have done. The first shot the boy got was justified. The law recognizes that. The other five were not. The last five guns shot weren't fear or self-defense. It was anger. No one is allowed to take the law into their own hands. Sorry. It's how we make it fair for everyone. You get to have your day in court, in front of a jury of your peers, and you get to cross examine witnesses, no matter how guilty you are. Everyone gets their day in court. That protects everyday people like you and me from tyrany. It used to be that the authorities or an angry mod would come and drag you out of your house in the middle of the night, burn the place down and hang you fromk a tree. We don't live that way any more and as noble as the pharmacists actions seem to have been, he crossed a line. So he went to jail and so would any of you. Black, white, green, or purple. - Gotta go with not guiltyThe guy was obviously amped up - and who wouldn't be in that situation? It's one thing to ask a police officer to ratchet down the emotion after one shot. They are trained for it. Private citizens don't have that same training.
- Pharmacist shoots, kills robber; charged with his murderI'm a 40 something black male with a lot of ol'school street knowledge and the 1st, thing you learn living in a large metropolitan city is if you out there stealing and robbing, the chances are someone will fight you back- sometimes with deadly force! The 1st one to the draw his gun wins! It’s that simple. What I want to know was how the D.A. and cops know what was he doing lying alive on the floor? Was he still tiring to reach for a concealed weapon? Was it on the video?
For my money the kids played a deadly game with other lives... too bad for him he wasn't from the old school (he would be alive right now) his parents should taught him this at home. The 2nd, lesson you learned is that “DON’T DO THE CRIME IF YOU CANT DO THE TIME" this guy was fully in his rights to kick, shoot, hit, spit on him, or slice him up. If you're out to do dirt to people, you shouldn't be surprise if someone buried you in dirt (6 ft. under), we should sent congrags to the pharmacist because if these guys would of gotten away after they rob the drug store, then surely they would be out there killing D.A.'s, cops, our kids and love ones. I know it may seem harsh to say some of these things, but these hoods would surly feel empower to do it again. My God have mercy on all our souls implicated in this matter.
T.C. Slawder
Baltimore, Md. - eliminating trashgreat shot!!
- oh wellthis man did not ask for this, he was just doing his job. i think he did a great job at that! this world is getting to soft!
- BravoThis boy was clearly going to be a Presidential candidate.
- hmmmreturning to shoot the guy on the ground was definately wrong... the question is... how much should the pharmacist be held accountable for his actions after being put into a life threatening situation by the robber? if the pharmacist had signed a contract during those moments it would be void because he was not of sound mind and body. his decision was definately not moral... however, how far do you hold someone responsible for their actions when by an act of violence they become terrified to the point that they are led to believe that this may be the violent end of their life? it's not an easy question.
- REDEMPTIONI'M TIRED OF THE RACE CARD. THIS IS RIDICULOUS, HE WAS ONLY PROTECTING HIMSELF AND WHAT WAS HIS. THESE KIDS NEED TO LEARN AND THEIR PARENTS AREN'T TEACHING SO SOMEONE HAS TO.
- PharmacistThey wore hoods,but the Pharmacist wore a invisible hood (kkk).I believe it was because he was black.
- The Overkill PharmacistHe had the right to protect himself,but when there was no more of a threat,he didn't have the right to come back and shoot him 5 more times ,thats an overkill.
- Steal in other Countries and see what happensBULL SH_T!!!!! It is sad to think this country defends and supports criminals rights. Like the guy you was beat after a 50 mile chase and was thrown unconscious from the car. Emotions run high in those situations. If I think of anyone coming in my house or business, and potentially killing and taking me from my children, or my children from me. You don't want to be the guy before or after I shoot your ass!! You will be mutated severally!!!
- Justified ShootingPharmacist Jerome Ersland did not wake up that moring with the intent to kill, he was put in this position by the robbers. He definately was protecting his store and the others in it. All shots fired were justified.
- kudos for getting scum off the street.
- acquit himanother example of our liberal bureacrats and politicans running amok.........with their kill em with love liberal attitude...
FREE THIS MAN IMMEDIATELY....... - Oops....This was a clear case of letting emotions control you.
- First shot Justified others are not.Thei First shot Justified others are not. It is clear from the video that the pharmacist did not need to take the other shots. And before you say you must be agains gun owners, you would be wrong I am all for gun owners rights, but this went to far.
- pharmacy sootingHe should have put all six in him the first time. Even after the fact, he should not be charged with anything. If I was on his jury, he would be found not guilty. Too bad the second one got away.
- JustifiedThe Pharmacist was justified in stopping the threat. If the DA takes this to a jury trial, I hope he gets a good jury and they determine that our laws are designed to protect law abiding citizens, not the cowardly thieves that rob a store at gunpoint and ignore our laws.
- Pharmacy shootingIt's a shame that one of them got away!
- He shouldn't have tried to rob the store and have his partner pull out a weapon! We need more people like this pharmacist. What does Ted Nugent say? " I don't like repeat offenders, I like dead offenders!"
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