Tammy Bruce: A Father's Instinct

A Father's Instinct

I declare this man Father of the Year.

Sheriff: Man killed motorcyclist who followed daughters

A man is facing a murder charge after authorities say he shot and killed a motorcyclist who followed his daughters home from a department store.

Richard Harold Gear, 45, claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot Bryan Joseph Mough around 6:45 p.m. Monday as Mough drove his motorcycle past Gear's house, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said.

The daughters, ages 17 and 19, had called their father on a cell phone to tell him they were being followed, Berry said. As they arrived home, Gear was waiting at the end of his driveway with a pistol, Berry said.

Mough, 21, drove past the house, turned around and made another pass. Gear fired his .40-caliber semiautomatic gun two or three times, hitting Mough once in the back, Berry said...Gear's daughters and Mough apparently left the parking lot of a Target in nearby Athens around the same time Monday evening, Berry said. Tempers flared as the drivers headed west toward Bogart.

Gear's daughters told investigators Mough cut them off, they made obscene gestures at him and Mough ran into their car at one point, Sheriff Berry said. "There is evidence of a collision between Mough's motorcycle and the vehicle operated by Gear's daughters," Berry said, adding authorities do not yet know who initiated contact.

UPDATE:

Ironically, this thread has generated a lot of comments from newbies who condemn me for supporting a man who in this initial story seems to be defending his daughters. These same people who decry my lack of sensitivity then threaten to kill me, wish someone would kill me, or at the very least, rape me. Impressive. Obviously all of those people are banned. This blog is a place for opinion, and the Comments section is the perfect place for people to challenge that opinion and post their own. Threatening to kill me does not constitute having an 'opinion.' It just makes you a shallow, reactionary hypocrite. You do lose just a tad of credibility when you issue threats of violence because I lauded a father apparently defending his daughters. If the story ends up being different, we'll have it here.

In the meantime, we have have the initial coverage above, and we have the following story in Comments from MobileData. I'm sure we'll hear more depending on what the sheriff does.

Sheriff: Man allegedly shot at teens in 2006

Oconee County investigators are taking a fresh look at 2-year-old allegations a Bogart man fired a gun at a group of teens, after he shot and killed a motorcyclist in front of his house this week.

Authorities didn't charge Richard "Ricky" Harold Gear at the time because they couldn't prove he fired a gun, and witnesses were "less than truthful" about what happened, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said Wednesday.

The sheriff's office will reinvestigate that shooting in light of Gear's claim that he acted in self-defense when he shot 21-year-old Bryan Joseph "B.J." Mough on Monday after Mough argued with Gear's daughters in traffic and followed them home...

"This case, like most cases, generates a lot of comments from the public," the sheriff said. "We're still working hard on it, and we're going to follow all leads to their logical conclusion."

Gear's daughters, 17 and 19, called their father Monday night to tell him that someone was following them; when they arrived home, Gear was waiting at the end of the driveway with a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, Berry said.

Mough drove by the house, turned around, and Gear shot two or three times as the motorcycle made a second pass, according to Berry.

Posted by Tammy · February 27, 2008 07:16 PM · Permalink
Children | Cultural Commentary | Good News | Hero

Comments

I know a (very) few men who would do this to protect their kids. Rare breed these days, and that's a real pity.

Posted by: RightGirl at February 27, 2008 07:42 PM

I hope the good people of Georgia, my home state, will stand behind this patriot. It's good to know that someone still believes in Dodge City Justice. Charles Bronson is smiling right about now.

Posted by: josai at February 28, 2008 05:10 AM

Not good! This hurts responsible gun owners.

Posted by: jdb at February 28, 2008 08:33 AM

Let me preface by saying I am a staunch supporter of the 2nd amendment and the right to bear arms. I am also the father of two girls. I am also and avid motorcyclist.
There is more to this story that is being told and this man did NOT defend himself nor his daughters. He shot the cyclist in the BACK. This man murdered the cyclist, there was no self defense.

Posted by: Visceralreaction at February 28, 2008 10:22 AM

He cut them off and they made obscene gestures at him. I might have followed them home to apologize for cutting them off and have a word with their father about the gestures, and escalating a mistake into a serious confrontation.
Maybe that's not such a good idea. I guess Ward Cleaver should'a shot Eddie Haskel's dad at some point.

Posted by: mrfixit at February 28, 2008 11:01 AM

Don't you think you should have all the facts. How many teenagers lie to their parents when they think they are about to get into trouble? The police are not sure the motorcycle driver hit the girls. It may be that the girls hit the young man. I'd want to know where they lived too so I could make a police report. You know NOTHING about either family. I hope he stays in jail for a long long time.

Posted by: TruthCounts at February 28, 2008 11:54 AM

I hope the family establishes a legal defense fund for this guy; I will certainly contribute.

Posted by: Steve in Ohio at February 28, 2008 12:27 PM

Sorry, the father is in the wrong. His daughters were not in imminent danger of death or grievous bodily harm, which would justify use of a firearm. Dad's gonna get indicted for at least aggravated manslaughter.

Posted by: Barry in CO at February 28, 2008 01:15 PM

Barry we were not there. If this creep follows them home, what's to say he doesn't try to rape and or kill them? He could have followed for a while and turned but no, he follows them HOME. I respectfully have to disagree with you, this jerk was asking for it and guess what, HE GOT IT!!

Posted by: josai at February 28, 2008 02:30 PM

The shooter in this case was clearly in the wrong and will face justice. He deserves serious prison time for this murder.

They all saw the cyclist and could all testify as to his illegal activities had they the common sense to call the authorities and have him arrested. Hit and run is actually taken seriously, as is stalking and menacing.

He was scary. He was creepy. He was annoying. He was quite possibly dangerous. However, these things don't justify his cold blooded murder. It was not in self defense or defense of the daughters who were clearly not the ones in danger.

Murder is murder. And the law will not be on the murderer's side. There's no excuse for that maniac's actions.

Posted by: ChrisL at February 28, 2008 06:24 PM

The sheriffs department has seized the girls car to attempt to recreate how the accident happened. Here is the follow on story.

http://onlineathens.com/stories/022908/news_2008022900232.shtml

--Mike

Posted by: MobileData at February 28, 2008 09:29 PM

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