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Oklahoma Pharmacist Who Killed Armed Robber Gets Life
In a controversial case that has split Oklahoma City and led to volatile Facebook pages supporting both sides, an Oklahoma jury has recommended that a white pharmacist -- who shot and killed an armed black teenager trying to rob his store -- be sentenced to life in prison, following his conviction of first degree murder.
In 2009 two young men burst into the store, pointing guns at Jerome Ersland. Instead of giving up the money, Ersland was able to get his own gun and shoot 16-year-old Antwun Parker.
With Parker down, Ersland chased the other would-be robber out of the store. Surveillance video (below) shows Ersland going back into the store, retrieving a second gun, and shooting Parker five more times while he was on the ground. That shooting, however, takes place just off camera so it is not clear if the teenager was still threatening Ersland.
Ersland's lawyer said he was acting in self-defense. Attorney Irven Box told ABC News that Ersland shot Parker again because he was still moving and thought he was a still indeed a threat.
However, prosecutors said he went well beyond the threshold of self defense. "This defendant was absolutely not defending himself or anyone else," argued Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Chance.
The jury deliberated for just three and a half hours last week before recommending a life sentence. The 59-year-old Ersland will be formally sentenced on July 11. If the judge upholds the jury's decision, Ersland will not be eligible for parole for at least 38 years.
Ersland's lawyers said they would appeal the murder conviction.
The case has split the local community as well as social media. There are Facebook pages for and against the pharmacist.
One supporter is Oklahoma State Sen. Ralph Shortey. 'I'm gonna spend the rest of my career, however long it may be, trying to right this wrong,' he told ABC News.
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Comments
this is self defense, what if
this is self defense, what if the kid shot him while on the floor. He defended himself and should be acquitted of all charges... i would do the same as he has
clay53
I am surprised at OKLAHOMA.
I would expect a ridiculous verdict such as this from a California or a New York but, OKLAHOMA? I guess I thought they were close enough to Texas to have some of their common sense rub off on 'em.
Justice let-down
This guy should have been found innocent. Unless you have been held at gunpoint, you have no idea what your actions and/or reactions would be. I am sure he was in shock and was fearing for his life. I feel he was completely justified in his actions. These young men certainly did not have the right to charge him, rob him and hold guns on him. This young man deserved death for his actions. Not to mention the judge did not allow specific testimony from witnesses. One can only hope this man is vindicated.
Oklahoma Pharmacist
This man got life. I can't believe it. He murdered that boy in cold blood. He should be executed. A life for a life. Yeah the boy was robbing his store. But the kid had been shot in the abdomen and was no longer a threat. The pharmacist calmly walked back in his store went to a drawer pulled out another gum and shot that kid in the head several times. To me that is murder.
Georgia Common Sense
You're both wrong. It's Suicide-by-Armed Robbery.
?
Georgia common sense? WTF
clay53
Murder. Not even close.
Justifiable homocide.
2 WRONGS DONT MAKE A RIGHT!
WHILE THE GENTLEMAN WAS WELL WITH IN HIS RIGHT TO ACT IN A MANNER OF SELF DEFENSE ON BEHALF OF HIMSELF AND OTHER EMPLOYEES OR CUSTOMERS DURING THE ATTEMPTED ROBBERY, SELF DEFENSE WAS THROWN OUT WHEN HE STEPPED OVER THE BODY OF THE SUSPECT RETRIEVED A SECOND GUN AND FIRED MORE SHOTS. THE LAW IS NOT SUPPOSE TO WORK A CERTAIN WAY FOR ANY PARTICULAR GROUP OF PEOPLE AND WORK A DIFFERENT WAY FOR A DIFFERENT GROUP OF PEOPLE..THAT WAS MURDER WHEN HE RETRIEVED THE SECOND GUN AND FIRED MULTIPLE SHOTS. IF THEY LET HIM WALK AWAY FREE THEN THEY SHOULD FREE THOSE CONVICTED OF MURDER WHO WERE REACTING TO A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION IN WHICH THEY WERE ATTACKED AND THE ASAILAINT WAS KILLED BEFORE DOING HARM TO THEM, AND YES THERE ARE PEOPLE UNJUSTLY IMPRISONED FOR THIS REASON, NOTE THESE PEOPLE DID NOT LEAVE THE SCENE OF A SHOOTING TO RECEIVE A SECOND WEAPON AND FIRE MULTIPLE SHOTS INTO A WOULD BE ROBBER. IF HE IS GRANTED HIS FREEDOM WHY SHOULD THEY REMAIN IN JAIL...PEOPLE ARE SO QUICK TO COMMENT ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS UNTIL IT HITS CLOSE TO HOME THEN THEY FEEL THE RULES SHOULD BE DIFFERENT...THAT AINT HOW IT WORKS! GOD SEES ALL!...
I AM 27 AND WILL SOON BE 28 AND I HAVE A FRIEND THE SAME AGE AS I WHOM AT 17 WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON BECUASE HE WAS ONLY 5'6" 145 POUNDS AND A 22 YR OLD MAN 6'3" 250 PICKED A FIGHT WITH THE FRIEND (SMALLER GUY) AND ATTEMPTED TO SHOOT HIM AND EVEN THREATED TO COME TO MY AQUAINTANCE HOUSE AND SHOOT HIM. MY AQUAINTENACE WHILE ONLY 17YRS OF AGE LEFT AND CAMEBACK WITH A GUN AND SHOT THE 22YR OLD IN THE HEAD AND WAS CHARGED WITH 1ST DEGREE MURDER AS AN ADULT AND HE WAS BEING BULLIED AND HIS LIFE WAS THREATNED...WAS THAT ALSO NOT SELF DEFENSE, THE COURTS DIDNT NOT SEE IT THAT WAY AND HE IS SERVING A LIFE SENTENCE TO THIS DAY SO WHY SHOULD THE PHARMACIST BE ANY DIFFERENT AFTER STEPPING OVER A BODY TO RETRIEVE A SECOND GUN TO SHOT SOMEONE WHOM WAS UNARMED THAT HE ALREADY SHOT!
OK MAYBE ADERLINE PLAYED A PART IN BOTH OF THE ABOVE CASES, BUT MY POINT IS IF ONE PERSON WAS WRONG FOR SELF DEFENSE THE THE OTHER PERSON SHOULD ALSO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! IF ONE IS NOT CHARGED THAN THE OTHER SHOULD NOT BE CHARGED!
AND AFTER READING THIS COMMENT PLEASE WATCH THE TAPE AGAIN AND EXPLAIN TO ME HOW IT IS LIFE OR DEATH IF U HAVE TO 1ST STOP OVER A BODY AND 2ND AFTER STEPPING OVER THE BODY YOU ACTUALLY TURN YOUR BACK AS U GO TO RETRIEVE THE SECOND GUN! IF UR LIFE WAS IN DANGER WHY WAS UR BACK TURNED WHILE RETRIEVING A SECOND GUN!
True
I agree. Watch the tape and then try to tell me the pharmacist was defending his self and others. He calmly walked back into the store walked over the kid pulled another gun out and shot that kid. That is cold blood murder. And to those of you that might think I am an African-American you would be wrong. .
What Gun?
The kid did not have a gun at all. It was the kid that got away that had the gun. That is fact. Also the kid down was unresponsive and not moving
Nrews
Thiese were the facts written and reported in the news Dear.You know the thing called news showing everyday on television and newspapers from people that were there to do their job called reporting. You know I think alot of people are having a problem with this due to fact it was a young African-American that was the robber. The kid was not a threat at the time that freak pharmacist decided to go ahead and kill him. By the way I am not a person of color. And just some more news that was reported the real culprits of this crime were the two adult men that talked the two young guys to go in and commit the robbery. Which have since been arrested for the crime also. Have you watched any of this on the news and noticed what a creep the pharmacist is.? He is one creepy dude. Worries me that someone that unstable is dispensing medications to the public and I say this as a retired nurse.
Whatever
Please don't contact me anymore. I have grown tired of trying to make you understand the truth.
you have the right to bear arms.. but not use them?
the pharmacist clearly handed this situation BADLY. the first shot was definately self-defense. the other 5 shots was an execution. I dont know if he did it out of spite, racial hatered, fear... I dont know and I dont care!
police officers have to go through a ridged screening process, extensive training, education process and even they mess on when they can lawfully shoot someone. So when we have a system that puts guns in the hands an unqualified and untrained idiot what can we expect? do we really expect this man to make slit second life or death situation and get it right? HAHAHA, we can only wish to be so lucky.
what makes this case even more disturbing is how the law chose to handle the situation. IMO, prision is a place we put people who are a threat to the public and rehabilitation. this man doesnt need to be rehabilitated cause he had a job. he was minding his own business and did not iniciate the incident. he just made a poor judgement call after he was put into that terrible situation he didnt ask for. this man is a tax paying citizen who is, clearly, only a threat to criminal thungs. Also, this man is clearly a threat to thungs if he has access to guns. locking him up is not doing the public any favors.
can we make a deal? lets say the man gives up his guns, can we let him go? that way we can save the state 50 000 a year to keep him locked up. the man is just gonna have to find another way to stop thungs without a gun next time.
agreed
U are exactly right!
Laws of Nature
Live by the sword, die by the sword. If you use a deadly weapon against another human being, be prepared to die as a consequence.
Criminal activity and hedonism have taken over this country, they are a precursor to ruin. Rome, Babylon and many others have shown us this model.
Stop punishing people who defend themselves from criminals.
Bullshit
This man was minding his business a WORKING A JOB when these little thigs came and tried to rob him, it would have made no difference if had shot 5 initial times and killed the little bastard or making sure he was no longer a threat later so he could called the authorities and not have to worry about getting shot up while his back was turned. I agree with light bringer,, you pull a gun on me and you just forfeited yours. I will kill you if i can. Maybe if that little chumps parents had taught him how to hold a job he wouldn't be out here robbing people, race doesn't matter i would have shot his a$$ up if he would have been any race. This is the free world and people don't have to take this crap. I will not...EVER
we reep what we sew!
how do u kno his parents didnt teach him right from wrong and tell him to get a job, he could have told them that he was going out to look for a job..u cant blame it on the parents unless they themselves were thugs..as far as thinking that its always gone playout in ur favor saying that if someone pulls a gun on u then ur going to kill them, i would think twice about it because if it happens and the bullet hit u i promise its gonna burn like hell and u may not ever want anything to do with a gun again...five more shots to the chest of an unarmed 16 is fucking uncalled for even if he did attempt to rob them..he was UNARMED!
PEOPLE DO UNTO OTHERS AS U WOULD HAVE THEM DO TO U!
some truth
while it is true that the kids parents may not have had an influence on their decision making, i think most stats will show that kids who are out here thuggin it up and robbing stores don't have that many positive influences in there lives. But in any case , i would have still made mince meat out of them too. The only other sad thing about this case (other than the fact that this guy got a life sentence) is that he didnt kill the other one. There should be more people out there making examples of punks like these , and then they would realize that doing such things will most likely result in there deaths, then i think you would see less of it. Most people don't have the heart to pull a trigger and so that's why others that think they can prey on the weak do crap like this. I mean just take the VT incident , no one would have cared if that guy had gotten shot 100 times, why, because he pulled a gun on innocent people and killed a lot of them. I guess at least the pharmacist is lucky he still has a life to sentence , most likely because he took action against the threat. I am not for the loss of life, but in situations like these i say the they guy doing the crime with a gun dies , and the guy minding his own business goes on about his life as he was doing before.
U SAID IT BEST
ITS SAD ALL TOGETHER
No way does this man deserve a life sentence!!!
The law is wrong and needs to be changed. As far as I'm concerned, when an armed robber threatens your life, they have just forfeited theirs.
Personally, I can't see wasting five rounds when it would have been just as easy to walk over and cut that scumbag's throat. Oh, and to be clear, his race doesn't mean a damn thing to me.
The only thing this guy did wrong was get caught, and for that he deserves at most a one year suspended sentence.
I applaud this man for not being a victim, and I seriously hope Oklahoma will amend their laws in favor of proactive self-defense.
Citizens should learn to defend themselves, be allowed to carry defensive weapons and to be encouraged to aggressively defend themselves from miscreants, criminals and other low-lifes.
I loathe god, denounce the holy ghost, reject the salvation of jesus, and I encourage others to do the same" - LightBringer ........"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest" - Diderot
i beg to differ
I agree with defending one's self but lets be realistic about this..its some people who have guns who couldnt hit sand if they fell off of a camel in a desert, so if they are being robbed and they fire their weapon at a would be robber and just so happen to miss them and GOD forbid it hits an innocent by stander or a loved one u probably would shoot the robber for starting it and the person being robbed in a fit of rage because they brought rage to ur loved one!
every action has a reaction remember that!
for most of the people respoding to this this is just an article, unfortunately i live in a community where these are everyday possibilities! NO i dont fear for my life because i walk with GOD! im not juding anyone but it seems to me alot more people need to findout GOD as well!
u said that he should of cut the scumbags throat..once again that was a kid and seriously you should be the one to have ur head examined!..while i understand no hardworking individual wants a thief to come and take what they've work so hard to earn..the attitude u have is by far worse than the thief's!
You're welcome to your opinions...
... and you're welcome to your imaginary friend as well.
This is something a pacifist would not understand, but t's not about protecting property. As soon as anybody presents themselves as a danger to my life or well being then they have just forfeited any and all expectation of mercy.
A serious threat is to be neutralized as fast and brutally as possible - regardless of age or gender. The only things likely to hold me back when I am being threatened are witnesses and surveillance cameras.
Had that armed intruder pulled a weapon on a cop, you can bet that a cop certainly wouldn't hesitate in filling that boy full of lead.
Additionally, there are plenty of women who are far more dangerous than the average man, and teenagers who are every bit as cold-blooded as any psychopath.
There are also plenty of war vets who can attest to children and women using their age and gender to their advantage so they could kill American soldiers. In the middle east, female suicide bombers are being used with increasing regularity.
A fool who underestimates a threat does so at his or her own peril!
I do agree that anybody who owns or carries a firearm needs to be skilled in its use - that includes cops as well - because believe it or not, there are more than a few cops who are lousy shots.
I do realize that some people may not have the aptitude, time or resources necessary to become a proficient marksman. That's okay ... after all, that's why they make shotguns.
Besides, a firearm certainly isn't necessary to dispatch a human. In fact, humans are actually pretty easy to kill. Butcher knives, cleavers, clubs, baseball bats, broken bottles, hammers, heavy objects, ligatures or even one's bare hands among so many other things will all do the job very nicely.
You would be well-advised to learn to defend yourself rather than to trust in the benevolence of some fictitious deity.
I think you'll find that when the chips or down, your imaginary friend will be nowhere to be found. He (assuming we're talking about yahweh/yeshua) lets people who believe they are special or who think they have a special "relationship" with him die all the time.
There's an old mountain man saying, "Trust in the lord but keep your powder dry." It didn't take these rugged individuals long to realize that you can't always trust in the lord - well actually never since his existence is dubious at best.
Many christians claim that their god helps those who help themselves. I don't believe that for a minute, but if you do and choose not to defend yourself should you ever find it necessary, then why should yahweh/yeshua lift a finger to save your life?
Why make it easy for a murderer just so you can feel sanctimonious and superior to him as you gasp your dying breath as you are bleeding out on the floor?
Why make it possible for him to kill or rape somebody else? Why be are contributing factor in his continued violence?
Pacifist claim to love life yet won't lift a finger to protect it. I really don't see any use for people like that.
I loathe god, denounce the holy ghost, reject the salvation of jesus, and I encourage others to do the same" - LightBringer ........"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest" - Diderot
Justice Served
I say good for the pharmacist, if the armed robbers had shot and killed him, they MIGHT get a 25 year sentence. At least that's one armed robber that won't get a second chance and the public won't be bearing the financial burden of a trial.
i disagree
robber or not didnt you all forget that it was a damn kid he executed!...A KID..damn right the kids had no business what so ever robbing him but never the less it was a kid that he didnt just shoot..HE EXECUTED HIM!...THAT IS WHAT MAKES IT MURDER!
now the pharmacist isnt going around looking for trouble so up until he grabbed the second gun and fired i couldnt agree with the charge for murder!
not a kid
The day he picked up a gun and tried to rob someone was the day he decided to be a man, I personally don't see why its such a big deal that he killed the robber, if he was man enough to carry a gun and try to rob someone, he was man enough to die. He was gonna shoot someone, and a kid does not plan on killing people, those are the thoughts of a man.
This is not justice.
Perhaps this pharmacist went a little far shooting the robber five more times after he had already shot him. However, there is no way this guy deserves life in prison. After being shot at and your life threatened when you are merely just trying to do your job, there is no telling what any one of us would do. Adrenaline would be surging through your veins, and you might be so overcome with rage and fear that you might act irrationally and use excessive force. This is a grave mis-justice and is NOT first degree murder. Let's not forget that this man was not the menace to society that attempted to rob a pharmacy at gun point. This man was a productive and working member of society that merely defended his property and himself from two low-lives.
Error in your story
You wrote that "In 2009 two young men burst into the store, pointing guns at Jerome Ersland."
According to police reports and the above video Antwun Parker did not have a gun. While Jerome Ersland was justified in shooting Parker the first time, it is hard to reconcile him considering Parker still a threat since he stepped over him to get another gun. He also got close enough to Parker to fire five shots into his chest and abdomen from 18-24 inches away. In other words within arms reach of a supposed threat.