9mm (left) and 10mm hollow-point rounds.

A fatal shooting in a Bartlett, New Hampshire, parking lot pitting a man with a 9mm pistol versus a victim with a 10mm has been ruled a case of self-defense by the state attorney general.

According to Attorney General John M. Formella’s report on the matter, on July 5, 2023, 23-year-old Jason Sanchez shot and killed Samuel Lozada, 24, during an altercation in a condominium parking lot during a party in Bartlett. At the time of the incident, both men were armed and both shot the other. After the episode, Sanchez claimed he shot Lozada in self-defense.

The report, which was a long time coming for Sanchez, some 16 months after the incident, concluded that based on the facts and evidence in the case, the state could not disprove Sanchez’s claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to the report, during a police interview, while Sanchez was in the hospital being treated for gunshot wounds, he told investigators that as he was getting into his car Lozada flashed a gun and took his green camouflage backpack and hat from him. After Lozada asked him, “What you got in the car? What you got in your pockets,” Sanchez said the other man put a pistol to his forehead and threatened to kill him.

When another man grabbed Sanchez and tried to pull him from the car, Sanchez grabbed his 10mm Glock pistol, racked the slide, pushed Lozada’s gun away from his face and fired, just as Lozada shot him. Sanchez told officers he believed he hit Lozada three times.

Forensic investigation revealed that the bullet that Lozada fired through Sanchez’s body and vehicle compartment and the 9mm cartridge case located on Sanchez’s driver’s seat had both been discharged from Lozada’s pistol. The 10mm cartridge case recovered from the parking lot in front of the shed, the 10mm cartridge case recovered from the front passenger seat, the bullet recovered from Lozada’s autopsy and the bullet recovered from the parking lot were found to have all been discharged from Sanchez’s 10mm Glock.

An autopsy report revealed that Lozada suffered gunshot wounds to the neck, right forearm and left thigh. The bullet that entered his neck injured the left internal jugular vein, resulting in fatal blood loss.

New Hampshire’s law regarding self-defense permits the use of deadly force against another when he reasonably believes that the other person “is about to use unlawful, deadly force against the actor or a third person.” The law also provides that people in their dwellings, or who are anywhere they have a right to be, have no duty to retreat from the encounter before resorting to deadly force to protect themselves or others if they were not the initial aggressor.

Upon completion of the investigation, the AG‘s office determined that all the facts pointed toward an act of armed self-defense by Sanchez.

“Based on all the facts and circumstances of this case, the Attorney General has concluded that the State cannot disprove Mr. Sanchez’s claims that he used deadly force in self-defense under RSA 627:4, (II)(a), beyond a reasonable doubt,” the report stated. “Here, the evidence suggests that Mr. Sanchez was in actual danger from unlawful, deadly force, when Mr. Lozada displayed his 9mm pistol to Mr. Sanchez in the Nordic Wilderness Road condominium parking lot, threatened to shoot him, and forcibly took his property from him as he put his hands up and tried to leave.”

While the debate over the effectiveness of the 9mm cartridge versus 10mm still isn’t settled, in this incident, at least, the guy with the 10mm came out on top in the gun battle.

68 COMMENTS

  1. “The bullet that entered his neck injured the left internal jugular vein, resulting in fatal blood loss.”

    Yeah, 10mm didn’t do that just because it is 10mm. 9mm would have done the same. Heck, .25 ACP would have done the same.

    • Maybe. In the news years ago – 7 shot pointblank, while sleeping, forehead impact, all survived. 25 acp…

      It was still a real tragedy for some, though, due to life changing injury.

      An even more ancient case, 7 shots to the face, point-blank, 32 acp. He was rumored to have said, “Don’t shoot me no more.”
      And then drove himself to the hospital, probably 30 miles one way.

      The former case was an extreme criminal act, the latter, selfdefense.

  2. “While the debate over the effectiveness of the 9mm cartridge versus 10mm still isn’t settled, in this incident, at least, the guy with the 10mm came out on top in the gun battle.”

    The guy with the 10mm in the close range, apparently sort of arms reach distance, came out on top due to bullet placement in the bad guy, not because it was 10 mm. – as in “The bullet that entered his neck injured the left internal jugular vein, resulting in fatal blood loss.”

  3. RE: “grabbed his 10mm Glock pistol, racked the slide, pushed Lozada’s gun away from his face and fired” Hard to believe, sounds like a movie script.

        • It sounds as if the 9mm perp fired the first rounds striking 10mm Sanchez causing the adrenaline 10mm Sanchez to shoot the 9mm perp in the neck causing the attitude adjusted 9mm perp to breakdance briefly which obviously didn’t help with what little was left of the wounded 10mm Sanchez’s aim.

          The moral of the story, try hard not to put yourself in a position where you are looking down the barrel of the perp’s gun.

    • While this article still doesn’t settle the 9 vs 10 vs . 45 debate, it DOES settle the question of stupidiy of “Israeli carry” once and for all. And if you don’t trust your glock to carry with a round chambered, get something with a manual safety – you know, the kind us oldies get called “fudd” over

      • Pb, there really is no caliber debate. The truth is there’s not a lot of difference between center fire pistol calibers when it comes to self defense. All common defensive calibers are underpowered for what we want them to do. We carry handguns because they’re handy. If handguns were the way to go armies wouldn’t carry rifles.

        • Dirty Harry used a .44Magnum.
          I don’t know if it will blow your head clean off however it certainly puts the smack down to deer.
          Within 75 yards not much difference then a 30-30.
          Is a 30-30 underpowered?
          Is it a defensive pistol?
          It could be if it was 45-70 and you were a bounty hunter.

          • Dduly elected official,

            In order to get close to .30-30 Winchester ballistics with .44 Magnum, the .44 Magnum has to be a carbine with 16-inch (or longer) barrel.

            While .44 Magnum energies (assuming hot loads) are impressive out of revolvers, they are not in the same neighborhood as a .30-30 Winchester rifle.

            At any rate, whether using a revolver, carbine, or rifle, the .44 Magnum cartridge is a VERY reliable platform for taking white-tailed deer quickly and humanely within 75 yards as you suggested.

            For reference I have invested a great deal of time researching the capabilities (and limitations) of .44 Magnum for white-tailed deer hunting, for both revolvers and carbines/rifles. Thus I am speaking from knowledge–and experience: my child and I have harvested a combined total of about 12 white-tailed deer using break-action rifles chambered in .44 Magnum, at distances up to 90 yards.

          • Dduly, I have two .44 magnums. Both are S&W 629. My favorite is the 4″ Mountain Gun. I threw away those Houge/S&W grips and replaced them with Pachmayer Professionals. Round butt. I’ve made shots in the field with that revolver I wish I had witnesses too. My other is a”6 629. A little better ballistics, but a bit more bulky. Two extra inches and the square butt, you understand.

    • I got robbed once at a drive up ATM, well, an almost robbery. Short non-detailed version: Of the several guys that suddenly surrounded the car as I reached for my money the machine had dispensed, one appeared at the drivers window and shoved the barrel of his revolver against my head and pulled the trigger – it went ‘click’, I was pushing the barrel of his gun away as I shoved my Glock 22 into his chest and my Glock went ‘bang’.

      The guy had not loaded all the cylinder chambers, the hammer fell on an empty chamber. I fired before he could pull the trigger again. Had he pulled the trigger again the hammer would have fallen on a live round.

      The gash from the revolver barrel took a few stitches. I have the scar to remind me.

      • I settled the 9/10/.45 debate many years ago after tumble cleaning a batch of all three. A large number of 10mm cases had 9mm cases inside of them. Then I noticed some .45 cases with 10mm or 9mm cases inside of them. Then I found three . 45 cases with a 10mm AND a 9mm case nestled within…
        .45 turducken for the win.

        • A standard 10mm pistol casing is longer than a 45 ACP pistol casing, therefore is should not have been “inside” as you assert but rather protruding from. Additionally 10mm cartridges can be loaded to higher pressure than 45 ACP. Consequently across almost the entirety of the ballistic envelope 10mm can deliver more energy to the target than 45 ACP.

          In this specific scenario it did not matter, but if the target’s neck had been behind a barricade such as a car door then the 10mm would have shown superior terminal ballistics. The 10mm was originally acquired by law enforcement based on the need to deliver fatal terminal energy to targets behind typical barricades such as: doors, car doors, heavy clothing (denim and/or leather), and other real world light cover.

          IMHO the biggest item of interest to me is that the 10mm did not over penetrate and the shooter was able to achieve three hits in a rapid high stress scenario. Claims of too much 10mm recoil seem to not be relevant here.

          Could someone publish the cartridges used?

      • .40 cal Booger,

        You might be one of the rare people who are even more unlucky than I am. I have been the victim of six attacks which had potentially fatal outcomes. (Four of them were human attacks and two were large dog attacks.) Fortunately none of the human attacks got far enough for the attackers to apply edge weapons or firearms.

        (And as for the two large dog attacks, I out raced the first one–on a 10-speed bicycle with a modest head start and maximum physical fitness–and my body language with my handgun convinced the dogs in the other attack to stop before mauling me.)

        Fortunately, I do not have any physical scars from my encounters, although my emotional scars are significant.

      • 40, you got too many stories like this. When are you gonna move? At least today, before the looming election and political fallout, there’s places to live that are more amenable to a quiet life.

        • Work/family obligations can keep one rooted for a long while. With that said don’t think there will be anymore threat in Albany post election this go around as Antifa just doesn’t seem to have the budget or online noise they did in this region compared to the summer of love. The pro abortion and transformer crowd have a few vocal posts and calls to action but realistically I just don’t see either having the numbers, coordination, or muscle to pull off violent protests let alone a riot. Unless of course we get some glowops but I think they are going to be busy looking to frame anything they can as election interference for the republicans up this way (failed hard last time)

  4. It is always a good time to remind the masses of two simple facts:
    1) A self-defense firearm is useless if you are not carrying it with you.
    2) Shot placement is far more important than caliber.

    And here are two subtle expansions of those two previous facts:
    1) A self-defense firearm is useless if you are not carrying it loaded.
    2) A hit with a “small” caliber is superior to a “miss” with a large caliber.

    For reference carrying a semi-auto handgun without a cartridge in the chamber is a risky proposition if someone suddenly attacks you–the extra motion and time it takes to rack the slide and chamber a round could easily be the difference between sustaining no physical injuries and sustaining serious/fatal physical injuries.

    If you are worried that a semi-auto pistol with a round in the chamber is dangerous, then carry your pistol in a proper holster which covers the trigger (and ensures that it will not go BANG! when you do not want it to) or carry a single/double action hammer-fired pistol with the hammer in decock position. Or carry a double-action only semi-auto pistol. Or carry a revolver.

  5. Random yardstick grouping sounds like Sanchez was shooting while wounded. The deceased got off one round but probably felt so bad after getting hit he couldn’t get off another, actually he was was probably ready to surrender after the first hit with a 10.

    More Outrage over the NY abduction and murder of Peanuts and Fred…connect the h…

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  6. Honestly impressed it was ruled self defense as well as Israeli carry working out. See all kinds of weird stuff if you look long enough.

    • Remember the anti-gun rule: Its better the victim does not have a gun to defend with so the perpetrator of the deadly force violence upon the victim doesn’t get hurt or killed.

      If anti-gun were so all about saving lives from violence they would be cheering defenders saving their lives and lives of others. Yet not a peep from the anti-gun for the millions of DGU’s each year that save lives.

  7. Another great situation for a .357 magnum revolver, especially a 3″ barrel. Compact, powerful, deadly.

    Capacity is highly overrated.

    • Johnny, one of my favorite handguns is a 3″ HB S&W model 65 round butt with a set of Pachmayer Professionals on it. Everyone should own one.

      • Gadsden Flag,

        Is a similar revolver chambered for .38 Special +P and loaded with “hot” 150 grain full wadcutters (muzzle velocity over 900 feet-per-second) close enough?

          • Gasden Flag,

            I do have two revolvers chambered in .357 Magnum–however one has a 4-inch barrel and the other has a 6-inch barrel. And since both are large/heavy, they are impractical for concealed carry.

            My revolver chambered in .38 Special +P is dandy for concealed carry. It has a 3-inch barrel, tritium front sight, small-ish grips, weighs about 24 ounces, and has 6 chambers in the cylinder even though it is small, thin, and relatively light.

  8. Have to wonder if either or both were actually using “defensive” ammo or just the generic, cheap FMJ “ball”. Might not matter in the long haul but initially it could be a life saver.

    • … me too – a .44mag out of an 8″ to 20″ barrel. If it’s a griz or bigger, make it a 12ga. slug or 45-70 / 444marlin.

    • Charles,

      While this article is about a human allegedly defending himself from another human, I will humor your off-topic response and state that my “woods defense” firearm is a large revolver with 6-inch barrel chambered in .44 Magnum that I carry in a chest holster.

      When it comes to bruins, “Go big or go home,” as they say.

      • Region and type of critters can matter as well. For most things likely to attack in upstate NY 9mm (40/357/10/38/380 sorta) will work fine. Moose is about all that I would really feel the need to jump up to 44 and above as black bears here only get so big or vicious and pitt mixes are far more likely to maul you to death.

        • SAFEupstateFML,

          Black bears are an interesting lot. In my state a typical mature and healthy male black bear is around 350 pounds. Of course it is quite common to see smaller specimens (male and female) under 200 pounds. Now for the scary side of the equation: there are a few black bears in my state which tip the scales around 600 pounds. Note that a 600 pound black bear is on par (in terms of weight) with many grizzly bears in the lower 48 states.

          I recently started getting lazy and relying on my “everyday carry” handgun when out in the woods. My everyday carry handgun is a Smith and Wesson M&P 40 semi-auto pistol with 4.25-inch barrel and 15-round magazine, which I keep loaded with 180 grain bonded-jacketed hollowpoints. That is a fine platform for defending against 300 pound and smaller bears. Well, my cousin-in-law just saw a giant black bear (he called it a “monster” much larger than any other bear that he has ever seen) within 100 yards of and running toward the family property where we frequently camp. Needless to say I will be switching back to my .44 Magnum revolver on my chest rig the next time that I am there.

          • Closer to Tennessee than Virginia I am guessing for your region and yeah 350 is typically pushing the upper limits up my way.

            • SAFEupstateFML,

              Closer to Tennessee than Virginia I am guessing for your region …”

              Nope. More like about 500 miles due west of you.

  9. Let’s see, Sanchez got arrested thrown in jail for 16 months and un the mean time lost his job, the car his job paid for, the apartment his job paid for, 16 months worth of cash, over a hat, what was in the car( take the car) and what was in his pockets.
    Doesn’t seem worth it.
    By killing criminals it only makes the rest of the criminals more violent and more apt to kill you.
    Sanchez took a chance on life and got lucky.
    The reason gangs are violent is because people resist.
    [KH/TW n2More days. Prepare your minds]

  10. Pile’O Ddooly, if you’re not going to use your firearm to defend yourself you are either a coward or a fool…too cowardly to defend yourself and others or so foolish as to think you’ll never have to. Go comment at Better Homes & Gardens…

  11. No the 9mm would not have done the same damage as the 100 because the 9mm is not as wide in expansion as the 10mm, therefore it could have very well missed vital arteries and veins by a tiny bit. The wider the bullet the greater the chances are in doing fatal damage. If width does not matter then why do they make bullets that can expand?

  12. As has been said, it was good shot placement, not caliber, that made the difference. Even though I’m not super comfortable my wife carries her .22LR pistol (where I’ve loaded the mags with Federal Punch rounds), she’s deadly accurate with it.

    Now if either or both of these guys were shooting defense rounds like the G9 (which the article doesn’t specify), there’d be a heck of alot of more damage from the tremendous cavitation they cause. Besides carrying, spend the extra $$ for highly rated and tested self-defense rounds. Lots of difference between the damage dumped from a self-defense round compared to FMJ.

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