Tracy Williams does not appear to have had much experience with firearms. It was a desperate situation that drove her to buy a gun and take a CCW class: she’d broken up with a boyfriend with a long criminal record. He’d kidnapped her. She’d escaped and filed charges. He was out on $75,000 bail when he attacked her three weeks later. During that period she had obtained the firearm and a concealed carry permit. North Carolina requires an eight hour course, including live fire, and an $80 non-refundable fee to obtain a permit. Here’s what happened next, via abc7chicago.com . . .
Green said Williams shot her ex as he attacked her around 5 p.m. in the parking lot of a Food Lion on U.S. 1 near a Cash Points ATM. Police said Williams’ gun then jammed and Yarborough fatally shot her.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Williams in front of the ATM with two guns, while the suspect’s gun was missing. They believe she was trying to defend herself.
An eyewitness states that Williams was not the only one who had problems with their gun. From wral.com:
“I heard her start blowing the horn, then I heard a gunshot go off,” said a witness at the scene who did not want to be identified. “She started running around trying to get away, yelling for help . . . And as he was chasing her, he was trying to load the gun and she was fighting for her life, yelling for help.”
The one shot that she was able to fire was almost enough. It hit Yarborough in the leg, but appears to have missed arteries or bone. As a 9mm, it had enough power to break the leg if bone were hit. Tracy Williams would likely have been able to outrun Yarborough if his leg had been broken. From twcnews.com:
“She had just recently went through the concealed carry class. She had a 9 mm handgun. She fired one round and it appears the reason she dropped the weapon, the weapon jammed and she tried to run away from him and that’s when he initiated the fatal blow,” said Chief John Green, of the Franklinton Police Department.
A gun is not a guarantee of safety. Possession of a gun provides another option for self-defense. In Tracy Williams’ case, it was almost, but not quite enough, to save her life.
©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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