Roosevelt Brock, 25

I wonder if the lady is going to face any charges? I almost shot a gang menber that jump over my back yard, he was hidding from others, I called the police and asked them if I shot the guy would I be facing criminal charges they said yes, so I did not go outside. later on I found out that a few days later the same gang menber that was hiding in my back yard shot and killed a young man and disable another. I always wonder? I should of shot him with my double saw off shot gun. now we got our state paying for his housing for life.

Maybe the reason you would have faced criminal charges, is because of the illegally altered shotgun? Did you ever find out why you would face charges? I mean, there's a gangster in your property, he's hiding for some reason, and you feel threatened for your life!!

Hey Tony, if you really do have a sawed off shotgun and you get caught with it you will go to prison for some serious time. There are stiff penalties for sawing off the barrel of a rifle or shotgun below 16 inches. Actually if I were you, I would destroy the thing and dispose of it immediately and go purchase a legal (and lethal) 20 gauge pump shotgun...fill it up with #2 or #3 buckshot then if somebody attacks you or invades your home, blast em off the planet. Don't shoot somebody in your yard though as it will be hard to prove that they are a threat to your life if they're outside and you're inside. Just my advice.

Why are you trying to be a Hero?

From now on I'm packing all the time "small 380"

I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6

man shout out to that lady i would of done the same

Why would you want to kill someone, and want to get away with it and especially a child you don't know why he was running through the yard he probable was trying to get away from something you only hearing one side of the story if someone killed your child wouldn't you want justice....why go and be a hero for no reason how is you going to sleep a night. If the shoe was on the other foot you would want justice. I think the lady should be arrested and let a jury decide..that is what the police is for why the wife did the shotting and not the husband.

What a shame to see all these young men being killed for making wrong choices in their lives. This would never had happen had this individual made a better choice vs. looking for crimmal activity which cost him his life! Young men today need God in their lives to give them the strenght to look the other way and place value on their life and use their Energies towards a positive outlook on life! My prayers to his family!

Its amazing how all these people here on the blog are eager to kill people or have them killed. And how they have these medieval notions of deserving and not deserving to live. Why dont we just go back to public hangings or stonings?
Believing in God and acting like him at the same time. No wonder that the murder rate is that high.
A society that doesnt have any ethics can not pass them on to the youth.
I will never understand how people can believe that killing someone makes a society better. Its sickening.
But it seems that this guy took the risk of living a dangerous lifestyle and got the short end of the stick.
With that being said, Rest in Peace young man.

@justice - you are a fool. We all have the right to protect ourselves. The mistakes and poor judgement of others is no excuse for me to not protect myself and my family and my property. The guy was on HER ROOF! Why? too bad for him. Wrong choice, poor judgement. Should have been in night school, or at work, or home taking care of his family, or sleeping, or taking his dog for a walk...any number of things besides assaulting another person and running away; using her roof and property to escape. Who knows what he might have done to her? Broke in and made them hide him? Kill them and take everything they work for and own? Why take a chance? She was within her rights to protect her property and family and self.

— justice ..... seems like the woman was being reasonable. He probably made a move towrds her and she was fearing for her safety.

How much you want to be that the deceased was a gangster and had an extensive criminal record?

That's odd, my uncle gave me the sawed off shot gun, he told me that was his favorite weapon in Vietnam and he was allowed to use it, is not the same one but similar. Why would the US Gov allow you to use in Vietnam but I can't use it here in the states?

Man i need to throw a party for this lady,

And to the person who asked why would you want to kill someone, Lets see what happens when someone is running across your roof.

People need to respect other peoples property and keep to them selves, if she felt threatened in any way she can defend herself.
The dispatcher had told Tony he couldn't shot the man because California would rather you be killed than defend your self.

Tony, the reason they have that law about shortening the barrels I think is that they don't want these high powered weapons to be concealable and then used in robberies. It is a federal law, though, and anyone who owns firearms should familiarize themselves with relevant laws. Now on this lady, the thing here is she should not have gone outside. Even though in this case the right guy was killed, it very easily could have been her in a situation like this. Better to call 911 immediately and then wait inside with the gun at the ready in case the dude tried to come in. If he does, drop him on the spot immediately. I'm afraid she will probably have some legal troubles on this one and it will take a long time for her to get her life straightened out. She might also need counseling after ending someone's life, even if it was a criminal.

@ Dingle Berry

I would certainly do as Citizenjohn said and not leave sick comments about throwing parties for people being killed. That exactly is that reprobated stuff i am talking about. You are a good example, for the moral demise of humanity. Like i said. People without ethics can not expect their young generation to act ethically. You have no ethics.

Whats the big deal in the shooting?

Criminals are at war with society, so we get to defend ourselves.

Remember, the deceased brought this upon himself by his own freely taken actions.

This guy was running on her roof trying to get away from something/someone..whatever the thing is im sure he wasnt trying to break into this home. She shouldve just stayed inside and called the cops. I could understand if he was breaking in then she shot him but i think shes the one looking bad on this....im sure after he landed on the ground he was gonna be on his way....I live a block away from here by the way. And to those who seem to like to talk about killing ppl and throwing parties you guys are not setting positive examples this was a young man ...no one is perfect they need some guidance by you saying things like that are only adding to the problem.

roosevelt was a good friend to me in jr. high school. me and another friend been looking for him for sometime now. Its sad how you people say he should have been killed. If that was ur family member will you still feel the same. He was somebody son, brother uncle, and grandchild. He was a good person. He will always be missed.rip tomario we love you.... My heart goes out to his mother and family.

I am with Donna on this one. Why would you go outside if someone was on your roof. The correct thing to do was to call 911. She took it upon herself to go outside of her home and take the life of the person on her property. I know for a fact if someone is outside your home and not inside in you go outside to confront them that is criminal activity on your part. She can end up in jail. Someone was in my back yard, which is behind a gate and I was alone with my small child and they were breaking into my car that was in my backyard, I called the police and told them I was alone and that I was going to go in my backyard and shoot them, I was told by the police that if I did that I would go to jail for criminal activity. Killing someone outside of your home can and will cause you to be locked up in the criminal justice system. If they enter your home, thats a different story

no one deserves the death penalty for running on a roof. stay in the house and call 911.

When I first read this story I had overlooked the age of the woman,and was thinking that she may have been in her late 70's or early 80's.When I reread the story and realized this lady was 57yrs.old I also must agree with the readers who said she should recieve some jail time (not life)but at least for aggrevated assult or 2nd/3rd degree murder.

-Just Sayin -- What?????!!!!!! You are trippin' hard!! How can you suggest jail time for this woman. There was a criminal running around her property, she feared for her life and shot him. Case closed. Just imagine yourself in her situation.

Think and say what you want folks, the law is not on this woman's side here. Whether that's unfortunate or not is the cause for debate. Syscom, I agree with 99 percent of what you say except this one. If he goes in the house it's a different issue. Going outside with the gun buries her in court. Normally, You mix reason and law with opinion. On this one, your opinion overrides the legal and reason parts

— John, you're right. I read the story as saying that he was off the roof and she confronted him in the yard. Most probably he came at her and then she shot him.

If he was on top of the roof and she shot him, then obviously that's not good.

Even so, this will be a very hard sell for the DA to convince a jury.

What if he was playing football,the football went on the roof, and went and got it. You dont know what the situation could of been. So killing him was not the right answer.

Dear Lady,

If legal troubles ensue, please post lawyer info so we may contribute to your just cause.

best wishes!

— Common sense .....

The story specifically says " ...went outside, where she confronted Brock in the driveway after he had jumped to the ground, police said. ...."

There's nothing that says he was on the roof when he was shot.

I thought these posts were suppose to be about remembering the victims? If you residents have something to say go to city hall and keep out of the posts about the victims.

— Divina, this is a public blog about the ugly side of murder.

If you want a sanitized version of this with no debate, go to the obituaries.

Politically correct people like you are not going to silence our voices!

LA Times, it will be interesting to read a follow up article about this incident. I'm almost certain this lady will be charged with murder; however, I'm not sure, which degree. In rare circumstance does the average citizen who fears for his life and kills the agressor as a result, gets to walk away clean. Only cops have this privilege.

I got chased by a bulldog couple years back. The vicious thing was definitely trying to maul me, so I climbed a fence and got into somebody's property.... That's when I realized that maybe I should have just let myself being mauled by that dog instead of risking to get shot! I guess depending on where you leave, your decision is important ...

— zala, was climbing on a roof part of your plan of action?

The lady should have stayed in the house and called 9-11. If he came into her house then she had a free kill.

syscom3
It's apparent this newspaper will pick
and choose the comments it wants to
post. Allowing posters like yourself
to be as inflamatory as you desire
while silencing others, like myself
by not posting my prior comment and
maybe this will not be posted.
But just in case here we go. I can
pretty much guess your race. You have
no clue about the Black community
If you did you would know that this
women shot this man out of anger and
frustration, not fear. If these men
were gun toting thugs they would have
told her and her husband to go hell
when they told them to get off their
roof. but when they did get off the roof when they were told to, this couple knew they were in no danger leaving from inside the house to confront the two guys with their guns. Then she shoots him because she's mad. She needs to be charged and his family needs to sue her. She's I'm sure right now regretting her actions.
If you want to debate, what things
concerning my community would you
like to debate.

— sharreen

"If these men were gun toting thugs they would have told her and her husband to go hell when they told them to get off their roof."how do you know what happened in her driveway?

Were you there listening to the conversation or are you inventing facts out of thin air? She had every right to confront them. And odds are they approached and threatened her.

As for me being inflammatory? Nope. If someones feelings are hurt, then they shouldn't be reading this blog.

Reading some of these comments just shows me how hateful and hypocrital some of these good law abiding citizens are. No regaurd for human life, but let it be one of their family members.It's criminals in every family, including the people who thinks it was good killing this person.

I have something to say also.crime isn't about color period! Crime happens everywhere. It isn't real to think that people do not have the right to confront anyone on their property. you don't know the complete story so save your remarks . What makes you think that this guy was alone anyway?? This is our country,we have the right to protect our homes from criminals,or anyone that violates our civil rights.No I did not say that shooting someone was the answer,but we do not know the situation,nor the facts.Praise God that no one else was hurt in this unfortunate incident. why would you use someone's roof as a short-cut anyway?? especially at night? was he installing cable? fixing a leak? I am sorry for the victim,and for the home owner. just a bad situation all around. What they need to do is arrest those thugs that were with him and charge them with murder, Because they were also a part of this situation. Do you realize the hurt that woman must carry as a burden for the rest of her life?

This woman needs to be locked up. Period. A person that is in fear of losing their life cannot go from a place of safety to an non-secure local and confront the "threat", then claim they fired in "self-defense". Hypothetically speaking this youngsta could have been hiding from someone else. We don't know that. The woman definetly didn't know the situation so how can any of say that grabbing a gun and going outside (when you dont have to) can in any fashion be construed as "self-defense"?

After hearing footsteps on her roof, the shooter, a 57-year-old woman, grabbed a gun and went outside, where she "CONFRONTED" Brock in the driveway "AFTER" he had jumped to the ground, police said.

An initial investigation has determined that Brock and another man "MAY" have committed an assault and were trying to flee the area, police said.

Are any of you "way to go" people able to read? This young man is being called a criminal and all that, yet the report that you people are basing your opinions on clearly does not support your position. AFTER he got OFF the roof, MAY have been a suspect, Could he possibly have been the victim of the (supposed) assault in question only to lose his life to this "supposed human" (to be nice) that has clearly demonstrated a complete lack of reason, the kind of person gun laws are supposed to keep from procuring firearms.

— d owens, I don't know of any law abiding people who get on other peoples roofs.

Its obvious he was up to no good and dont pretend he wasnt.

I haven't seen ToMario since he was a little boy. He was a sweet little boy who looked up to his older brother and sister. They looked out for him because he was the baby.I named my son RoMario and he use to say "your baby got my name". To his mom,dad,sister,and brother I'm sorry about ToMario. For the lady who did this to him you should have called the police instead of taking matters into your own hands. You probably have went over the scenario a thousands times wondering what you should have done but what's done is done and you can't take it back. My heart goes out to his family.

lol... he was up to no good! funny!

For those who didnt know, Tomarrio was a loving kind hearted person.He was quiet and had a humble spirit.He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.Tomarrio did not deserve for his life to be taken he was a respectable person, he would have walked out the lady's yard if she would have asked.For those who think she did the right thing his blood is on your hands.So when she close her eyes to sleep at night his blood will be on her hands! God Ask us not to judge people, so dont judge if you wasn't a witness to what actually happen only Gods knows truly what happen..and he will judge....rest in paradise Tomarrio..For those who didn't know....

Very nicely said I did'nt know your friend but I'am sorry for your loss. And your right ony GOD knows.

Well, what happened to the broad? Did they prosecute?