Good Guys Armed, & Winning…
Date: Aug 11, 2005 10:03 PM
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More Richmonders acting in self-defense
Prosecutors rule that two victims who shot attackers will
not face any charges

BY JIM NOLAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Aug 10, 2005

Richmond is armed and dangerous. And we’re not just talking
about the bad guys.

Since March, there have been at least three fatal shootings
of armed suspects by armed victims. In at least two of
those cases, Richmond prosecutors say it was in
self-defense.

The Richmond commonwealth’s attorney’s office has concluded
that the martial-arts instructor who fatally shot former NFL
cornerback Mike Brim during a confrontation last April in
South Richmond acted in self-defense.

Prosecutors have also decided that a pizza deliveryman acted
in self-defense in March when he fatally shot a teen who
attempted to rob him in the Hillside Court neighborhood,
also in South Richmond.

Officials said they are awaiting toxicology reports before
reaching a conclusion about the fatal shooting of a
14-year-old boy. Police said the boy attempted to rob a
47-year-old man with an unloaded rifle in the East End in
June.

“It does appear to us in the commonwealth’s attorney’s
office that a lot of people are armed with weapons,” said
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Learned D. Barry, the city’s
top homicide prosecutor.

“And because of that, situations like these are becoming
more and more prevalent.”

Investigators said that Brim, 39, trailed Gary Miles to a
house on Pineway Drive from his workplace at the American
Karate Center on Huguenot Road on April 19.

A police investigation found that Brim, a former Virginia
Union University standout who played eight seasons in the
National Football League, opened fire on Miles, shooting at
him several times and striking the instructor in one leg.
Miles, who was also armed, returned fire, striking Brim in
the torso, killing him.

“Based on the fact that the deceased followed Mr. Miles to
the scene and fired at him first, we have no choice but to
rule it self-defense,” Barry said.

“There were multiple rounds from Mr. Brim’s gun, and only
one from Mr. Miles’.”

Law-enforcement sources said they believe Brim’s motivation
for attacking Miles centered on a woman whom men both knew.
The men also knew each other as their children played in the
same local AAU basketball program.

In the pizza-delivery case on March 11, an investigation
determined that a teenage boy approached the delivery man on
the 1800 block of Southlawn Avenue with “a gun or what
appeared to be a gun” with the intention to rob him, said
Barry.

He said the delivery man fatally shot the teen in
self-defense and then stayed at the scene and called police
to tell them what had happened.

Prosecutors have not made a determination on the most recent
case. On June 12, police said Rodvon Daymetric Brown, 14,
attempted to rob a man sitting in a car at 24th Street and
Fairmount Avenue with an unloaded .22 caliber rifle.

Brown, according to investigators, had duct-taped an
ammunition clip from an assault-style rifle to the barrel of
his gun to make it look more menacing. The man in the car
responded by firing the .40-caliber handgun that he had in
his vehicle, fatally wounding Brown.

“It is clear to us a robbery attempt was being made by an
armed juvenile,” Barry said. “We’re waiting a little bit
more for the toxicology to come back before we’re sure that
it’s self-defense or not.”

The fact that Brown’s rifle was not loaded won’t make a
difference in the determination of whether he was shot in
self-defense, according to officials.

“The victims have no clue if it is a real weapon or loaded
weapon or not,” Barry said. “And they have to protect
themselves.”