Old man shoots at black AirBnB guest

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A California man has been charged with felony assault, accused of shooting a Black man renting a nearby Airbnb property as he walked to a grocery store, in what prosecutors called an “unprovoked attack.”

Mark Waters, 66, was charged with felony assault with a semi-automatic firearm resulting in great bodily injury and personal use of a firearm, the Santa Clara County district attorney's office announced Friday, two months after the Oct. 2 shooting in San Jose.

Further charges may come, as law enforcement is investigating potential hate crime allegations.

The 21-year-old victim had left his Airbnb rental to walk to a nearby grocery store on the night of the shooting, prosecutors said. He was unarmed.

When he crossed the street, he saw Waters exit a home and “quickly approach him while holding a black handgun,” the district attorney’s office said.

The victim tried to run to safety, but prosecutors alleged that Waters, whom they described as white, fired a single gunshot as his back was turned. As a result, the victim suffered “serious injuries” to his leg, they said.

Police rendered first aid to the victim. Video of the shooting was also obtained from a nearby neighbor, prosecutors said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bl ... -rcna61219

Sickening, isn’t it! If the man responsible were only able to, for just one moment, experience life from this Black man’s perspective. Some people seriously need educating & some kind of moral guidance!

Imagine the mental space the average black person occupies with their own personal safety when in public. Not to mention putting up with covert/overt passive aggressive interactions with non-black people.

It's not just black lives that matter, it's also their mental health.

Couldn’t agree more. I watched a program with an undercover female reporter just two nights ago, with “safety” at the forefront, and similarly, the two were intangibly critical!

Can’t help but believe that the education system needs to step up & educate on treating ALL with respect from a younger age! Both the police & the education system have a role to play, to make changes here.

It opens the door to other forms of stress that women must also experience when they go in public by themselves. Everyone should feel safe and feel accepted when in public.

In the case of this old man his fear of a perfect stranger made this poor man (who was on holiday) now feel he's not safe anywhere.

Yes, and sadly, this is something we’re seeing time & time again. Innocent people going about their lives, learning at a young age, that pre-judgement & in the case of women, sexual harassment mean they must be vigilant when out & about.

Yeah I agree

if that old bigot was called home to his punitive god, i would not mind.

Has anyone tried even defending the actions of this old reprobate?

Yes infact his family have come to his defense claiming (and I have heard this one before in the Ahmed Arbery case) that there had been burglaries in the area and he was on edge about crime.

Even if that was true - The problem is
1. He racially profiled the airBnB guest
2. His intention was to kill the young man as he fled which regardless is a crime
3. It also highlights the fact there's probably few or no black residents on this street so old Jim crow Joe thought he could shoot first and ask the dying black man for his "freedom papers"

Autistic people also. A lot of times our natural movements are similar to the stereotyped person up to no good.

^ Yes, very true. Some become agoraphobic and generally avoidant due to bad experiences in their communities.

I hope the victim recovers completely, and that the shooter gets many years in prison.

I am not so sure the old man will get years. His family are claiming he was suffering PTSD from all the burglaries in the neighborhood. It's the same argument lawyers used for the Ahmad Arbery killers. He was jogging so ergo he was running away from the scene of a crime .

But basically the old fellow was being a racist vigilante. I have stayed in airBnBs plenty of time all over Australia and New Zealand when on holidays. The neighbors know we are renting the property and we are tourists.

I think it's horrible for the young man who might have been a traveller to have this experience of being chased by a crazy old man with a gun whose brain is stuck in the Jim Crow era.

Yes, my boyfriend has had this problem a lot, everywhere he has lived except here in NYC.