Recently, a police officer in Buffalo shot and killed an elderly woman in her home after being called to the scene of the crime. The grandmother had just stabbed and killed her 4-year-old grandson, and charged at the officer with knives when they burst into her home and demanded that she drop her weapons. According to reports at ABC News, the grandmother appeared as something out of a horror film when she stood in her kitchen with two butcher knives that were dripping with her grandson’s blood. A state trooper felt that he and his partner were in a life or death situation when they saw the crazed woman rushing towards them, and pulled their guns to defend themselves.

The police had to shoot and eventually kill the grandmother at the scene of the crime out of self-defense, and were justified of their actions in court. The 4-year-old grandson that was a victim of his grandma’s rage was rushed to the hospital and died there from multiple stab wounds. His grandmother was covered in his blood. The police commissioner said that this situation was a tragedy for all involved, but refused to comment on medial reports that the 38-year-old grandmother had a history of mental illness. Neighbors told a local news station that they were notified of the stabbing when they heard the mother of the little boy screaming “somebody killed my baby” and trying to perform CPR.

People assumed that the killer may have been the child’s estranged father, who hasn’t been heard from since the stabbing occurred. Yet others assume that the child’s father is simply mourning the death of the child that he loves. The slain boy has been the victim of violent crime in the past. At one point, the baby and his father were attacked by a group of troublemakers and hit in the heads with a hammer. They were left for dead, but later rescued and taken to a hospital to recover.

While the entire case is mysterious, the major legal issue with the case at present is whether or not the officer had a right to shoot the grandmother out of self-defense. While every state has their own specific definition, that definition guides murder cases where self-defense is used as an excuse for the crime. In California, self-defense is justified in Section 197 of the California Penal Code as resisting an attempt to murder or commit a felony. In addition, it can be considered a defense of the life of another person such as a parent, child, spouse, master, mistress, or servant. This defense is allowed when there is a reasonable ground to apprehend the attacker who wanted to commit a felony or inflict great bodily on a person.

Self-defense is also considered permissible when it has to do with the defense of a habitation, property, or person against one who intends to commit a felony against that person or who endeavors to enter a habitation of another in order to offer violence to a person inside. Many times the attacker must be acting in a violent, riotous, or tumultuous manner in order rot be considered dangerous and worthy of a shot. In many states, guns are permissible when they are held with a license and are only used in self-defense as defined by the penal code of the state. If you are responsible for the death of another but believe that you should not receive punishment because the death was committed in self-defense, then you need to talk to a criminal defense lawyer today. You will need a convincing and helpful attorney to prove your case and show that you were not acting in an unlawful manner.