On October 10th around 4:30 a.m. 19 year old Joshua Jermaine Davis entered a Waffle House on Dorchester Road in North Charleston, carrying a gun, and attempted to rob the restaurant. However, upon exiting the establishment, Davis was confronted by customer Kenneth Rivers. Rivers left his car in the parking lot, took out his own weapon, and after asking Davis to drop the gun, fatally shot him in the abdomen. Davis died in the hospital shortly thereafter.

While many customers have expressed gratitude for Rivers “saving their lives,” others have been disgruntled by the vigilante-like justice that Rivers practiced. 34 year old Rivers works as a security guard at a local nightclub, and because he possesses a concealed-weapons permit, no charges will be pressed against him. The whole incident, as a matter of fact, has gone by with a surprising lack of discussion, because the teenager was robbing the restaurant, most people seem to believe that Rivers actions were completely justified. However, at the time that Davis was shot, he was not an active threat to any customers; in fact, he was leaving the scene. Davis potentially could have left without incident and police could have later apprehended him to retrieve the money without violence. Because of Rivers actions, a 19 year old unwarrantedly lost his life.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Davis never took out his gun; witnesses stated that he “flashed” the weapon at the cash register, but exited without removing the weapon from his waist. So, was Davis truly an active threat to customers at the time that he was killed by the vigilante-like Rivers? Some individuals are citing the event in support of the value of guns, one North Charleston police officer even stated, “It says something about firearms…for good people with firearms being in the right hands.” But was this event really a GOOD thing? Should this vigilante really be heralded as a hero?

Because of Rivers actions a 19 year old boy lost his life. It would have been one thing if Rivers had shot down Davis because he was an active threat to others’ safety. However, at the time of the shooting Davis was leaving the scene; the gun was at his waist and all of the customers potentially in danger were safely inside of the building. Does Davis’ admittedly dramatic mistake of armed robbery warrant his execution? Davis should have been apprehended by the police and the court should have decided his fate. The “justice” that Rivers practiced is not the way that justice is supposed to work in the United States. There is a clear system in place in this country set up to handle crime, and Rivers violated this system the second he fired.

Davis was leaving the scene; he hadn’t harmed any of the Waffle House customers, and his gun had never left his waist. If Rivers had called the police and allowed them to handle the situation in a way that crime is supposed to be handled in this country the incident could have had a dramatically different ending. Perhaps Davis would have been sent to jail where he could have had the chance for reform instead of having his life cut short; Davis possibly could have lived to turn his life around, and his family wouldn’t have suffered a loss. Because of Rivers, I guess we’ll never know.