“If I catch a knucklehead with my daughter, I’ll …” (fill in the blanks)
But no one ever actually does it, right?
Right?
Well, a man in Apopka, Fla., Wade Edwards, shot an 18-year-old after he came home and caught him having sex with his 16-year-old daughter. When Edwards walked into his daughter’s room and saw the two of them in bed, he closed the door, loaded a gun and fired at the man. The 18-year-old, Julian Harp, was shot four times, twice in the thighs and twice in his hips. Harp then struggled to walk out to the front yard and had someone call 911. Edwards confessed to the shooting. In the 911 call, the dispatcher can be heard trying to console a sobbing Edwards.
Edwards has been charged with attempted second-degree murder. Reactions from friends and family are torn in what is a horrible situation for both men.
“It’s a sad story, but I would do anything to protect my daughter,” said neighbor Sean Gibbons.
The victim’s brother had a slightly different reaction. “He could [have] hit him with a bat or a golf club. I know he’s got one or two. He could’ve hit him with a fist. I mean, he could have handled it a different way,” said Curtis Wyndom. “I’m just going to leave it in God’s hands, you know? … Really, I’m just going to leave it up to the judge and God and see what happens there.”
A father being enraged at catching his daughter having sex in his house is understandable — and surely, isn’t unique. But the minute you grab a gun, you put yourself in a situation to face serious jail time in a situation that didn’t require use of a lethal weapon. His daughter wasn’t in danger, and Harp posed no threat to him. He shot Harp out of anger — pure and simple.
If Edwards had pummeled Harp and thrown him out on his backside, no one would’ve second-guessed him. We have to stop believing that a gun is our best — and only — option. Now, a young man has been severely wounded, and a father may be off to prison. –todd williams
