Opinion
Arizona -(Ammoland.com)- The gunfight happened in the early morning hours of 17 August 2018. The location was 867 Bootlegger Lane in Yoakum, Texas. Yoakum is a small town in Texas, about halfway between San Antonio and Houston.
There was “bad blood” between Dakota Wayne Kirkman, 19, and Manuel Martinez III, 36. The men lived about 22 miles apart. Yoakum is in DeWitt County, Texas. Kirkman and his girlfriend lived in Hallettsville in Lavaca County, Texas.
Dakota did not want his live-in girlfriend to hang around Martinez and his wife. His girlfriend, Martinez, and Martinez’ wife were at Martinez’ house when Kirkman came to bring his girlfriend home. Kirkman arrived in his truck. He had a singleshot .22 rifle and one cartridge, loaded in the chamber.
Kirkman and Martinez got into a verbal altercation. The Sheriff reported that alcohol was involved.
The altercation escalated into a gunfight. Cartridge cases found at the scene indicated that Martinez fired 15 shots from an AR15 type rifle and 12 shots from a .40 caliber pistol.
Most of the action seems to have happened while Kirkman was in or around his truck. 13 bullet holes were found in the truck. 11 of the bullet holes were from .223 cartridges. Two of the bullet holes were from a .40 caliber pistol.
Kirkman is recorded as firing one shot from his single shot .22 caliber rifle. The shot struck Martinez in the chest, killing him.
Law enforcement was called at 2:43 a.m. From cuerorecord.com:
When law enforcement made it to the location, a man was found lying in the front yard with an apparent gunshot wound. The initial investigation indicated an ongoing tension between the deceased and the alleged shooter. The murder weapon was a .22 rifle.
DeWitt County Justice of the Peace, Pct. 1, Peggy Mayer was called at 3:08 a.m. and later announced Martinez dead at the scene.
“This is a tragic loss of life, and our hearts go out to Martinez’s family,” DeWitt County Sheriff Carl Bowen said in a press release.
According to Bowen, there was an altercation and an exchange of gunfire between two men. Kirkman left the location on Bootlegger Lane with his girlfriend and ended up at their home at 32 Private Road 4006 in Hallettsville.
Kirkman was taken into custody without incident.
Dakota Kirkman was held at the DeWitt County jail for 55 days. Bail was set at $500,000.
On October 11, 2018, the grand jury found Kirkman to have been justified by reason of self-defense. From victoriaadvocate.com:
Investigators documented 11 bullet holes made by a .223-caliber rifle and two from a .40-caliber pistol. An AR-15 and .40-caliber pistol were found near Martinez’s body along with 15 rifle and 12 pistol casings. One of the bullets passed through the truck’s frame near the driver’s seat belt fastener, said Lassmann, who added if Kirkman had not been crouching in his seat, he likely would have been shot.
“(Kirkman) must have been scared to death,” Lassmann said.
The number of bullets fired by Martinez stood in stark contrast to the single, fatal shot from Kirkman’s antique, bolt-action .22-caliber rifle. Additionally, evidence showed Kirkman went to the home on Bootlegger Lane with only a single round chambered in his rifle and no other ammo in his vehicle.
That contrast further emphasized the likelihood that Kirkman acted in self-defense, Lassmann said.
There is a great deal about this story we do not know, and may never know.
- Did Dakota shoot from inside of the truck, or did he take cover outside of the truck?
- What were the lighting conditions?
- How impaired with alcohol or drugs were the participants? While the Sheriff says alcohol was involved, at least one commenter at the Victoria Advocate claimed that alcohol was not involved.
- How far apart were the adversaries?
It has been reported the women involved were inside while the gunfight occurred outside. The only surviving eyewitness to the events appears to be Dakota Wayne Kirkman.
There are lessons to be learned from this incident.
First, avoid confrontation if possible. While Dakota Wayne Kirkman survived, the odds are he wished it could have been avoided.
Second, any gun can be deadly in a gunfight. Do not disparage the .22 rimfire. Every game animal on earth, including elephants, has been killed with .22 rimfires. Many, many humans have been killed with .22 rimfires.
Third, if possible to do safely, stay at the scene of a shooting until the authorities arrive. Leaving the scene may be taken as an admission of guilt. If you cannot stay safely, contact the authorities as soon as possible.
Fourth, an arrest for murder does not mean a murder was committed. The grand jury found this to be a clear case of self-defense.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
What I find worthy of commentary is the fact that the defender/victim had a $500,000 bond and sat in county jail for 55 days. Unless you like bologna sandwiches and stark decor, I would advise getting defensive shooting protection/insurance from one of the many providers like USCCA, NRA, CCWSafe, Law Shield. Some policies have coverage for bail so you don’t have to mortgage your life to be free until trial and can better serve your defense. Oh, and miss out on bologna and PB&J sandwiches everyday during your wait.
Rereading the story, Kirkman fled the scene and returned to the girlfriend’s home. The article doesn’t say whether or not he called the authorities at any time after the shooting.
Fleeing the scene is usually seen as evidence of guilt, and if he didn’t call the 911 after the shooting, he put himself in a world of hurt.
This guy should give everyone on the grand jury a big wet sloppy kiss. He did everything he could to put himself in Huntsville, and they gave him a pass. The only thing he did right was properly place his one shot.
I don’t think there was any question about who fired first. I think the question was whether Kirkman really was an innocent party, or whether he started the fight by confronting Martinez. That would make him the aggressor, make the fight a “mutual combat” situation (like the idiots involved in the mattress-in-the-dumpster killing), and destroy a legitimate self-defense claim. And the fact that “alcohol was involved” may have hurt his claim. Kirkman may have been drinking (the article doesn’t say who had been drinking, only that someone had). it’s harder to claim your actions were reasonable and justified if you’re… Read more »
Like our old friend Mas always says: any gun will do if YOU will do. Makes me wonder what might have happened had he NOT had his puny truck gun along…… What amazes me is that the coppers, once on the scene, find 27 empty brass near the dead guy, and 13 bullet holes in the truck all from the direction and calibers of the dead guy. Then,in stark contrast, only ONE hard to find tiny expired shell from the lowly ubiquitous twennytoo, over near the truck with all the bullet holes in it. Based on that objective hard evidence,… Read more »
Yes – a correctly placed .22LR WILL stop/kill someone. But what if the ONE round from the .22 had not been ‘lucky’ enuff to have hit whatever killed the shooter? What if he had hit 3 inches lower, or left or right? I don’t think you can count on a one-shot kill from a .22 that hits you in the arm or leg or off-center body-mass. Whereas anything with a ‘4’ would have had a lot better chance of at least taking the shooter out of the fight…, I’d guess. Yes, perfect placement is paramount. But for us normal people… Read more »
The .22LR rifle was not the “murder weapon”. It was however, the “self-defense tool” that saved the man’s life.