HOW CAN WOMAN BE BLAMED FOR HER DEATH

After reading Jacob Noel's letter ("Shooting was unjustified," March 17 By
the People), I cried. Then I read George Karatzas' letter ("Shooting
tragic, but police officers can't be blamed"), and it made me furious.

How can he say that "[Cheryl] Noel's death is her own fault"? He commends
the Baltimore County police - for what? Shooting her three times? Aren't
the police trained to shoot without killing? Why was it necessary to shoot
her three times when she never fired her gun?

Did they give her a chance to realize they were the police? I can't imagine
what I would do to be woken up at 5 a.m. to a loud noise, yells and men
barging into my bedroom. But I know that if they told me they were the
police and they had a search warrant, I would put down my gun or weapon, as
I'm sure she would have also if she had a chance.

Where is the police investigation if the tables were turned and a police
officer was shot three times and killed? The case would be looked into a
lot more than Cheryl Noel's was.

Also, from what I understand, a small amount of marijuana and gunpowder
were found. Since her husband hunts, there's going to be gunpowder. It
seems the police went way overboard for this.

What George Karatzas wrote is horrible, and I hope something like this
never happens to him or a oved one. He should not be so quick to judge.

Barbara Robison

Kelmore Road