The In-Laws.(family argument and shooting incident in Kentucky)(Brief Article)

Jerry Ruby and Billy R. Hager of Owenton, Kentucky, are brothers-in-law (their wives are sisters). The Hagers, however, are in the midst of a divorce. On August 3rd, Mrs. Hager asked Jerry to help move a truck from the Hager property, which he did. When Billy Hager learned about it, he and a friend rushed to the Ruby residence.

Billy Hager confronted Jerry Ruby around 9:15 p.m., first striking him without warning, then running back to his truck for a .22 caliber handgun. Jerry fled into the house (Hager's 11-year-old daughter and Mrs. Ruby were also inside) and was calling 911 when Hager began shooting at the dwelling.

While Mrs. Ruby went outside in an attempt to calm Hager and convince him to put the gun away, her husband grabbed a .22-caliber rifle, told his niece to hide in a closet, then rushed outside. He feared that his wife may have been shot (she was not harmed).

Billy Hager began shooting at Jerry Ruby from a distance of 35 to 40 yards, but missed (Ruby was in the dark; Hager was standing beneath a pole light in the yard). Ruby was convinced that his brother-in-law was shooting to kill. "Very definitely," he told THE NEW AMERICAN, "because two bullets went by my head. I mean, I could hear them singing past my head.... He was not just poppin' -- he was aimin.'" Ruby returned fire. "I could have hit him a dozen times," he recalls, "but I just kept shooting around him to scare him off."

Hager eventually ran out of ammunition and attempted to flee, but Ruby would not let him do so since he did not yet know his wife's situation. Hager hid behind a car, and when Ruby climbed atop the vehicle to look for his wife, Hager sought to jerk his feet from under him. Ruby struck him on the head with the rifle barrel. Hager fell, but immediately jumped up. Ruby struck him again, this time so hard that it bowed the barrel. Hager was dazed by the blow, but did not go down. After two or three additional attempts to grab Ruby, he fled with a ...