Barred From Owning A Gun, William Pulliam Shot James Means Dead In The Street

William Ronald Pulliam was arrested in Charleston, West Virginia last week after shooting unarmed 15-year-old James Harvey Means twice in the abdomen with a .380 caliber revolver; well, he was arrested right after he committed the murder. First he grabbed a bite to eat and then stopped in to visit a female friend.

But, when he was finally arrested, Pulliam showed no remorse for his crime, saying:

“The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off the street.”

Pulliam readily admitted to the murder and told police the gun was left at his friend’s home. Charleston police asked federal authorities to determine if the killing meets the definition of a Hate Crime since Pulliam is white and Means was black.

Apparently Pulliam and Means had a confrontation outside a Dollar General store where, witnesses say, the two exchanged words after physically bumping into one another on the sidewalk. It seemed to have ended there for a moment, because Pulliam went into the store and Means met up with friends at the home of a friend’s grandmother.

When Pulliam left the store, he walked past the house where Means and his friends had gathered, and the two began arguing again. When Means crossed the street to approach Pulliam, he took out his gun and shot Means twice. James Means died shortly after arriving at Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital.

A witness to the shooting—13-year-old James Cooper—also had run-ins with William Pulliam because the older man would pick on Cooper’s younger brother.

“One time I went over there to talk to him about it, I said, ‘You’ve got to quit picking on my little brother, that doesn’t look right.’ He said, ‘Get the [expletive] off my property.’ He said I need to go on with my nappy Latino self. He’s just a real bad guy.”—James Cooper

William Pulliam was arraigned on the murder charge last week, appearing cool and calm during the proceedings. But he was startled by the idea that he would have to remain in jail for now; the possibility of him being released on bond won’t come before his preliminary  this Thursday:

“Don’t I get to say anything? I’ll lose my job and everything unless I can get out of here.”

Huh, maybe he should have thought about that before, I don’t know, murdering a man in cold blood.

But violence is nothing new for William Pulliam; he pleaded no contest to a charge of domestic battery in 2013 after striking his pregnant daughter in the face, kicking her in the stomach and shoving his wife to the ground.

Those charges meant that William Pulliam was banned from ever owning a gun again ... except, of course, here in the United States of Guns.

Gazette Mail