Shooter `May Have Overdone It'

by Dave Racher, Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: April 10, 1996

Montrell Barrett, 19, lost his cool when he looked out of his third-floor bedroom window in Germantown and saw three men he suspected of having broken into his car early on March 12.

Barrett, of Logan Street near Greene, grabbed a gun and began firing at the trio, who were inside another auto, Assistant District Attorney John J. Doyle said yesterday.

Douglas Scott, 25, of Redfield Street near Haddington Avenue, was shot in the chest and died. Samuel Johnson survived gunshot wounds to his arm and leg. The third man was unhurt.

``At least, in his mind, he had some justification,'' said Municipal Judge Eric L. Lilian, who dropped a first-degree murder charge against Barrett, and held him for trial on a third-degree murder count.

``He may have overdone it,'' said the judge.

``A person does not have the right to use deadly force to protect property,'' countered Doyle, who urged the judge to keep first-degree murder in the case.

Doyle pointed out that Barrett fired between 10 and 15 shots toward the men, and asked, ``What else could his intent have been, other than kill them?'

The judge set bail at $25,000.

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