Be Careful Choosing Heroes : Man who fatally shot Valley tagger suddenly becomes celebrated: But why?

William A. Masters II says he was on his usual walk last week, one that takes him toward a Hollywood Freeway overpass in Sun Valley. It’s safe to say that few of us would be inclined to take this kind of solitary stroll shortly after midnight. But Masters was--and he was packing a gun.

This is a desolate stretch of road where there are no buildings, no pay telephones, no comfort in numbers of other citizens. Nearby is an area that isn’t going to make anyone’s top-10 list of safe neighborhoods.

Under those conditions, Masters came upon graffiti vandals defacing the overpass. Masters says he simply intended to report them to police. He says that in their full view he jotted down the license plate number of their car and then, when they asked what he was doing, he told them that he was going to notify police.

The district attorney’s office sides with Masters’ version of the next few deadly moments. He says that one of the vandals approached him menacingly with a screwdriver and threatened to rob him. Masters pulled a gun (for which he had no permit), fatally shot one of the vandals in the side and wounded the other in the buttock.

The D.A.’s office will not prosecute Masters for the shooting, saying he believed he was in imminent peril. But the decision, however pragmatic, leaves prosecutors in the position of arguably implying that Masters was justified in using the gun--a gun he shouldn’t have had in the first place. The fact that he possessed the gun illegally--illegal gun possession is one of America’s biggest crime problems--puts a huge shadow over the entire incident. It’s also troubling that Masters has been hailed as a hero.

No one likes graffiti gangsters. They deface buildings and befoul neighborhoods. But one safe way (and perhaps the only safe way) for residents to become involved in the anti-graffiti effort is to work in large groups in their neighborhoods and have the means (such as cellular phones or two-way radios) to contact police immediately.

We recognize that graffiti is more than vandalism. It is visual assault, and a costly mess that gives more hardened criminals a sense of where they can operate with impunity. But it’s a mistake to see this shooting as some sort of celebratory act. Masters shouldn’t have been carrying that gun, and he’s no role model. Might other vandals be deterred from spraying paint by the thought that someone might shoot them? Maybe. But more likely, some vandals will just start carrying something more lethal themselves.

Masters now says he will continue to unlawfully carry the gun, which he does not even have a permit to own. That is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or a year in jail. The city attorney’s office, which would prosecute misdemeanor violations of the concealed weapons law, should move on this case. Promptly.