A Tragic Lesson

Any way you look at it, the fatal shooting of Leonard Coppola by Ed Drake was a tragedy for all concerned.

About 9 p.m. on Oct. 10, 1997, Drake, 52, was asleep on a cot in the rear of his BMW and Mercedes-Benz repair shop in Simi Valley when he was awakened by a tapping noise. Having been robbed several times, he grabbed a loaded .44-caliber revolver and headed toward the door. Throwing it open, he saw a crouching figure outside a chain-link gate about seven feet away. He raised the revolver and fired once, hitting Coppola--a teenager he knew and liked--in the face. The 17-year-old employee of a nearby motorcycle shop had stopped by to pick up a trailer for a camping trip with a buddy, a trip for which Drake himself had contributed steaks and hamburger meat.

Prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder; last week a jury rejected that charge and found Drake not guilty of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

During the dramatic trial, the prosecutor displayed a large photo of Drake’s cot with a telephone beside it. Had Drake reached for that phone and called 911 rather than reaching for his gun, the tense moment might well have ended with laughs all around. But he didn’t.

Nothing can undo that fatal mistake. Nothing can give Coppola’s parents back their son, give Coppola’s camping buddy back his friend or give Drake back his peace of mind.

If anything worthwhile can be found in this sad tale, it is a warning to merchants and homeowners who imagine that keeping a handgun handy is a sensible way to protect against crime. For every case where do-it-yourself gunslinging helps to keep the peace, there’s a tragic blunder like this one.

It doesn’t take a jury to sentence Ed Drake to a lifetime of regret.