Man Kills Neighbor's Burglars

[TN_Titans_05]

Pretty crazy story...I have my opinions as a gun toting southerner but Ill reserve them.

Here is the aduio:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_7jqLie6-Y0

Here is an article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/17/national/main3517564.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3517564

Here is the guy:

[Pats4four]

Something similar happened in the UK a couple of years ago when a man killed two burglars that were repeatedly robbing his house. We've been discussing the rights/wrongs of this in school a lot.

[Madison]

Another letter writer praised Horn, saying, "Where does the line form to pin a medal on Joe Horn?

Agreed. He called the police, gave them at least 7 minutes to get an officer over there, and then shot a couple of crooks before they could get away because the law was too slow to respond. At the very least give him a pat on the back for protecting his neighbor's property. Heck, he even stated that he didn't know those neighbors very well (but was going to protect their home anyway!) and stated exactly what his intent was to the dispatcher on the phone.

I see zero reason to file charges against him, and I doubt the state hits him with any charges.

Gotta love Texas.

[josebach]

I see zero reason to file charges against him, and I doubt the state hits him with any charges.

Other than the fact that he disobeyed a direct police order and essentially executed two people, you're absolutely right.

[Mookie4ever]

"Boom! You're dead"

I remember once getting drunk at a party with my buddy. His girlfriend took his car keys away from him so we took a cab back to his parents' place (I was crashing at his place). Trouble was his house keys were on the same ring as his car keys so we had to break into his parents place. His neighbour saw two drunk guys trying to pry open the window in the backyard and snuck up on us with a shovel and stopped from braining us at the last second. I can only thank God that we weren't in Texas.

[Madison]

I see zero reason to file charges against him, and I doubt the state hits him with any charges.

Other than the fact that he disobeyed a direct police order and essentially executed two people, you're absolutely right.

Maybe I missed it, but was the dispatcher an officer? Normally dispatchers are not police officers...

And "executed"? Why do people defend criminals? He shot two crooks who were in the process of committing a crime. Gimme a break. Add to it that they had past records (which of course he didn't know at the time but is irrelevant to his actions) and the "executed" comment is truely sad.

[josebach]

I see zero reason to file charges against him, and I doubt the state hits him with any charges.

Other than the fact that he disobeyed a direct police order and essentially executed two people, you're absolutely right.

Maybe I missed it, but was the dispatcher an officer? Normally dispatchers are not police officers...

And "executed"? Why do people defend criminals? He shot two crooks who were in the process of committing a crime. Gimme a break. Add to it that they had past records (which of course he didn't know at the time but is irrelevant to his actions) and the "executed" comment is truely sad.

I'm actually quite conservative when it comes to crime. I'm even in favor of paying higher taxes so that they can build more prisons and giving stiffer prison sentences. My brother was a cop for 10 years and I fully support the police. You obviously don't if you think everybody with a gun should shoot first and ask questions later. What if they were two 15 year old kids?

I really don't understand some people's mentality.

[deerayfan072]

I know the law in Florida states that it is legal to use Deadly force on someone who is committing a burglary.

[Madison]

I'm actually quite conservative when it comes to crime. I'm even in favor of paying higher taxes so that they can build more prisons and giving stiffer prison sentences. My brother was a cop for 10 years and I fully support the police. You obviously don't if you think everybody with a gun should shoot first and ask questions later. What if they were two 15 year old kids?

I really don't understand some people's mentality.

Two totally different situations, as he certainly didn't shoot first and ask questions later. Stick to the one at hand. A man witnesses two men break into his neighbor's house. He calls the police. Gives all the information. The police take too long to get there, so he shoots the criminals before they can escape and never be caught. I didn't see an age for the criminals, but even if it's two 15 year old kids like in your example, so what? Crime is crime and part of robbing people is knowing you can be killed in the process.

What's the problem?

I know the law in Florida states that it is legal to use Deadly force on someone who is committing a burglary.

Edit: I Read it backwards

And Texas even recently made the laws more clear that it is quite ok to use deadly force on criminals. One tiny sticky point that I don't think will be a problem, but here it is from the article:

Under Texas law, people may use deadly force to protect their own property or to stop arson, burglary, robbery, theft or criminal mischief at night.

But the legislator who authored the "castle doctrine" bill told the Chronicle it was never intended to apply to a neighbor's property,

So we'll see how it plays out, but I could see someone getting lynched if this guy faces any real charges.

[Metroid]

Seems like overkill to me(no pun intended), couldn't he have held them at gun point or maimed them even? Killing two people for burglarizing your neighbors house just ain't right. Now if they had broke into his home and he came face to face with them then by all means, but he had to go outside as the thieves were leaving. They posed no physical threat to him. I dunno...just doesn't seem right.