Homeowner defends right to shoot suspected burglars

Homeowner defends right to shoot suspected burglars

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KINGSLAND, Texas (KXAN) - A 64-year-old retired homeowner said he was defending his life when he shot at a departing car he thought was burglarizing his neighbor's residence early Wednesday morning in Kingsland.

"He saw some guys stealing stuff from his neighbor's house so he took his gun," said Jim Wheat, the homeowner's attorney. "He certainly didn't want to fire at anything."

But the man did end up firing several shots at the vehicle after approaching the three men who he says backed their car under the carport at a home in the 4700 block of River Oaks Drive.

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Here we have another case in Texas of a homeowner shooting at burglars targeting a neighbour's residence. This time no one has died but a man is in critical condition in hospital after taking one in the neck.

Three men were driving away when the homeowner opened fire.

Justified, or not justified? In this case the burglars are driving away and are no threat to the man. But, arguably the police apprehended the men quicker because of the homeowner's actions.

I say justified. In Texas that is the law so how can you fault the man? Those theives should have either been better or, here's a novel idea, don't rip people off.

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They were breaking the law, I have no sympothy for them. As for the man, it should be looked at carefully. On a personal level, I say more power to him, but if he was indeed breaking the law then he will have to see the punishment that comes with it.

reply to post by TheComte


An interesting case to be sure, but what I disagree with is that a neighbor decided to open fire on someone he suspected of burglarising a home that did not belong to him.

Had it been his own home, I would absolutely agree with his actions. His duty however in this instance should have been to report the incident to the police and let them deal with the crime. He obviously had time to record the licence plate number on the back of the car and have a description of the people he suspected of burglarising the home. Instead he decided to play johnny law and put someone in critical condition. The suspected thief deserves to be tried and perhaps convicted then sentenced to time behind bars. However now this man may never walk again depending on the extent of his injury.

If it were his own property I would be completely behind this man, I believe that a person has the right to defend their own property, even using deadly force to do so, but to step outside of ones own property line, this in my opinion is vigilante justice and I feel that the homeowner is now just as much of a criminal as those he sought to thwart with his actions.

My issue with this case involves the property line. What is his to defend versus what is his to report. A good citizen and neighbor would have taken notes, recordings even, and turned them over to the police to let them do their work. However this man decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided to circumvent the law and play judge jury and potential executioner to people that were robing someone else's home. This was not his call to make, The appropriate action would have been to notify the police of the robbery and let them handle it.

Like I said, if it were his own property, I would be behind him 100% A man's home is his castle and he has the right to defend that property. But to be a good neighbor one also must respect the right of his neighbor to defend his own property how he sees fit. This man did not, he chose to make the decision for his neighbor, now another man that perhaps does belong in jail is in the hospital.

Justice was not served here. Vigilante-ism was carried out instead. This is a nation of laws, and we as Americans have the duty to adhere to those laws and respect the rules of conduct to the exicution of those laws.

In my opinion the neighbor that chose to take the law into his own hands (even if it were under the best of intentions) does deserve to be punished.

reply to post by whatukno


The neighbor did not break the law. In Texas you have the right to use deadly force to defend your neighbor's property.