[marktwain]

Perhaps other freepers have experience with air rifle pellets impacting glass and can shed light on the above holes.

[yarddog]

I have a couple dozen air rifles.

A lot would depend on caliber and power. It sounds like he was using pellets instead of BBs.

Typically they put a tiny hole in glass but I could see some making holes similar to those shown. If I had to guess tho it would be something larger made them and like they suggested, a slingshot would be a prime suspect.

I remember a group at a retreat had a kid who broke 200 windows in one night. Some were totally shattered but most had just the tiny hole of the BB.

I think the most likely result would be a cracked window without a hole at all.

[House Atreides]

Haven’t seen much glass shattered by air rifle pellets but have seen many windows vandalized by kids throwing stones or using slingshots. That’s what the damage appears to be.

Is “Homeland Security” becoming populated by SOF wantabe pussies? Jeesh!

[tomkat]

An off-duty Homeland Security agent ..

That alone is enough to impart more than a whiff of bullshit to all that follows.

[Usagi_yo]

I shot a pellet into a window. One of those old style 9 panel windows so the actual glass surface area is small thus tighter cohesiveness. Anyway I would say the hole is similar. Very round, near perfect round, with spidering and crevacing. The hole is about right, though they show much greater spidering and crevacing.

However, that’s not what a store front window would look like. They would have a very small entry and very large exit pattern.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Well, someone shot an upstairs window of mine. Clean hole. No cracking at all.

[Tijeras_Slim]

The top ones don’t look like BB or pellet holes... don’t ask me how I know this.

[raybbr]

The inside pane is the one with the round hole. That would mean the pellet would have to have shattered the outside pane and THEN made an almost perfect round hole. No way, no how. Looks more to me that it was shot from the inside.

[mountn man]

that an off-duty homeland security agent was looking at one of the unfinished houses (that had been damaged by vandals). The agent is said to claim that one of the windows was shattered. The agent then looked out, saw a man with a rifle, and called dispatch.

Something doesn't pass the smell test.

that an off-duty homeland security agent was looking at one of the unfinished houses (that had been damaged by vandals).

Was he OFF DUTY and touring the home?

Why was he touring an UNFINISHED home?
Especially one damaged by vandals?

Was he looking at one of the unfinished houses (that had been damaged by vandals), because it was damaged by vandals?
If he was, then he really wasn't off duty.

Why would DHS be looking at a vandalized house?

[mountn man]

what he thought was a telescopically high-powered rifle so he called the sheriff.

What exactly is a telescopically high-powered rifle?

Does the telescope make it more high powered?

[TigersEye]

A neighbor kid shot a window of mine with a BB some years ago. Popped out a conical shard of glass inside and left a hole just slightly bigger than the BB.

[yarddog]

This is a .22 caliber Daisy pumper. It is not one of my most powerful air rifles but it would put a hole through glass at close range. At longer ranges I am not so sure. I could see someone not knowledgeable on guns mistaking it for a powder burner. I have a Crosman which looks just like an M4. I have a Diana model 48 which is one of the most powerful springers on the market. No doubt it would blast glass or put a hole in it. There are plenty of exotic air rifles which are on a par with centerfire rifles but that is not what he was using I am sure.

[smokingfrog]

The news report said there had been some squatters in the neighborhood. There appears to be a smaller hole on the inside pane of glass and the outer glass is broken-out. That would lead me to believe that the window was broken from the inside.

[eartrumpet]

Perhaps other freepers have experience with air rifle pellets impacting glass and can shed light on the above holes.

Maybe, maybe not. What's the statute of limitations in case Ma is reading this?

[Stalwart]

Does not look like damage from an air rifle pellet.

More like slingshot. A ball bearing or steel nut loosed from up to several hundred feet away. It could have even bounced off pavement before striking. The first hole pictured has a weird up-angle look to it.

I remember reading that Houston has potential for floods, as the terrain is flat. A new development would have a series of swales to catch and divert runoff. The little devils could hide there.

[nvscanman]

Where is the projectile .....a pellet passing through a window loses much of it’s energy. It’s not going to go too
far after that and certainly will not penetrate an interior wall. It should be childs play to find that pellet....If it
actually exists.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Something a lot bigger than a pellet broke that glass.

[Texas Fossil]

Glass breakage looks like result of a rock that was thrown at the window.

Now this leads to some other questions of the “off duty DHS agent”.

What was he thinking?