Posted on 12/14/2007 8:34:42 AM PST by BradtotheBone
A southwest Harris County homeowner shot and killed a man he discovered climbing into a window of his house at about 2:15 a.m. today, investigators said.
Steven Dunbar, 44, died in the window of the home in the 3400 block of Cascadia, Harris County sheriff's homicide Det. Rolf Nelson said.
Nelson declined to name the homeowner but said the man, 32, was asleep in the house with his wife, a son, 6, and an infant daughter when he heard a loud noise.
"The homeowner says he heard a loud noise, possibly a gunshot, that startled him out of bed," Nelson said. "As he got up, he said he heard another loud noise and he said the house was shaking."
The man had retrieved a pistol he keeps and was on his way to investigate the noises when he heard glass breaking in a bedroom.
"When he entered that bedroom, he said he saw a burglar coming through a broken window," Nelson said. "He shot several times and struck the burglar several times, killing him at the scene."
Exactly what Dunbar was trying to do and why there was so much noise before the homeowner discovered Dunbar remains unclear, Nelson said.
Deputies found a back screen door on the back of the house torn from its hinges, which could account for the shaking feeling the homeowner said he noticed after he awoke, Nelson said.
"He's got a pretty extensive criminal record of felonies over the last 13 years," Nelson said of Dunbar. "He has at least 12 arrests for felonies and a half dozen convictions. We don't know if he was intent on some other crime or if it was a burglary for something he could turn into money."
The area around the shooting scene was taped off by deputies at about 3 a.m. today and the homeowner was not available for comment.
The home is in the Forest View subdivision near the intersection of FM 1093 and Addicks-Clodine.
While the investigation continued late this morning, Nelson declined to say exactly how many times Dunbar was shot and where the bullets hit him.
No charges have been filed against the homeowner and the case is expected to be referred to a Harris County grand jury for review, Nelson said.
If the shooting occurred as the homeowner described it, Texas law allowing people to defend their homes from intruders likely will preclude charges being filed. Today's home-invasion fatality appears more clear-cut than that involving Pasadena resident Joe Horn, who shot two men allegedly trying to burglarize his neighbor's home last month.
Horn, 61, is being investigated for the Nov. 14 shootings in front of his home in the 7400 block of Timberline Drive. The two men, Diego Ortiz, 30, and Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, are suspected of breaking into Horn's neighbor's home in the middle of the afternoon.
The two men, who were in the country illegally, were confronted by Horn in his front yard after a police dispatcher told Horn not to go outside with his shotgun. Police said both men were shot in the back with a shotgun and died at the scene.
In today's case, Dunbar "had made entry but his whole body wasn't inside yet," Nelson said.
Half a dozen felony CONVICTIONS? How could the home invader possibly be out on the street menacing the community? The homeowner deserves a medal—he did more in five minutes to protect his innocent fellow citizens than the courts did in 13 years.
Looks like the Goblins haven’t been watching the local news!
The lab boys have figured this one out. Ever watch CSI?
I have no idea what the law is in Texas.
We are against tampering with crime scenes.
That’s good...
Don’t want to spook them...
Let em keep coming, just make sure everyone is armed and ready to “greet” them..
Clearly the goobermint won’t deal with ANY of the serious problems of society -— the armed citizens will have to do it for themselves...
Your tagline says it all!
That is only a mile up the street from my house — yikes! Once upon a time the west end of Houston was one of the nicer parts of town, but no longer.
From what I've read on posts from Texas FReepers, being fully inside the window doesn't enter into it. Being on the property at night is pretty much all that is needed. Why should it matter if this POS had his body completely inside the window or not. His intention was obvious, especially since "Deputies found a back screen door on the back of the house torn from its hinges..."
Are we sure that this wasn't written by "Chronicle bed wetter Lisa Falkenberg" or one of her "staff"? The liberal bias just reeks.
I always keep in mind Mark Twain's advise when I read krap(tm) written by "journalists":
...the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditchdigging and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse."
Someone in this area needs to ask, why was this individual not in prison? Who released this career criminal? What judge was involved in setting this guy free?
“So who wants to say this VCA shouldn’t have had to die for a robbery?”
OK, I will say it, This VCA shouldn’t have had todie for a robbery. Of course, if this idiot VCA would not have been robbing, the idiot VCA would be alive today.
How did I do?
In many states if you shoot an intruder you're in more trouble than the criminal you shot, and the best outcome you can expect is to lose everything you own and end up in debt up to your eyeballs for legal expenses.
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