Posted on 09/11/2009 4:50:07 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA
LITHONIA, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - A Lithonia homeowner who shot a man who allegedly tried to burglarize his home will face charges. The shooting happened Thursday morning on Gadwall Circle in Lithonia. Police said it appeared that the suspect was outside of the house.
"It came in through here went through the garage, hit the electrical panel, went through the bathroom and lodged in the wall," said Eric Thomas of the bullet that hit his home after a neighbor shot at an alleged intruder.
The shooting happened Thursday morning when police said the burglar entered a house located a couple of doors down from where Thomas lives.
Police said the unidentified homeowner interrupted the burglar and apparently shot him as he fled.
DeKalb County police said the homeowner who shot the suspect was charged with aggravated assault because the shots were fired outside of the home.
Investigators said the homeowner was taken to jail.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxatlanta.com ...
Why? He's lucky he didn't kill his neighbor.
While I would agree that he shouldn't be charged with shooting at a perp, even if the perp is outside the house, he should most certainly be charged with negligence in the fact that his missed shot went through his neighbor's house.
>>Or the fact the homeowner was stupid enough to fire his weapon outside his home?<<
Ever watch those films of the guns on US carriers shooting down Japanese planes during WWII. Watch how, even after the plane has hit the water, they keep firing. When fighting for your life or security, you don’t always think rationally. You are in fight or flight mode. Looks like this guy, like the fellas on those carriers, was in “fight” mode.
His action was not stupid. It just looks like that to those of us who were not there and not “feeling” what he was feeling.
In Wisconsin you as the homeowner would be put on trial for murder. If he falls into your house the self defense clause comes into play.
Yep. Being too careful about using “unnecessary” force just got four of our marines killed in Afghanistan.
Let's see, gain proper sight alignment for each one and with the proper angle of tragectory, and at the same time think what is behind each one.
THAT is a reasonable standard while you are being attacked?????
You must be joking. That standard guarantees to good guy dies 100% of the time.
No one said self defense was a piece of cake. The fact remains...you DO NOT have any right whatsoever to endanger your innocent neighbors just because you are under attack. If you can not reconcile this during a 2 am intrusion, you should probably not consider firearms as part of your self defense plan...or at least move out to a farm house away from any neighbors.
I don’t know for sure, but I heard that Glaser Safety Slugs will penetrate most bullet-proof vests because the pellets are so small. Also they have the advantage to allow your defense attorney tell the jury that you were using “safety” bullets by choice, so nobody would get badly hurt...so it wasn’t really your fault that the robber happened to die.
Unless you have a metal backstop in your home, you will almost always be endangering someone outside to some point if you fire a firearm inside your home.
Mitgating the danger is all one can do; mitigating the danger to ZERO Percent is impossible (unless you want to be dead from home invaders). I say this because in any firefight there will be necessary movement, and it is impossible to see the terminal trajectory of every every possible shot if fighting off 2 armed atackers in the middle of the night.
Mitgating the danger is all one can do; mitigating the danger to ZERO Percent is impossible (unless you want to be dead from home invaders). I say this because in any firefight there will be necessary movement, and it is impossible to see the terminal trajectory of every every possible shot if fighting off 2 armed atackers in the middle of the night.
That's exactly why you prepare ahead of time and not try to figure it out once it has already happened. Know your house, the surroundings, your weapon, and your ammo. The guy in this story f-ed up royally because a round ended up in a neighbors house. There's no excuse for that...period...end of story. Responsible firearm handling does not disappear just because your life is in danger. If you still don't get it, tell me how you would react if a neighbor was being invaded and ended up shooting and killing one of your family members (God forbid). Would you be so understanding of their carelessness?
I guess all those times instructors have told me I was responsible for every shot I fired was correct.
Who’d a thunk it.
Seriously, I wonder if the police are charging him due to a complaint from the neighbor.
I do believe that’s covered in Rule Number Four:
#4 - Know your target and what’s behind it.
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been pondering a very serious situation.
I live in a small town, the police chief lives just down the street from me, he stopped by recently to let me know there have been reports of prowlers in our neighborhood. the chief and I both are pretty sure that we know who they are, two 15 year old twin boys.
The chief even told me that there was evidence in his garage that someone had been in there.
On two occasions recently my wife and I have heard noises in our garage and there are signs that forced entry has been attempted in a shed that I keep locked.
These incidents happened around 1:00 A.M. and both times I have gone out in my undies with my pistol in hand and found nobody.
If it is the two boys I think it is doing it, I believe that it is highly unlikely that they are armed. I have had to ask myself if I would shoot if I caught them in the act. They are both bigger than me and one-fourth my age, I doubt that I could restrain them with anything less than a gun. I will not however investigate unarmed.
Would I fire? I’ll just have to (rapidly) assess the situation when I come to it.
Certainly is.
Please see post 51. Unless you have a Metal backstop surrounding the entirety of your home (both windows and walls), using your argument, a firearm sholuld never be used inside the home.
If your life is in danger, the answer is obvious.
Let’s hope the kids wise up before something bad happens.
But you don't know for certain, as you have not yet caught them.
Ah, the twin boys defense.
I’m familiar with that one. One twin commits a crime and when it’s time to identify the perp, the second of the twins shows up in court. The case is dismissed.
Ask the chief to go to the boys and explain the seriousness of their actions. Explain that in the dark, bad things can happen. Your concience is now clear.
Since this is an ongoing threat, you might consider a 12 gauge pump and it’s very likely they have armed themselves from a previous robbery.
But you don't know for certain, as you have not yet caught them.
Of course not, if we knew that, then it could be stopped without someone getting shot. I believe that these two yutes don't realize just how serious this game is that they are playing. The chief and I are not the only gun owners in the neighborhood.
I've seen this many times. Rob Pincus knows his subject. Maybe you should have watched it to the end. The birdshot did not penetrate thru the second layer of sheetrock, so when you add insulation, brick (possibly), then the exterior of your neighbors house, it's a pretty safe round to use by comparison. Nothing is 100% safe, but like I said before, the guy in this story screwed up because his round hit a neighbors house. The person pulling the trigger is always responsible for every single round fired...no excuses.
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