Springville man shoots and kills suspected home invader(UT)

heraldextra.com ^ | 2 March, 2012 | Jim Dalrymple

[marktwain]

SPRINGVILLE -- In the early hours of Thursday morning, a man sneaked into a Springville home. Police say the intruder changed out of his wet clothes, found a tortilla and made himself a wrap, then went upstairs and demanded money from the home's residents.

But instead of turning over cash, the man living at the home shot and killed him.

Springville police Lt. Dave Caron said the resident called to report the incident around 2:45 a.m. It occurred in a home on 475 East near 800 South. When police arrived, the intruder was already dead, Caron said. By early afternoon the man had been identified as 31-year-old Armando Martinez Jr. His last known address was in Provo.

Martinez was ultimately unarmed, but reportedly told the residents that he was carrying a gun he had recently stolen.

According to Caron, the incident was likely a case of self-defense and no charges are expected. Caron explained that the law allows residents to use deadly force if they are afraid for their lives or the lives and safety of other people living in their homes.

"It appears that it was justified," Caron said, adding that a husband and wife live at the home with their three young children.

Caron went on to say that Martinez walked through the neighborhood checking home and car doors. Police were able to track his movements though the neighborhood from the footprints he left in the fresh snow, and Caron said Martinez checked around 20 other doors.

According to police, Martinez managed to enter the home via a sliding glass door. Police initially reported that the door was unlocked, but Caron said Thursday afternoon that it was secured with a child lock near the top. Martinez reportedly disabled the child lock by pulling hard on the door.

The shooting occurred after the husband was confronted by Martinez in a bedroom, witnesses say. The couple told police that Martinez ordered them to take him to an ATM to withdraw cash. The husband was told to get dressed and get his wallet and keys.

The husband went to the closet, seemingly to get his coat, Caron said, but instead pulled out a 9 mm handgun and shot Martinez once in the chest.

[marktwain]

If someone tells you that they have a gun, the prudent thing is to believe them until other evidence is presented.

[Pollster1]

Police say the intruder changed out of his wet clothes, found a tortilla and made himself a wrap, then went upstairs and demanded money . . . Police were able to track his movements though the neighborhood from the footprints he left in the fresh snow, and Caron said Martinez checked around 20 other doors.

Odd behavior. I have no problem with this guy being shot and killed, but I wonder how mentally capable he was. I also find it interesting that he tried 20 doors before he found one that could be forced open without tools.

[School of Rational Thought]

Husband shot once and killed Martinez with 9mm.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

That he used a 9mm is interesting, because Springville (formerly Hobble Creek), hosts the “Hobble Creek Wranglers” who are a Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) affiliated Cowboy Action Shooting Club.

For their competitive events, pistols must be chambered for .45 ACP, rifles must be chambered for pistol cartridges of .40 caliber or greater, and shotguns must be 12 gauge.

For their special events, the revolvers used in normal SASS events are replaced with 1911 pistols. Lever-action rifles remain in use, while only 1897-style pump action shotguns are allowed.

But, I suppose, 9mm works in a pinch.

[trebb]

If someone tells you that they have a gun, the prudent thing is to believe them until other evidence is presented.

Even if they don't say it, or say otherwise, if they're in your home uninvited and making "requests" for your belongings on top of it, they will get treated as if they have a weapon drawn and pointed if they show up in my house.

[Paperpusher]

Bullet placement, not size, is the key.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Well, yes and no. It can be very unnerving to put a bullet right where you want it in a stressful situation, so I am charitable to those who get it in the zone.

Second, I have little trust in .25 caliber, since I had a friend who was shot 8 times with one, point blank, including three right through the navel, yet was rather creakily ambulatory and on the mend just two weeks later.

Now, .22 caliber is quite acceptable, because it has this peculiar tendency to nick organs just enough to cause lethal peritonitis that finishes the job after by all appearances they seemed to be getting better, that is, if they survived.

But, in the final analysis, there are no guarantees, so redundancy is good.

[Technocrat]

This was less than a mile from my house. Clearly an out of towner, because you do NOT pull this stuff around here where people measure their stashes in tons and the ranges up the canyon sound like a free fire zone every weekend all day long. He should have gone another mile to the NW, then he might have gotten away with it.

[Col Freeper]

In the early hours of Thursday morning, a man sneaked into a Springville home. Police say the intruder changed out of his wet clothes, found a tortilla and made himself a wrap, then went upstairs and demanded money from the home's residents.

The homeowner then pulled his gun and made him a dead intruder, wearing dry clothes, with a belly full of tortilla wrap and a chest full of 9mm lead (and that about wraps up this story).