OH:Niles man testifies about firing shot that killed intruder

vindy.com ^ | 11 December, 2013 | Ed Runyan

[marktwain]

He got up from his bed, walked to the kitchen and saw that “someome was prying the door open.”

Moments later, he “looked out the window and saw someone or two people run to the front of the house, so I went back into my bedroom, I grabbed my shotgun, and I heard the front door being pried open, so I shot through the front door.”

Hahn’s shotgun blast killed Terry Allen, 37, of Mineral Ridge and injured Burns, 33, of Mineral Ridge, but Hahn said he didn’t know that the shot hit anyone until Niles police arrived a short time later after Hahn’s call to Niles police.

“There was two or three guys trying to get in the house,” he told the dispatcher.

Burns is charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter in Allen’s death and attempted aggravated burglary in the July 12 break-in.

In a videotaped interview with a Niles detective, Burns admitted to being part of a ring of five people who had planned to break into the house to steal copper pipes.

He described the attempted break-in and what happened after the shotgun blast.

But Burns denies having known that someone might be home, saying the house looked vacant. To find Burns guilty of murder, prosecutors must prove that Burns tried to break into a house that he could have reasonably believed was occupied.

[sonofagun]

Chill a little. All I did was to quote Ohio State Law.

[TurboZamboni]

the state law seems to be ‘castle doctrine’.

not every state has that.

[B4Ranch]

>>Wasn’t there a case just a couple of months ago where a guy knocked on the wrong address and he got shot through the door? (and died) There was clearly no immediate threat to his life and was never going to be- it was an actual case of simple wrong address.<<

There’s a audible difference in someone knocking with their hand and someone prying and banging on the door with a crowbar. If there wasn’t we’d have more people shot for just knocking.

[Pollster1]

Exactly. In some states you can be tried for murder if you shoot and kill a criminal who is in the process of inflicting death or serious bodily harm by beating your head against the concrete. In other states, a criminal attacking you or your home could be making a fatal mistake with no legal recourse.

[nomad]

Niles is a somewhat depressed area. Lots of manufacturing has departed the city.

[Balding_Eagle]

In spite of all your hand wringing, the guy whose life was on the line made the correct call.

BTW, consider carefully before you come pounding on my doors with a crowbar in the middle of the night.

[Mr. K]

I am not hand wringing, you are deliberately being obtuse- you want to forgive him for using a gun in this manner? Look at his own words:

"I grabbed my shotgun, and I heard the front door being pried open, so I shot through the front door.” "

He said he HEARD the door being pried so he shot through the door.

Now, I personally don't mind that the dirt-bag is dead, but a JURY may think "If he only heard a door being pried open, is his life in danger? from the sound? Why didn't he say "stop I have a gun"

Do you see the point I am TRYING to make? A jury may not think his life was in danger at that point, and convict him.

He also shot in a very unsafe manner- How could he know what ELSE was behind the door that he could have hit?

The two guys that are NOT dead can easily say they stopped to ask for directions and "blammo" through the door~! (and the evidence would NOT contradict their version)

[21twelve]

Thanks for posting the law. I would have also been on my cell phone to 911 at the time. For my own personal reasons (and a sturdy front door) I would have waited until it became clear they were about to breach the door.

Of course waiting carries the risk of the other guys going around to a side window and/or back door and flanking me.

[Balding_Eagle]

Well, that’s why I urged you to carefully consider things before you go doing the same in my neck of the woods.

History here has shown that little to none of that which you are wring your hands over has come true, except for the part about the guy on the outside being dead.

Seems to be true for the original story also.

Thank God cooler, more level, heads prevail where I live, and perhaps where this targeted mand lives also.

[sonofagun]

Thanks for posting the law. I would have also been on my cell phone to 911 at the time. For my own personal reasons (and a sturdy front door) I would have waited until it became clear they were about to breach the door. Of course waiting carries the risk of the other guys going around to a side window and/or back door and flanking me.

My concern is the purp being armed with a firearm. I don't know that I would shoot first, but my small town had a recent home invasion executed by three men, one of whom was armed with a shotgun.

My state also allows use of deadly force to stop a forced entry into my home.

[Mr. K]

I don't know if you are just a disagreeable sort or what... but OK I've tried to converse with you about it. Don't see my point? That's OK.

There is a pending murder charge against an Olympic athlete right now where he ‘heard some noise’ and shot through a closed door (and just happened to kill his girlfriend) So my point is not academic.

[Balding_Eagle]

Nor is mine. And I’m not being disagreeable. It’s my judgement that you either aren’t in possession of the facts, or want to live more dangerously than we do.

There is a widow just a few miles from me whom I’m sure wishes her husband had simply shot through the door instead of opening it earlier this year.

Our plan is to assess the situation, as the man in this story did, and then shoot through the door if we determine the threat on the other side is real. Discussed many times in our home, and plan is in place.