Did this man act appropriately? Thoughts?

[Saulbadguy]

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5766455

[opcat]

People have guns in this country for a reason.

[QuinnMac]

Those two could have just as easily tried to get into his house and cause him harm, the one guy was already on parole and probably would have done whatever he could not get caught by the old man.

[cireksu]

No.

[jeffy]

He saved our tax payers a lot of money.  Good for him.

[cireksu]

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't it innappropriate to murder people?

[sys]

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't it innappropriate to murder people?

yes, you're wrong.  cops are heroes when they do it.  soldiers too.

[pissclams]

I think the appropriate answer is "none of us know".  To accuse him of murdering the two men is baseless, since none of us were there.

[ChicagoCat]

I think the appropriate answer is "none of us know".  To accuse him of murdering the two men is baseless, since none of us were there.

QFTruthiness

[GoldbrickGangBoss]

Hard to have sympathy when they were robbing a neighbor and not far from that man's house. He shot them in self-defense. And even if you want to argue that he didn't, those two tards put themselves in a position that he could easily get away with blowing them away by engaging in illegal activity in his vicinity.

Moral of the story: Don't steal crap that isn't yours.

[cireksu]

sounded like the cops were there within seconds of the shooting, If it was such a nice neighborhood he should have known the cops would be there pretty quick, they should get him for voluntary manslaughter since he was on the phone saying he was going to do it, I mean, he isn't batman.

[GoldbrickGangBoss]

they should get him for voluntary manslaughter

Or he should get nothing.

[cireksu]

we need more police officers

[sys]

we need more police officers

 

[AzCat]

Hard to have sympathy when they were robbing a neighbor and not far from that man's house. He shot them in self-defense. And even if you want to argue that he didn't, those two tards put themselves in a position that he could easily get away with blowing them away by engaging in illegal activity in his vicinity.

Moral of the story: Don't steal crap that isn't yours.

And the proverbial stopped clock chimes in with one of its occasional hits. 

[Houstoncat93]

lethal force is alllowed in Texas to defend your property.  I really doubt a Texas jury will convict him of anything.  He might be in trouble from a civil standpoint though.

[opcat]

we need more police officers

We need less less thugs. More armed trained people.

[jmlynch1]

we need more police officers

We need less less thugs. More armed trained people.

or, you know, less guns.

[pissclams]

lethal force is alllowed in Texas to defend your property.  I really doubt a Texas jury will convict him of anything.  He might be in trouble from a civil standpoint though.

wasn't this in california?

[Houstoncat93]

lethal force is alllowed in Texas to defend your property.  I really doubt a Texas jury will convict him of anything.  He might be in trouble from a civil standpoint though.

wasn't this in california?

Pasadena, Texas....just outside of Houston.

[sys]

Pasadena, Texas....just outside of Houston.

oh, somehow i thought it was in cal. too.  if it was in texas, then yes, the guy acted appropriately.

[michigancat]

He shot someone 15 feet from his front door?  The sidewalk is closer to my house on two sides.

I understand he was pissed, but he was not in any danger whatsoever.

[sys]

I understand he was pissed, but he was not in any danger whatsoever.

doesn't matter.  he was in texas.  they shoot people in texas.

[Houstoncat93]

lethal force is alllowed in Texas to defend your property.  I really doubt a Texas jury will convict him of anything.  He might be in trouble from a civil standpoint though.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/kprc/20071208/lo_kprc/14802500

Update:  The thieves were shot in the back and they were in the county illegally.  Based on this I now think he will face charges and probably be convicted.  His only hope is if someone on the jury thinks all illegals should be shot.

[waks]

Isn't it illegal to shoot someone in the back in Texas? Ron White (it was one of those guys from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour or whatever) made a joke about it..

[Houstoncat93]

Isn't it illegal to shoot someone in the back in Texas? Ron White (it was one of those guys from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour or whatever) made a joke about it..

Not necessarily....I'm not a lawyer but did serve as a juror on a self-defense case here in Houston a few years ago.  Basically to be able to claim self-defense you have to prove that a reasonable person in your situation would think that your life was in danger.  So, say you turned around to grab a gun, I don't have to wait until you turn back around to shoot you.  I can pop you right then and there.  In this case I think this guy is going to have a hard time proving that any reasonable person would think that either he or his property were in danger.  The 911 tape plus the two being shot in the back will be very difficult to get around.

[AzCat]

we need more police officers

We need less less thugs. More armed trained people.

or, you know, less guns.

There are already like 300,000,000 guns in the US, most credible sources say you'd have to get that number waaaaay under 1,000,000 before it would have any significant impact on gun crime.  What, precisely, do you have in mind?