Murder in my Neighborhood

[bivenator]

A sad occurance in my neighborhood on July 3. A homeowner was awakened by the backup generator coming on after his power was cut. He and his wife heard noises in the garage an he armed himself and went to investigate. He confronted a man in his garage and struggle ensued. The thief wrestled the gun away and shot the homeowner. The wife called 911 and the murderer left. He was arrested walking in the neighborhood a short time later. The homeowner was an older gent who was involved in the ministry. I have been told that the murderer lived in the area with his mother. The perp was about 30 with some prior convictions, most recently for DWI. He had been at a halfway house and was release from there after his mother accepted him into her house. It is thought that the murderer and the victim may have known each other from the halfway house where the victim would volunteer to minister to the men living there. Further speculation was that the victim recognized the man in his garage that night and this was how the murderer was able to get the gun away from the homeowner. So very sad that this piece of schiesse took a good mans life for nothing. Texas will met out the stiffest penalty. Preacher fatally shot by own gun while trying to stop burglar | khou.com Houston

[kaisen]

What a sad circumstance for everyone involved. Horrible.

The next seventy posts will fall into two categories:

1) The preacher shouldn't have thought twice to blast the perp right between his eyes. His hesitation / empathy allowed the perp to get the gun and kill him. Kill or be killed.

2) Just think if the preacher wouldn't have grabbed his gun to investigate, he wouldn't have lost it to the perp, and may be here today. Guns don't solve problems, they create them.

[stomachmonkey]

That sucks.

Heard a bit on the news.

Sorry to hear.

[HardDrive]

Piece of scum. I'll buy the rope.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Sounds like a good man, what a shame. RIP.

[Tobra]

He does sound like he was a good man, they always seem to die too young.

Interesting that the power was cut.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Very unfortunate. It depressing that the victim devoted his life to trying to help people and paid for it with his life at the hands of one of the people he had tried to help.

On another note -

The article title is rather disturbing: "Preacher fatally shot by own gun while trying to stop burglar". I've noticed this trend in the media where the authors attribute actions to the gun rather than the person who pulled the trigger.

[vash]

damn.

[bivenator]

It was strange that the power was cut. I think the murderer did that from the breaker box in the garage. If he went to the trouble to do that then it would indicate that he wasn't just looking to pilfer some power tools. I have not heard if he had any weapons.

The neighborhood security stopped the guy before the crime as he walked thru the neighborhood but he told them he lived there and was just on a walk. The security evidently was satisfied with the answer and did not call the police. We had just scaled back the neighborhood security from a constable with real authority to the security guard.

The picture of the guy in the link is from his DUI from a few years back. I am told that he now has a shaved head with a bushy beard.

Wonder is the widow will sue the security company.

[ckelly78z]

The scary part of this is, we all know someone like this murderer who is a deadbeat/in and out of trouble/living with Momma at an advanced age, in our own neigborhoods. It makes me wonder why he attempted to cut the power to the house before going in. This sounds like everything about the robbery was pre-meditated except the outcome.

[vash]

This bums me out.

I've trained with SWAT. I suck. I'd probably blast my foot off in the excitement. It not like the movies.

I'm better off laying down a defensive position and waiting for the cops.

Scary.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by vash

This bums me out.

I've trained with SWAT. I suck. I'd probably blast my foot off in the excitement. It not like the movies.

I'm better off laying down a defensive position and waiting for the cops.

This exactly. I don't see ANY reason to go looking for trouble if someone breaks in. No way am I confronting anyone. Put my family behind me and then anyone in front is the bad guy. Click - Boom.

Now I have gone downstairs to investigate an outside noise, but if I heard it inside, no way....

[Rikao4]

he should have stayed in bed...
he wasn't prepared to shoot...
you don't save souls in your garage at 2 in the morning..


Rika

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by cstreit

This exactly. I don't see ANY reason to go looking for trouble if someone breaks in. No way am I confronting anyone. Put my family behind me and then anyone in front is the bad guy. Click - Boom.

Now I have gone downstairs to investigate an outside noise, but if I heard it inside, no way....

We are the same. Two story house, bedrooms on the second floor. Dogs on the first floor, Jack Russel to awaken the muscle, gate on the stairs. Alarms.

Know who is home, get them in the master bedroom and set up shop.

I have left the house after folks on the farm, but that is another story.

[porsche4life]

And I'd bet they'd play hell taking a fun away from someone with your training Paul. Or at least you'd stand a better chance than the rest of us.

[speeder]

The bottom line is that these are dangerous situations that can go sideways in a hurry. He may have made a fatal mistake going into his garage but that doesn't make him any less of a good man. Sad story, RIP.

[weseeeee]

If it's outside, I call the police. If it's inside I'd take a defensive position and still call the police. If my daughter is home from college and someone breaks in, I'll be on offensive!

[vash]

Originally Posted by speeder

The bottom line is that these are dangerous situations that can go sideways in a hurry. He may have made a fatal mistake going into his garage but that doesn't make him any less of a good man. Sad story, RIP.

Agree. He wasn't short on bravery either.


Sent via Jedi mind trick.