Homeowner Charged with Manslaughter
When does defense end and offense begin? With sports, it’s usually pretty easy to tell.
In football, for example, when a team’s defense intercepts a pass or recovers a fumble, the celebrating defensive players trot off the field, thumping their chests and high-fiving each other, while the offense scurries onto the field with serious looks on their faces, vowing to make the other team pay for its mistake.
But when someone is protecting his home from an invasion, there are no referees to stop the action with a whistle or out-of-bounds markers to indicate where an individual can go.
At one moment you could be defensively thwarting an attack by a burglar, while at the next moment you might be able to go on the offensive if you’ve succeeded in subduing him.
So the question becomes, does a home invader deserve any leniency after he has stopped his aggression and is now attempting to escape the situation? Or has he forfeited his right for sympathy due to his crime, and therefore deserves to be pummeled or even shot as he tries to flee.
In other words, because he started this mess, should you be allowed to finish it as you see fit?
This is not a hypothetical question. Recently in Minnesota, a 19-year-old home invader was shot and killed by the owner of the home he had tried to rob while he was riding in an escaping car.
The homeowner, 65-year-old David Pettersen, was facing charges of second-degree manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm.
Pettersen claims he was merely trying to shoot the tires of the car, but he may be on shaky legal ground when his trial comes around. Prosecutors will undoubtedly claim that the homeowner was no longer facing a threat when he fired his gun, and therefore was on the offensive.
What do you think? Should Pettersen be declared guilty for his actions, or should the judge or jury let him off because he was attempting to stop criminals from escaping?
Whatever else you do, ignore the advice of “unknown” to shoot him outside and drag him back inside. Today’s forensic examiners are very smart and will figure out what you have done. If you are serious about defending your home with a gun, join one of the outfits that give training, legal services, and insurance in case you find yourself in need of it. United States Concealed Carry Association is the one I use, but do some comparison shopping in your area. I feel badly for those of you in a “run away” state, so get out and vote to get your laws changed. In the case of a robbery, if you can scare the criminal out of your house LET HIM GO! call 911 and give a description to the Police. If you must shoot because you are IN FEAR FOR YOUR LIFE, shoot until the threat stops. If he gets out the door, let him go, don’t shoot him outside or follow him, that is the job of the Police. If he is inside, wounded and down, do not approach him, he can still be dangerous. Keep your eyes on him while calling the Police, stay on the phone until they arrive, and PUT YOUR GUN AWAY BEFORE THEY COME IN THE HOUSE. They will want to question you, but tell them you are too upset to talk, and they may question you when your lawyer is present, after you have had time to calm yourself. Police involved in a shooting are typically given one to three days to calm down before they make a report. You should get the same. If you can’t afford to join a gun owners group, try to at least give a criminal lawyer a small retainer to be on call for you. If you live somewhere like Chicago, only God can help you.
Two things. In your doorway, shoot, drag inside. Inside, no shots in the back. Must be facing you. Keep a OLD crowbar handy to put into perpetrator’s hand. He was armed as far as I’m concerned.
I agree that you are completing within your rights to protect your home from any intruder; even shooting him if he threatens you in your home. But if he is running away from your home, and you start shooting at him, you have no idea where your rounds are going. A close friend of mine lost his mother because of a similar situation. A guy was chasing another guy down the street who had attempted to steal his truck, and was shooting indiscriminately at the guy. A round passed through the wall of my friend’s mother’s house, and struck her as she was watching TV and killed her. The shooter obviously was at fault, and went to jail. Not sure what happened to the other guy. It’s one thing to confront and even shoot someone in your home, but if he is running away from your home, and you start shooting, you better be ready to accept the consequences of your actions.
I am a Vietnam veteran, and in NO Way in my mind , did I go to war for someone else to infringe on my rights to have a safe and secure life, or to steal from me with impunity. What;s mine is MINE – not yours to take as you please!! My property is posted -NO TRESPASSING-and I will shoot to kill, regardless of laws which now favor criminals. I am also a licensed minister, but I would not hesitate to protect what I have. I wouldn’t want to kill anyone, but the fact and the truth is- THERE IS NO LONGER ANY JUSTICE IN OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM. I am NOT going to allow someone to trample on MY RIGHTS because of slanted laws put on the books by IDIOTS who have no idea what it’s like to really work for what you have!! The school of hard knocks should have included in the curriculum of their education.
How far into anarchy do we have to descend before this situation becomes the norm? Somewhere (?) someone said “You’re in deep_________when you start calling good evil and evil good.”
how faw into anarchy to we have to be before th
It is funny to see that people that prey upon those of us in our modern society feel free and justified in doing what ever they want without the sever consequence of possible death. These crooks will break into your home and steal anything and everything of value to you. If you are home, GOD forbid, they might even harm you or even kill you. But who cares as long as they get away scot-free.
When they are caught, and they will be sooner or later, these crooks know that they will spend a few years in jail, even if they kill the occupants of the home or store that they had just robbed.
So what happens when the home owner shoots the intruder or robber? The first thing is that the perts never thought that it may cost them their lives. If they thought that they would or could lose their life stealing from others they would do one of three things: 1.) Find an easier target to go after. I’m sorry to say this is true. Instead of changing their ways they would rather find a easier prey to go after. 2.) Do their crimes armed with the intent of doing bodily harm or even cause you your death. 3.) They change their ways and turn away from a life of crime. (Yea, Right!) People that steal do so because that lack morals and patience to achieve the goals in their lives. They want what you have and they want it now. These people are selfish and conceded. They don’t care about anyone else or their feelings or even their possessions; they want what you have and want it now.
But if these people were to be placed on noticed that the population overall may be armed and are free to shoot to kill any crooks that steal or rob them; then perhaps these crooks will think twice before committing their crimes. It will at the very lease give the law abiding population the peace of mind of protecting themselves.
An argument can be made that someone will shoot and/or kill someone when they could have allowed the crooks to get away. Their common sense is called into question. There are three ways that I feel will help get over these hurdles. 1.) Before owning a gun, the person must be trained on how to use that weapon. Furthermore, they must recertify this training every three years or dispose of their weapon(s). 2.) In addition to weapons training they must under go a legal training program as to when they can use their weapon in self defense. (Each state has their own requirements. This is why it is imperative that the gun owner goes through this class as changes do occur annually.) 3.) The person that has a weapon is entitled to own it. (You would be surprise how many people have a weapon that are no longer eligible to own one.) Much like a drivers license, you must be renewed or forfeit your weapon.
But if you are attacked or a crime is committed against you then you have a RIGHT TO DEFEND YOURSELF! [PERIOD!!!] Just don’t shoot someone in the back as they are fleeing from your home or business. They will get caught, sooner or later.
If you do shoot someone just remember these seven words: “I was in fear for my life.”
Emotions aside – you cannot shoot someone who is fleeing in a car unless you are an officer of the law. Yes, you want him to pay for his crime – but theft is not a crime punishable by death.
On this other side of it – I have called the police the 2 times we were burglarized. They thought we were scamming them and did nothing to catch the thieves the first time. The second time (8 days later) they tried harder, but don’t have the manpower to investigate when it’s “only” a theft case. Reporting the vehicle and description of the thieves has never helped in my case….
If the thief has not threatened your physical safety or the safety of your family (or guests) in your home, you CANNOT threaten his safety whether in OR out of your home regardless of how much of a “scumbag” he is.
Saying you will shoot anyone who comes into your home to steal will be grounds for a criminal and a civil lawsuit. The family of the victim (the criminal who stole from you) can sue for wrongful death and you will pay a great deal of money for the privilege. The criminal case will land you in jail and/or prison because you killed someone who was not threatening your physical safety.
Think and be wise. Get educated. Do research on the laws and ordinances in your locale. Don’t let emotions lead you to an action which will make everything worse for you!
The perp thinks, ” well he didn’t shoot me” –I’ll be back, now that I know the layout of the house.
This is a tough issue. I think we can all agree that we have every right to defend ourselves in any way we choose when an invader is in our home. But if the intruder is outside our home fleeing, then it gets more complicated. We can argue that the home invader “deserves” to be shot, but is it really worth it to go to jail to give him what’s coming to him?
We won’t be paying as tax payers to house, feed, give medical care, air and heat, etc. to a dirt bag that doesn’t respect other people’s things. The home owner should be awarded a steak dinner for his actions.
Every thing depends on state laws, every state is different. But as a I live in a conceal carry state the following is what our laws are like at the moment I write my opinion. If someone breaks into my house I am required to retreat, turn my back and run. At the point of entry of the perp, if he or she has a weapon that could be used to kill or injure me I could shoot him or her to kill if they facing me. However if they turn their back it is assumed the threat has been diminished and I can’t shoot them. That mean I could not chase after them and attempt to shoot them, period.
Where I live even if everything has been done by the law we still have to deal with an aggressive prosecuting attorney that might try and make me out as the criminal regardless of what happen.
One good thing is our state legislators are meeting and are trying to pass less stringent laws, and give us some ability to protect ourselves and loved one in our own homes.
Well, the turd is on the run, running away, and the home owner should let him run. I know there are circumstances where the scum should be shot and if they are bad enough, committed a murder, he should be put down regardless. Jim
He should havf shot the guy as he was breaking in, not as he was leaving. You’ll find the law states it that way. I was told by a police officer that “You can do what you want inside the house but you can’t touch them even on the property.”
In states that have stand-your-ground laws consider yourselves fortunate!
Home invasion is against the law. It’s almost like rape to me – it’s an invasion of my legal rights to safety. When someone breaks in into my house, that person gives up his rights to his own safety. If you don’t want to take a chance on getting killed by invading other people’s homes, then don’t break in and break the law
That homeowner should have the right to defend himself and his family .
On the surface, I’d side with the homeowner having had my home robbed three times by the same people (but I couldn’t prove it.) I finally gave up and sold my house in a quick sale. But I’d need to hear what the jury would hear and I also wish all evidence would be admitted, like the records of the perpetraitors, but i guess that won’t ever happen.
He was clearly in the wrong. His life and property were no longer in danger. He should have written down description, gotten license plate and called authorities with info so they could make an arrest,
I was a cop for 30 yrs and was taught that if the bad guy has his back toward you while attempting an escape he does not pose a threat. so you radio his description and means of travel during the escape. But also we were taught that it was ok to shoot an escaping felon depending on the crime just committed ,murder vs stealing a lawmmower, get the idea ? Home invasion stealing money or an object. Being armed plays a roll also.
well the criminal got what he deserved for 1) robbing an occupied dwelling and fleeing, 2) the homeowner should have known better than to shoot at the guys tire..should have gotten his tag number and car description and given it to the police and let them deal with the thug thief….. but don’t this fall under the “STAND YOUR GROUND LAW”? i k now if it was me that thug would have never made it outta my home…..with me if i have something you want ask me don;t steal from me because Karma will come back and bite your butt with hot lead, i wont let no one steal anything i have worked hard to get, they want it get it the way i did work and earn it
I believe that everyone has the right to protect his Castle, why should a criminal have more rights than you?