Mentally ill people sometimes pose a legitimate threat, and in this case out of Fresno, Texas, south of Houston, that’s exactly what happened. At about 4:00 a.m., a man stormed into a home with four sleeping family members inside, yelling that someone chasing him. The homeowner confronted the intruder, asking him to leave multiple times. Meanwhile, his wife and two children, ages four and ten, were hiding in a bedroom.

When the intruder refused to leave after repeated requests, the homeowner shot him twice, once in the arm and once in the leg. When deputies arrived, the man was still yelling about being chased. He’s expected to recover and will be given a mental health evaluation. No one else was injured during the incident.

Cases like this make you wonder about misplaced initiatives on the part of anti-gunners. We know mental health is a problem, and it can lead to violence of many kinds, especially the biggest, most silent killer: suicide. Those who value life and want to reduce gun-related deaths would do best to work toward solving that problem rather than disarming law-abiding Americans.

21 COMMENTS

  1. “Those who value life and want to reduce gun-related deaths would do best to work toward solving that problem rather than disarming law-abiding Americans.”

    Uuuuhhhh, like, uuuhhhmmm, no? Can’t fix people, so we need to confiscate the tools of those who don’t need fixin’.

  2. If you’re an 8 yo child asking for protection at 4 am you will get it til the cops arrive. Anybody else pounding on my door during sleepy nap time is subject to harsh retribution.

  3. Not many facts in that article. The notion that you can shoot some one for being unlawfully present in your house, without more, does not jibe.

    • … yes you can. This is pretty well established law, even in many liberal states. Not all, of course. Even California has halfway decent laws regarding defending yourself and your family in your home. Forcing your way into someone’s house, particularly when it’s dark, is a forcible felony in just about every jurisdiction, and the vast majority of jurisdictions hold that forcible felonies are legal to respond with lethal force. If this is not the case, please feel free to site a contrary case where a homeowner was convicted of shooting an intruder. Because I can’t find any, other then one guy 3 years ago in Montana that literally lured in a German teenager to shoot him. That’s far different then lawful self defense however.

      • Plus, that guy in Missoula lured the youths into his garage, NOT into the house. Montana sees the garage as an outbuilding, not a dwelling. Also he left the garage door open, so they didn’t break, they only entered. Besides the shooter had been telling the people around the neighborhood that he was sick of his garage being robbed and he was going to kill the next one that he caught in there.
        If the homeowner had not been such a fool, he’d likely be free today. I’m sure his telling the neighbors all about his criminal plans ahead of time made the County attorney’s (we don’t have DAs in Montana) decision to charge him much easier.

    • “The notion that you can shoot some one for being unlawfully present in your house, without more, does not jibe.”

      You sure as hell can down here in Florida.

      Take care and not walk into peoples homes without an invite, OK?

    • In every state, the law presumes that someone who breaks into an occupied dwelling poses an imminent threat to the lives of the occupants. Retreat, even if it’s feasible, isn’t required before fighting. The presumption can be overturned but it takes something like the intruder is an unarmed child that the homeowner can handle without resorting to deadly force.

    • its pretty much established case law, or directly written into the law, in every single state that if someone has illegally or forcibly entered your residence you are clear to respond with lethal force. The understanding is that it is reasonable to assume any intruder means to cause death or great bodily harm to a resident, and even if they don’t there is no meaningful way to discern that in a way that doesn’t put the residents in harms way. There are mitigating circumstances and situations, but they are few and likely immaterial if there are no other corroborating witnesses other than the homeowner and intruder.

  4. Vanessa Marquez, who was an actress on “ER” and other things, was shot dead by police earlier today. She was apparently flipping out and threatened the cops with a gun. It turned out to be a BB gun.

    Suicide by cop is a sad and stupid waste, but crazy people do crazy stuff all the time.

  5. At about 4:00 a.m., a man stormed into a home with sleeping family members inside, yelling that someone chasing him.
    Yes, the dogs would have been chasing him and trying to make a meal out of him.

  6. Giffords makes me want to vomit , the good guy with a gun makes people want to go out & buy a gun , NOT FACTUAL. maybe just maybe someone was chasing the man ,maybe not. That’s what doorbell’s and knocking are for in an emergency situation. Not breaking & entering. He’s lucky to be alive. You can’t take chances with crazy intruders busting in your home at 4:00 a.m. especially with kids in your home.

    • She says the probability of you needing a gun to save your life is almost 0%…. unless you are in a situation where you need a gun to save your life, then the probability is 100%.

  7. You do a home invasion you get shot. “Not all threats?!?” Breaking in carries a sentence -crazy or not…take your meds.

  8. Yeah, but what happened to the molemen chasing him? If they aren’t apprehended, they’ll just go back to the center of the earth and continue to plot global domination.

  9. I think it’s a good thing that this man was shot. It is clear that he has some mental health issues, and I’m glad he didn’t end up killing anyone in his confused state. I do think that it would have been better if the homeowner had called the police before shooting him, however. The police might have been able to get there faster than the homeowner could have and stopped him from entering the house. Or they might have gotten him out of there sooner so nobody got hurt. It is also necessary to find more facts on this important issue to understand the mental health of intruder. A lot of people are saying that this is a perfect example of why you should always call 911 first when someone breaks into your house. That way you can get them out of there without having to approach them yourself and possibly getting hurt or killed by them.

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