LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ — A man has been shot and whisked off to the hospital after allegedly mistaking his neighbor’s home for his own and trying to make his way inside, AZ Family reports.
It’s easy to try to call this a tragic mistake, but it’s not so certain. The man who was hospitalized for his actions had reportedly been warned by the female occupant, carrying a gun, to stop trying to make his way into her home.
According to AZ Family:
Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez said the woman had called 911 at about 11 p.m. to report a suspicious vehicle in her driveway at her home near Camelback and El Mirage roads. The woman told dispatchers she could see a man inside a car and did not know who he was.
Enriquez said the man eventually walked up to the front door and tried to get inside the house. The woman warned the man that she was armed and after he tried to get into the house again, she shot him through the frame of her front door.
When deputies arrived on scene, they found the man on the doorstep with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries where he remains in critical condition. Enriquez said the woman lives alone and was alone at the time of the shooting and did not know the man. Enriquez says the man is a neighbor of the woman and pulled into the driveway of the wrong home.
The investigation into the incident is still underway, said Enriquez. There is no information available about any possible reason he may have pulled into the wrong driveway or if she may face any charges for the shooting.
I have to say, given the current information of the circumstances I would be shocked if this woman was charged with any wrongdoing.
A stranger parked in her driveway, tried to gain entry, and seemingly ignored warnings to back off — that’s as clear cut for self defense as any.
If she were charged, either we are not getting the whole of the information here, or she’s going to have a very easy time defending herself in court.
Either way, hopefully would-be entrants to her house will think twice in the future.
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