Homeowner Jailed For Shooting And Killing Home Intruder: What’s Your Take On This Story?

By Robert Farago via The Truth About Guns

“Police get a call that a 23-year-old was trying to break in through a bedroom window,” fox2detroit.comreports. “But the resident, a 23-year-old living inside the house, shoots and kills him. ‘Somebody tried to get in the house after we had all went to bed,’ said David, the homeowner who allowed the gun owner to live in his house. ‘And evidently, and I don’t know what his purpose was.’ The intruder was wearing dark colors and didn’t know anybody in the house. There’s some controversy . . .

The shooter shot through the window and the intruder was found by police lying dead on the front lawn.

“Preliminarily it looks like he was defending himself,” Bouchard said. “The hitch is, the person wasn’t in the house.”

“Home invasion, was it something else –  it is hard to say,” said David.

A homeowner has a right to use deadly force, but if that intruder is inside the house. If the intruder is outside of the house, it could be a problem.

The general rule of thumb in these matters (regardless of what state you live in): you can use deadly force if you are in imminent danger of death or grievous bodily harm. The totality of circumstances apply. In other words, would a reasonable person believe they were in deadly danger in the same circumstances? Here’s something relevant:

“That individual has a criminal history, a number of crimes,” said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. “I believe he had some outstanding warrants.” . . .

“Preliminarily it looks like he was defending himself,” Bouchard said. “The hitch is, the person wasn’t in the house.” . . .

“The totality of the circumstances is being investigated and then we’ll present the whole totality to the prosecutor’s office,” Bouchard said.

Well OK, but why put the gun owner in jail pending a full investigation? The report doesn’t mention any prior criminal record for the shooter so we can only conclude . . . because guns!

As for the outside the house vs. the inside the house conundrum, I’m not saying I agree, but this incident gives credibility to gun guys who [half-jokingly] recommend pulling an aerated bad guy into the house post mortem.

Your thoughts?