DECATUR, ALABAMA — A man was fatally shot after he broke into his ex-wife’s house and made his way towards his ex-wife with a pair of box cutters in hand. Another man was home at the time and armed with a handgun. After the ex-husband advanced towards him, he shot the intruder multiple times. By the time police arrived, the intruder was dead.
Decatur police are investigating the scene and treating it as a domestic violence incident, according to WHTN News 19. The intruder has been identified as Bruce Rashad Moody, 36.
Police believe the defensive shooting incident was unavoidable due to the conditions. Decatur police continue to promote domestic violence prevention as a means of avoiding these types of incidents in the future.
It’s hard to negotiate when the bad guy is already inside the home and armed. Especially in domestic violence incidents, there appears to be very little room to talk down the attacker. Emotions have already blurred any logic or reason and, at that point, a person is stuck either defending him or herself or becoming just another victim.
The normal prescribed policy of getting a restraining order likely wouldn’t have worked by itself. This is a situation where the intruder was already willing to break the law and seemed committed to violence. In that unfortunate situation, it really does come down to fight or perish.
Glad to see the family made it through the situation and no one else was hurt. A jury will likely make the final distinction as to whether or not there was any wrong-doing but police have not filed any charges at this time.
