In a brand-new housing development in on Houston’s east side, one homeless troublemaker decided the half-built homes and backyards were his own personal playground. And likely his personal outhouse as well. Neighbors reported the man repeatedly trespassing, rummaging through the properties, and treating the construction site like his own private domain. Written and verbal warnings failed to deter the persistent nuisance.
Around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, a new homeowner caught the guy in his backyard and told him to get lost. The homeless man left, only to return shortly thereafter, like a stray cat that refuses to take a hint. The homeowner confronted him a second time on the road.
That’s when things got physical: The bum reportedly attacked the homeowner.
The homeowner, not wanting a hundred staples in his head — or worse — pulled a pistol and shot his attacker. Mr. Homeless ran off. After the homeowner gathered his faculties, he called police.
Turns out Mr. Homeless had collapsed in a nearby ditch where he drew his last breath. Cops found him dead right there. Houston police are now investigating and no charges have been filed against the shooter.
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Mock all you want. This bad guy had violent tendencies and wouldn’t stay gone despite numerous warnings. But here’s the larger point: the “good guy” homeowner would’ve been a lot smarter to have called the cops the first time and let them handle the persistent drifter. Using deadly force to defend property (especially partially-built homes) is a dangerous gamble in most jurisdictions.
Texas self-defense laws are relatively strong, and the physical assault likely provides sufficient legal justification. Still, the aftermath of any shooting is rarely clean. Now this homeowner faces a police investigation, legal bills (unless he had self-defense legal coverage) media scrutiny, and the stress that comes with taking a life — justified or not.
The good guy may suffer from PTSD over the attack, nightmares, stress on his marriage and at his place of employment. Dealing with that could cost him thousands of dollars of expenses. And all for what? To chase off some homeless dude instead of letting HPD take care of it.
The mainstream media exists to contribute to pile-ons in cases like these such as the headline: “Homeless man shot after trespassing.” The casual reader will think the bad guy got blasted for walking across someone’s lawn rather than violently attacking someone. But that doesn’t generate clicks like the TV news station’s sensationalistic headline.
Cops exist for a reason. Persistent homeless trespassers with attitude problems are their problem to solve, not yours, especially with a trigger. Letting law enforcement deal with these situations (or not) keeps you out of the legal system’s crosshairs, to say nothing of the other possible post-incident fallout.
should have let the cops handle it and he should not have gone out to confront. But, despite the error in judgment on those points it still doesn’t mean he could not defend himself from a violent attack, and at the moment of the attack he was not defending property but was defending himself. But we need to wait for what the investigation comes up with.
You’re assuming the police would have done anything. And who knows if they had not been previously called about this person. For trespassing, the police can do very little beside issue warnings or citations. And even if they actually made a custodial arrest and he was detained overnight, the judge would release him in the morning, and he’d likely be back again.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but the law does not adequately address these types of issues. Laws were written to address a population with a basic sense of decency and right and wrong and when that is lost it become largely ineffective and puts the law-abider at a disadvantage. We see more and more this type of public disorder because there is no longer a basic respect for property rights. Most laws do not allow deadly force to enforce property rights, so a frustrated property owner may see the only solution to be escalating the situation to where deadly force is authorized in dealing with it since “the law” never will.
“. . . the ‘good guy’ homeowner would’ve been a lot smarter to have called the cops the first time . . .”
Another clumsy hot take.
The quoted report suggests the HPD had been called previously. That sure didn’t solve the problem. Why would the good guy think another call would be any different?
The best answer, who knows. The smart thing is to call the police even if multiple calls are necessary. Stay back and let the police do their job. Calling the police may not be the easiest thing under some circumstances; but it most likely in the long run is the most prudent response. Think of #1(yourself) first and consider all the possible consequences of approaching the intruder. Should the intruder be armed, remember it only takes < a few seconds for them to draw and shoot. One problem is you never know the mindset, emotional makeup or intent of any stranger and that is reason enough to keep and maintain a safe distance from the intruder/stranger while calling the local police. That which is stated above is afterthoughts.
P O T G should think about these things and how to react long before any problems arise.