If I saw an obviously drunk or high person in their late teens to mid twenties wandering through my apartment at 3:45am, and they failed to respond to my demands for surrender, I would be absolutely terrified. Someone young, strong, and so messed up that he doesn't seem to care that I have a firearm? That's easily on my list of top 3 types of home intruders I am most afraid of.govnor wrote: In this case, the home-owner told him to surrender a few times. If I saw an obviously drunk or high college kid though, I would hesitate. Especially if I was leaving my front door unlocked. Who leaves their front door unlocked these days? Just asking for trouble IMO.
I hope I am never in this situation ... I cannot imagine how terrible it must be for the homeowner. But I think that his response, in light of the facts he knew at the time, was completely reasonable.
I can't determine from this story whether or not the door was unlocked. Even if it was, I don't think that impacts the reasonableness of the homeowner's response to the situation. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and locks are one of those "automatic" things that it's easy to mess up on on days like when you're carryng fifty pounds of groceries in from the car, your toddler is letting you know that he has to go to the bathroom right now, and the phone is ringing.