It's pretty common; they knock to see if someone will let them in first, or to make sure that nobody's home.TC-TX wrote:Just exactly WHEN did you ever hear of a burgular who Knocks First???
Several other news items lately indicate that this is happening quite a bit.FW Star Telegram wrote:FORT WORTH - A suspected burglar shot several times Monday with his own gun remained in critical condition but is expected to survive his injures, police officials said Tuesday.
Avery Harris, 36, checked into Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital with gunshot wounds to the abdomen, not long after a Fort Worth man called police to report that he had shot an intruder inside his apartment and that the burglar had fled.
Lt. Gene Jones, a police spokesman, said investigators were able to collect evidence that confirmed Harris was the suspect involved in the burglary. He faces a charge of burglary of a habitation.
Investigators suspect Harris knocked on the door of an apartment at the Village at Post Oak complex in the 3800 block of Great Oak Road about 3:30 p.m. Monday — a common technique used by burglars casing a residence.
“They go and knock. No one answers so they think no ones there,” Jones said.
Ronald White, 36, told police that he heard the knock but was unable to answer the door because he was giving himself a medical treatment.
Minutes later, White heard someone enter his rear patio door. He told police he walked into the living room to investigate and found a handgun lying near his sofa, which he picked up.
The intruder “didn’t think anybody was there. That’s why he put the gun down,” Jones said.
After hearing a noise coming from the bedroom, White, gun in hand, walked into the bedroom where he discovered an unknown man rummaging through a drawer.
White told police the intruder turned and faced him, then reached into his waistband as if to get a weapon. Fearing for his life, White told police that he fired several rounds at the intruder, striking the man in the midsection.
White told police that he then went into another room to call 911 after the intruder requested medical help. Upon returning, White found the intruder gone, police said.
Responding officers followed a trial of blood from the apartment to the parking lot.