Second attempt to rob Fort Bend house leaves 2 dead

[Paladin]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 16874.html

"April 25, 2006, 8:50AM
Second attempt to rob Fort Bend house leaves 2 dead
Gunfight at the home previously hit by attackers kills a visitor and a suspect


By ERIC HANSON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Armed men who tried to rob a man on Saturday in his Fort Bend County home returned to the same house Sunday and engaged in a gunfight with the homeowner.

Two people died in the exchange of bullets. They were identified as Yolando Vallejo, 40, who was visiting, and Omar Medrano, 21, of Houston, one of the robbers, said Fort Bend County Sheriff Milton Wright.

Sheriff's investigators said the attackers were trying to steal a safe they apparently believed contained a large sum of cash. Police said it contained only about $2,000.

Wright said Medrano was wearing body armor and the bullet that killed him struck just above the garment.

The events leading to the double shooting started about 2 a.m. Saturday when Michael Tornero and his wife returned to their house in the 5500 block of Maybrook Park Lane in the Grand Lakes subdivision.

The couple saw two or three men in the front yard struggling with a safe outside the two-story house, police said.

Tornero confronted the men, who fired shots at him and then fled. Wright said Tornero suffered minor wounds from either bullet fragments or broken glass and was treated at the scene.

When the homeowner went into the house, he found his daughter and her friend tied up. Police learned the suspects had forced their way into the house a few minutes earlier and were trying to escape with the safe when Tornero returned.

Just before 10 p.m. Sunday, a family friend, Yolanda Vallejo, of Houston, arrived at the house and told Tornero she wanted to give him a cake, Wright said.

"She went back to get it out of the car and when she came back one of the hijackers was with her," Wright said.

Wright said Tornero realized he was being robbed again and grabbed a .38-caliber pistol and started firing at the man, who was later identified as Medrano.

Medrano ran from the house and one or two accomplices were waiting in a getaway car, police said.

"As the crook was running away he fired back into the house and struck the lady he had come in with originally, killing her instantly," Wright said.

Medrano jumped into a car and was driven from the scene. A few minutes later, just about 10:20 p.m., Harris County Sheriff's deputies were sent to the 20700 block of Cranfield in the west part of the county to check out a report of a dead body.

Police later learned Medrano's accomplices dumped his body on the side of the road and told his relatives about his death.

Harris County investigators arrested five people and released all of them after questioning. Charges against at least one person are pending, Wright said.

Wright said detectives believe the suspects had specific knowledge about the victims and the safe.

eric.hanson@chron.com"

----

Very sad that the lady died, but Medrano definitely got what was coming to him.

[Charles L. Cotton]

"Wright said Medrano was wearing body armor and the bullet that killed him struck just above the garment."

This is becoming more and more common with hijackings, especially residential burglaries where the BG’s have more time to plan and execute the assault. This should spur us all to practice Plan B (Mozambique) Responses and seriously consider having a rifle readily available at home.

Chas.

[HighVelocity]

COM hits may not be the way to go with the first shot anymore. Above the neck or below the belt may be better choices as body armor becomes more common.

$2000 in the safe and 2 people dead. Just goes to show, it doesn't matter what you have, it's what somebody THINKS you have that matters.

[AOPAPilot]

I am beginning to seriously worry about all these BG's wearing armor these days. I think I am sitting pretty over here at my place with my shotgun (M1 Super 90) and .45 (Sig 220).... Makes me start to consider taking my M1A SOCOM out of the safe.

[MikeJ]

Call me an evil neo-Nazi if you will, but I just can't help noticing that the surnames of all those involved in this incident end in o. Do they speak English? In what coutries were they born? What's their immigration status? What do they do for a living? Is it perhaps, a high risk occupation involving the transport and sale of controlled substances? Is it fear of libel suits or just political correctness that prevents the Chronicle from asking these questions?

[j1132s]

Call me an evil neo-Nazi if you will, but I just can't help noticing that the surnames of all those involved in this incident end in o. Do they speak English? In what coutries were they born? What's their immigration status? What do they do for a living? Is it perhaps, a high risk occupation involving the transport and sale of controlled substances? Is it fear of libel suits or just political correctness that prevents the Chronicle from asking these questions?

The way I see it is that the attackers may know (or have some knowledge) of the victim since they are aftering a safe (that I asusme is inside the victim's house). So, it doesn't suprise me that they appear to all hispanics.

What is interesting is that, if I take the article above o its face value, is that one of the victims starts shooting when (soon-to-be) dead female victim is being used by the BG as a shield/hostage of some sorts.

[j1132s]

"Wright said Medrano was wearing body armor and the bullet that killed him struck just above the garment."

This is becoming more and more common with hijackings, especially residential burglaries where the BG’s have more time to plan and execute the assault. This should spur us all to practice Plan B (Mozambique) Responses and seriously consider having a rifle readily available at home.

Chas.

I wonder if this is a reaction to CHL?

More gun-carry good people ->
More chance of robbing a victim w/ a gun ->
Better wear armor when going out to rob people

Maybe we should get AP pistol ammo legalized ?
(I'm not sure, but is AP rifle ammo legal? I think it is, but not sure.)

[MikeJ]

The way I see it is that the attackers may know (or have some knowledge) of the victim since they are aftering a safe (that I asusme is inside the victim's house). So, it doesn't suprise me that they appear to all hispanics.

What is interesting is that, if I take the article above o its face value, is that one of the victims starts shooting when (soon-to-be) dead female victim is being used by the BG as a shield/hostage of some sorts.

I didn't see anything in the article about the woman being used as a hostage or shield. If anything, I would assume that she was Medrano's accomplice.

What bugs me is the omission of important facts from the news story, which seems to be written to cause alarm. If it's a case of Latino drug dealer vs. Latino drug dealer, then law-abiding Americans need have little fear of a similar home invasion. If the shooters are illegal aliens, the story supports stricter enforcement of our immigration laws. Perhaps that's why Pravda on Buffalo Bayou chose to leave that part out. Of course, one can only speculate as to whether the omissions are the result of incompetence or deliberate deception.

[KinnyLee]

I wonder if this is a reaction to CHL?

More gun-carry good people ->
More chance of robbing a victim w/ a gun ->
Better wear armor when going out to rob people

Maybe we should get AP pistol ammo legalized ?
(I'm not sure, but is AP rifle ammo legal? I think it is, but not sure.)

Maybe because they got shot at the first time around then got smart and started wearing body armour.

[gigag04]

Maybe we should get AP pistol ammo legalized ?
(I'm not sure, but is AP rifle ammo legal? I think it is, but not sure.)

Most rifle ammunition will penetrate a vest I believe.