Shooting thru door kills firefighter neighbor at wrong house

[philip964]

http://www.click2houston.com/news/woman ... e/25029960" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A 64 year old woman, home alone, shot through the door and killed her 25 year old Iraqi veteran and Houston firefighter neighbor, after he attempted to gain entry.

He had been dropped off by a taxi at the wrong house after an evening of partying.

RIP.

Know your target.

[jmra]

Know your target.

Better yet, don't get so drunk that you can't remember which house is yours.

[MotherBear]

Also, with all respect to the departed, maybe don't get so drunk you can't recognize your own house.

Either party could have changed the outcome by the simple use of common sense. It's tragic to see a loss like this when a very simple step by either party could easily have prevented it.

[TomsTXCHL]

Good grief, y'all are harsh. At least, while I haven't read the article it occurs to me that the guy did right by calling a taxi (assuming his other option might've been to drive drunk) and how can you fault him for being dropped-off at the wrong place.

And maybe the houses in his neighborhood all look mostly alike.

Anyway I can imagine this having happened to ME when I was young & stoopid; a needless tragedy for sure. At 64 this woman is NOT old (younger than I am!) and should have ID'ed her target before firing. A simple exchange of shouts-thru-the-door should have done it???!!!

[anygunanywhere]

while I haven't read the article

From the article you did not read:


"At the time, she again told him to leave and that she was armed," said Sgt. Dan Zientek, with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

After several verbal warnings, she pulled the trigger.

Anygunanywhere

[MotherBear]

Good grief, y'all are harsh. At least, while I haven't read the article it occurs to me that the guy did right by calling a taxi (assuming his other option might've been to drive drunk) and how can you fault him for being dropped-off at the wrong place.

And maybe the houses in his neighborhood all look mostly alike.

Anyway I can imagine this having happened to ME when I was young & stoopid; a needless tragedy for sure. At 64 this woman is NOT old (younger than I am!) and should have ID'ed her target before firing. A simple exchange of shouts-thru-the-door should have done it???!!!

I said in my post that either of them could have prevented this death. I think it's a shame she did what she did, and I certainly regret the resultant loss of life. It's not what I expect I would do in her situation, or what I would recommend to anyone. But one of them put himself in the situation and the other had it brought to her. He chose to go out and incapacitate himself. She was just home minding her own business. The article says she tried shouting through the door: she told him to leave and that she was armed. Odds are good if he couldn't tell he was at the wrong house, he was too incapacitated to carry on a coherent conversation establishing that he's not a bad guy. Assuming there isn't more than one Youpon Lane in Porter Heights, the houses do not look all alike (per Google Maps street view).

[ELB]

Count me harsh. Being too intoxicated to realize you are not at your own house after making your way past an intervening gate and being yelled at by the homeowner, and continuing to try to open the door, is not the homeowner's fault. It appears the homeowner correctly ID'd her target, which was some guy who kept trying to get through her front door despite being warned off. I might have waited for the door to actually be breached, but then I am not a 64 y.o. woman living alone and armed with only a revolver.

He sounds like under normal conditions he was a good guy, veteran and firefighter, but neither of those statuses were known to the woman, and neither are free passes to do foolish, threatening things and get away with them.

RIP.

[MechAg94]

I can't blame the woman. I don't like shooting through the door, but it would be hard standing there while someone is beating the door down. I agree with ELB.

Even if the homes were identical, he went through a gate and should have seen other stuff that told him it wasn't the right house. I don't think I have ever been that drunk.

This also isn't the first time this has happened. I think there have been at least two other incidents in the last ten years in Houston. Neither homeowner was charged.

[carlson1]

........ Neither homeowner was charged.

The way this reads I do not believe the lady should be charged either.

[Texsquatch]

I'm not trying to be cold, but this posting and the article attached should read "Drunken man shot by elderly woman while attempting to enter her home".
The fact that he's a firefighter has nothing to do with this event. The article mentions firefigher several times in the first sentences and even has a quote by the poor woman saying she didn't know he was a firefighter. So what. If he was on an emergency call, then this becomes tragic on many other levels. But this lady was afraid for her life, and who knows how hard this guy was banging around? Is she supposed to ID the guy and find out if he's a drunk neighbor or wait until he actually breaks in? And so what if she knew who it was. Could he have been so drunk as to harm her when he gets into the home and thinks she's an intruder in "his" house?

[Charles L. Cotton]

I'm not trying to be cold, but this posting and the article attached should read "Drunken man shot by elderly woman while attempting to enter her home".
The fact that he's a firefighter has nothing to do with this event. The article mentions firefigher several times in the first sentences and even has a quote by the poor woman saying she didn't know he was a firefighter. So what. If he was on an emergency call, then this becomes tragic on many other levels. But this lady was afraid for her life, and who knows how hard this guy was banging around? Is she supposed to ID the guy and find out if he's a drunk neighbor or wait until he actually breaks in? And so what if she knew who it was. Could he have been so drunk as to harm her when he gets into the home and thinks she's an intruder in "his" house?

I agree. The TV news reports last night repeatedly referenced him being a firefighter and it included a short clip from the HFD Chief and the Mayor of Houston. (None of them were critical of the woman/homeowner). The only reason to mention his occupation was to draw sympathy. A few years ago an HFD firefighter made the evening new when he was convicted of murdering his neighbor over a barking dog or a fence, I can't recall which. Implying that someone is morally superior or that their life has greater value because of their occupation should be insulting to everyone.

The news reports also stated he was "cut-off" by the bartender and that his buddies put him in a cab. It didn't say the cab was his decision and this rings true in view of his apparent inability to tell he was at the wrong house or respond appropriately to the woman's warnings.

It's sad, but getting drunk can get you killed in a multitude of ways. Thankfully,the Lord watched over me during the stupid years of my youth. (I mean that literally!)

Chas.

[BStacks]

Implying that someone is morally superior or that their life has greater value because of their occupation should be insulting to everyone.

When are you going to run for office?

LT Govenor would have been good.

[MechAg94]

It's sad, but getting drunk can get you killed in a multitude of ways. Thankfully,the Lord watched over me during the stupid years of my youth. (I mean that literally!)

Chas.

Agreed. I am thankful of the I made it through my earlier years also.

[TomsTXCHL]

while I haven't read the article

From the article you did not read:


"At the time, she again told him to leave and that she was armed," said Sgt. Dan Zientek, with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

After several verbal warnings, she pulled the trigger.

Anygunanywhere

OK well that is what she TOLD the officer but I don't see anything about witnesses.

And while she fired thru the door, it's not clear that he had even made it to her door i.e. she had some sort of iron gate. So she shoots thru the door and the bullet makes it past the iron and kills the guy.

I think she has some explaining to do myself...

[carlson1]

Re-read the article he was past the iron gate and walked through the yard to her door. She said that he attempted to come through her door. She even gave verbal warnings. 64 years old and trying to come through her door she did right.