Quoted: I don't understand why nobody would verbally challenge a shadowy figue in a circumstance like this, like "DON'T MOVE OR YOU DIE"

If you are acting within the law, and the law doesn't require you to give a verbal command, why give an intruder time to react? That is just like firing a warning shoot, which is also a stupid move.

Quoted: While you guys are monday morning quarterbacking think about this. In a couple of days this guy will go to a church, look down into a coffin and see his child laying there. If this isnt a fathers worst nightmare I dont know what is! I cant say what I would have done or what he should have done cause I wasnt there!

+1

How many of you high-fiving and saying "good shot" are fathers?

If I shot my daughter dead by accident, the next bullet will probably be for me.

ETA: I cannot imagine a worse fate than being responsible for the death of your own child.  I simply could not cope.

Quoted: Quoted: I can understand the grand jury no-billing the 18yo killing but the little girl getting shot was extremely wreckless.  They had a house full of people!  What the hell?  And to be sleeping with the kids and having a loaded pistol nearby?  The SOB deserves some jail time.  No doubt in my mind. While I agree that the case involving the little girl should be looked into (I find it hard to believe that you can mistake a 5 year old kid for an adult, even in low light), a lot of gun owners have loaded pistols at the ready at night even with children in the house. WHat good is an unloaded pistol? YOu gonna shout bang at an intruder and hope it scares them away? I have a Streamlight M3 and M6, and keep one on my Glock at night, and have a Z2 as an additional source of light.

Did you read the circumstances involved with that case?

And you'd sleep in the same bed as your children and keep a readily accessible firearm cocked and locked?

He obviously grabbed it quickly - that meant that it was nearby.  That also means that when he's asleep, one of the children can take the weapon and injure themselves or others.

You do also realize that it is a crime to leave a weapon in a place accessible to a child, right?  

You must not be a parent.

if youre going to carry a handgun, you need to carry a light... (and the gun needs night sights on it)...

Quoted: In AZ the shooter could be charged if the intruder was not armed. You cannot use deadly force to protect property.

in TN you can too. if someone is in your house and is prowling around, shoot them dead.

Honestly can't believe some of the responses here.

This man is damaged goods now and for the rest of his life.
While I don't agree with all the posts here, I will admit that its hard to fathom deadly force authorization (i.e. Criminal Mischief/Burg @ Night), that is a law that we live under here in our State.  I see some pretty outlandish comments coming from armborne chair monday morning coach commando's and they tend to be States in which your firearms ownership is limited or conditional upon what you can and cannot shoot.  If you don't like or understand your own States Laws, fine but don't pass judgement on something you don't understand and think you know better.

My spin on this unfortunate accident is that it's the product of a Major Communication Breakdown.  If the kid  was coming home, "[ring cell phone] dad I'll be at the house around...see you in a few......",      or ,        [home phone ring] Mom/Dad I'm not staying at Suzy's tonight and will be home shortly....."   There was obviously some comm breakdown between these parents and their kids.   I have children albeit they are still very young.  I hope that my communication with my kids never degrades to the point that I cannot keep in constant contact with them.  There was clearly NO communication between the parties and situations sited here.

Now take out the fact that this was his son and what would you be saying?  

The poor bastard has to live with himself.  

nevermind

Quoted: I dont see the problem. He shot an intruder.

Grow up

Quoted: Did you read the circumstances involved with that case? And you'd sleep in the same bed as your children and keep a readily accessible firearm cocked and locked? Yes He obviously grabbed it quickly - that meant that it was nearby.  That also means that when he's asleep, one of the children can take the weapon and injure themselves or others.Keep it in a quick access safe. Or better yet, teach the children that guns are not toys, and that they can kill. You do also realize that it is a crime to leave a weapon in a place accessible to a child, right?  Did you know that in Illnoise, it illegal to drive a car at night without a runner holding a lamp in fron of your vehicle? Just because there is a law about it doesn't make the law right. You must not be a parent. So you think. I have a 6 year old daughter who knows more about guns and gun safety than some of the gun owners that I've met.

many years ago, i was sitting at home alone. when i hear someone walking down my hallway. i crab my gun, look at the phone. *ah hell by the time the cops even started heading my way it would be all over* screw the phone. I open the bedroom door and draw down on a man standing in my dark house with a long back coat and black hat hiding his face. as i was starting to say *your fu#@ed* he looks up and it was my brother. damn good thing i check my target. He just got in town and walked in a house he did not live in! His eyes got the size of silver dollars. He did not like looking down the barrel of a .357 mag.

It really sucks what the farther is going thru right now. His son should have let him know he was going to come over and the farther should have checked his target.

ALWAYS CHECK YOUR TARGET!!![
once you pull the trigger you cannot stop the bullet. it is most final decision you will ever make.

I actually got mugged and had to draw my weapon. Kept it trained on perp, but kept my finger off the trigger but resting against the sidestrap. In my training class, I quickly learned that with practice (I shoot weekly since I got my carry permit) it is not hard to move my fnger to the trigger fast enough to take a well-amed shot.

Honestly I would rather die than take the life of someone I love.

Quoted: It has to be quite painful to kill your own child but before all blame is placed on the father just what the hell was the boy doing there and why didn't he identify himself to the father? Any chance this might have been a crackhead ripping off pop for dope money? I will wait for more details before I condemn anyone but I do send my deepest sympathies to the father who must be suffering terribly.

+1

Quoted: Quoted: In AZ the shooter could be charged if the intruder was not armed. You cannot use deadly force to protect property. in Texas you can

+1 Yes you can use deadly force during the hours of darkness to protect property.

Quoted: Quoted: In AZ the shooter could be charged if the intruder was not armed. You cannot use deadly force to protect property.

In Nevada you can use deadly force to protect yourself if you can articulate that you were truly in fear for your life, or for the life/lives of anyone in your presence or company. Bare Fear, as opposed to True Fear is not a justification for the use of feadly force in the State of Nevada.

Nevada has favorable laws regarding self-defense. Deadly force can be used in Nevada to protect property under certain circumstances.  

NRS 200.120 “Justifiable homicide” defined. Justifiable homicide is the killing of a human being in necessary self-defense, or in defense of habitation, property or person, against one who manifestly intends, or endeavors, by violence or surprise, to commit a felony, or against any person or persons who manifestly intend and endeavor, in a violent, riotous, tumultuous or surreptitious manner, to enter the habitation of another for the purpose of assaulting or offering personal violence to any person dwelling or being therein.
[1911 C&P § 129; RL § 6394; NCL § 10076]—(NRS A 1983, 518)

NRS 200.130 Bare fear insufficient to justify killing; reasonable fear required. A bare fear of any of the offenses mentioned in NRS 200.120, to prevent which the homicide is alleged to have been committed, shall not be sufficient to justify the killing. It must appear that the circumstances were sufficient to excite the fears of a reasonable person, and that the party killing really acted under the influence of those fears and not in a spirit of revenge.
[1911 C&P § 130; RL § 6395; NCL § 10077]

NRS 200.150 Justifiable or excusable homicide. All other instances which stand upon the same footing of reason and justice as those enumerated shall be considered justifiable or excusable homicide.
[1911 C&P § 132; RL § 6397; NCL § 10079]

NRS 200.160 Additional cases of justifiable homicide. Homicide is also justifiable when committed:
1.  In the lawful defense of the slayer, or his or her husband, wife, parent, child, brother or sister, or of any other person in his presence or company, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design on the part of the person slain to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury to the slayer or to any such person, and there is imminent danger of such design being accomplished; or

2.  In the actual resistance of an attempt to commit a felony upon the slayer, in his presence, or upon or in a dwelling, or other place of abode in which he is.
[1911 C&P § 133; A 1931, 160; 1931 NCL § 10080]—(NRS A 1993, 932)
 

As stated above in AZ you can threaten deadly force to protect property but cannot actually use it unless the bad guy is armed and threatening you.

As someone else posted the father will bear the weight of his action forever,But his son should have damn well known his father!!

Knowing that his dad had guns and would protect himself,I ask why the hell was he there waiting for him in the dark?

I come to your house even knowing you are expecting me,I knock and even if the door is open I yell out Hello the House!!!

There is more to this story than is being told!!!


Bob

More on the story.





www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2818421


Sept. 27, 2004, 10:30PM

Dad fired and then saw son
Police say case looks like tragic mistake


By PEGGY O'HARE
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

For Eli Deshawne Johnson's graduation from Madison High School in May, some neighbors gave him money to buy a vacuum cleaner for his new apartment.

But like many young people fresh out on their own, Johnson, 18, still had a key to his parents' southwest Houston home and was welcome there any time, police said.

About 10:30 p.m. Saturday, his father, Forrest E. Johnson, an assistant pastor at a nearby church, returned home early from an out-of-town religious retreat to find his front door ajar. On guard because of previous break-ins, the 49-year-old pastor took his gun from his truck and went to the front door.

Seeing a dark figure he mistook for an intruder, Johnson fired once.

It was then, a neighbor said, that Johnson realized what had happened and began shouting: "I shot my son. I shot my son."

The young man was rushed to Ben Taub General Hospital, where he died of a bullet wound to the chest.

Police on Monday said their work is not complete, but an investigator said the incident appears to be a tragic case of mistaken identity. Forrest Johnson had a concealed handgun license, allowing him to keep the weapon in his truck, said Houston Police Department investigator Steve Straughter.

Neighbors said the slain teen, known to everyone as "Shawn," may have been washing clothes at his parents' home, though police have not confirmed why he was there. The younger Johnson, described as a former "A" student planning to attend college, had moved out of his parents' home several months ago.

The son did not have a car, so there were no telltale signs of his presence at the home, Straughter said. Suspecting an intruder, Forrest Johnson called his wife, who told him that no one was supposed to be there, police said.

"He had no way of knowing, per se, that his son was in there," Straughter said Monday.

Neighbors say the Johnsons are staying in a hotel because the teen's mother cannot stand to be at the house. Forrest Johnson has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Authorities said the case will be reviewed by a grand jury.

Johnson declined to comment when reached Monday at his auto repair shop on West Airport Road.

Friends described the Johnsons as a close, religious family. Johnson and his wife celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary last month. Neighbors said they were not aware of any problems between the father and son.

"I know it hurt him more than anybody else," said neighbor William Drisdell, who has known the family for more than 25 years. "He's a very loving person, a God-fearing man."

The Johnsons' home, in the 3900 block of Westhampton, has been broken into four times, said Evelyn Jackson, whose parents live across the street.

Police could not immediately confirm reports of previous burglaries, but neighbors said they, too, have fallen victim to such crimes.

Drisdell described an incident in the early 1990s when he and another neighbor caught a teenaged intruder inside the Johnson home and detained him until police arrived. The Drisdells said their own home has been burglarized at least three times.

Quoted: Suspecting an intruder, Forrest Johnson called his wife, who told him that no one was supposed to be there, police said. "He had no way of knowing, per se, that his son was in there," Straughter said Monday.

This pisses me the fuck off!  If he had the time to call his wife before charging in like a fuckin' hero he damned sure had time to call 911!  I'll say it again... he had no fuckin' business clearing that house himself.  It was a stupid move and he paid the ultimate price because of it.  

I'm sorry for his loss and I could not imagine the pain of losing your son this way, but this was another SOB that becomes Rambo when he has a gun in his hand.

My rule for carrying is never to put myself in a position while carrying that I wouldn't put myself in if I wasn't.

Fuck this pisses me off!

He should've used better judgement. He had time to call the cops. He was only in danger when he entered the home. He will have to live with this for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, we might have to live with this one as well if the anti's pick up on it, and all of the other ones too.

When I was about 15 we moved from NYC. I noticed that a lot of my new friends' parents did not lock their doors. They used to tell me all the time to come right in. I always knocked or rang the bell first.

When they asked me why, I told them that in my house you better let your presence be known or we'll assume that you do not belong there and we'll be ready. I assumed that any home that I may enter would react the same. They understood.