http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/082701_news_apartment.html


So this dude is drunk and just woke up from trying to sleep it off. He stumbles up to what he thinks is his apartment and tries to get in. He causes a bunch of noise cause the key won't fit.

Now it gets questionable. I've heard conflicting reports. Either the resident opened the door and shot the guy or just shot him through the door. Either way, he shot a more or less innocent man, maybe. And he did it before the law says that you can. He hadn't really broken in yet. They haven't reported if the shooter has been charged with anything yet.

So I guess the moral of the story is don't drink and try to go home.

Opinions???

this happens all the time here (not the shooting part though) 20 story building with crappy elevators that will say you're on one floor when you're actually on another, and every floor looks the same. I've got a little budweiser sticker (fitting, no?) on my door.

actually come to think of it I remember one time I guess I had left the door unloacked when and old old 80 year or so lady just walked right on in right as I was carrying some type of evil looking long-gun back to the safe, she looked FREAKED and just sorta stood there with her old ass mouth open for a minute before she turned around.

My first thought?

Darwinian selection.

On further reflection:  Don't ever get that drunk.

I would need to know more about the circumstances to judge whether the victim (the true victim, the apartment dweller) was justified in shooting.  Did he have a reasonable fear that he or some other human being was in danger of death or serious bodily harm?  I can't tell from the story.

If Texas has some variation of the "Castle Doctrine," he might have been legally justified in shooting to prevent the forcible entry.  I wouldn't have shot.  I would have waited until he got through the door, hoping all the time that the Police responded to my 911 call before that happened.

GunLaw

I would have to read more facts before I can really form a proper opinion. But if he opened the door that would make him at fault. If he truly feared for his life, he would have kept the door locked or 'secured' and shot through the door if it looked like the stranger was getting through. I never understood these kind of tragedies. You open your door and basically giving outsiders the ability to get in. It goes against all logic and safety. If they can't get inside and you have a gun... you are safe, call 911. If you open the door and they have a gun, you have just given your potential assailant the opportunity to shoot you first.

If you get so drunk that you don't know where you live can you really expect to stay out of trouble. I knew a guy in high school who did the same thing except he actually got into the house. The guy almost blew his head off, but then noticed that it was the kid from down the street. He went to jail for a while. Long story short, never get that wasted and try to get home.

I don't know any thing about this case but... I really have to believe there was more provocation than just the rattling of keys in the lock-set. SOMETHING must have compelled the owner to (1)wake-up (2)retrieve a weapon (3) feel physically threatened (4) feel the need to open fire before calling the police ie. rapid escalation of threat. Again, I'm just speculating on an incident I know NOTHING about. Hey, that's how I've made it through life so far!

Drunk people do some dumb shit, and he didn't get very lucky.

This weekend I had gone drinking with the girlfriend and some friends. Anyways, the GF drinks waaaay too much, and we leave the club pretty early so she can barf in my lawn.

We eventually get to sleep, and at about 3 a.m. the roomates get home. Well, this one guy that had pre-partied at our place had his car blocked in, and he was invited by my roommates to sleep on the couch. Aparently some time during the night he got up and wandered into my room.

(The door was unlocked because my girlfriend had gone to the bathroom a few times to puke.)

Well, the dude walks over to my bed where my girl and i are sleeping, and lays down next to us.

My girl friend is pretty upset about the strange man that is in bed with us, and after she wakes me up, i proceed to escort him from my room in an unfriendly manner.

I feel sorry for the drunk dead dude, but i can also see why the shooter may have been nervous or confused.

Shawn

Heard the news on this and the drunk guy busted in the door.
One thing to remember here is in Texas after dusk and before dawn almost any shooting is considered justified with the "after dark" stipulation in Texas law.
My NRA Instructor's Instructor lost his 20 something year old son, (nice kid and hell of a 1911 pistolero)5+ years ago in a similar situation.
He went to his car for some reason (left a party which was in a house) came back to the wrong home, thought the partygoers were playing a joke on him with locked door. The pounding only awoke the home owner who did not reconized the young boy. Boy proceeded to go around to the back patio and was shot through the sliding patio door by the home-owner.
It was a very bad deal, but at the Friends of the NRA dinner that year, his dad told me he couldn't blame the home-owner for his son being too drunk to find the right house.
Crying shame the young kid had to learn the hard way.

The drunk guy was probably hollering, "What in the Hell are you doing in my house", blam blam.

Same thing happened in the suburb next to mine (Lisle, IL) about 10 years ago.
Drunken neighbor returns home and tries to get in wrong house. Neighbor shoots him through door. Neighbor convicted of murder, gets life sentence.

Happened in L.A. not too long ago. Real unfortunate.
=========================================================
Los Angeles Times: Man Killed Forcing His Way Into Wrong Condo

http://latimes.com/editions/valley/la-000064414aug08.story?coll=la%2Deditions%2Dvalley

IN BRIEF / GLENDALE
Man Killed Forcing His Way Into Wrong Condo

August 8 2001

Stumbling into a dark and confusing situation, a Glendale man was shot to death
Monday night while forcing his way into his neighbor's condominium after
mistaking it for his own, authorities said.

Ho Kil Koh, 56, who witnesses say was intoxicated at the time, tried to enter
the home of Adrian Bal, 76, and awakened Bal and his wife about 11 p.m.

Bal alerted the building security staff and armed himself with a shotgun,
authorities said. Security guards arrived just as Koh was trying to enter the
home through the front door, and the guards ordered him to stop. Koh yelled back
at the guards and refused to obey. When Koh burst into the home, Bal fired one
round into Koh's chest, killing him, authorities said.

"Bal didn't know security was in the hallway," said Glendale Police Sgt. Bruce
Fox. "It all happened boom-boom-boom."

Both Koh and Bal lived on the ninth floor of the high-rise luxury building at
222 Monterey Road.

Investigators are considering the incident a mistake on both sides, but will
present the case to the district attorney's office for a determination, Fox
said.

"Both families are very distraught," Fox said.
For information about reprinting this article, go to
http://www.lats.com/rights/register.htm