Homeowner fatally shoots burglary suspect
KEARNS -- A 19-year-old man was shot to death early Monday morning in what appears to be a case of self-defense.It seems pretty clear-cut - the young man in question rang the doorbell of the house at 1:30 in the morning, then came back later trying to break in. At some point in the process, the homeowner heard the attempt, investigated while armed with a handgun, and proceeded to thwart the break-in by shooting the goblin. Despite the best attempts of the paper to paint the recently deceased as a choirboy stopping in to sell Amway products, it's a good bet that the homeowner will not face charges.Police say Kyle Poulton was clearly trying to break into the home near 5600 South and 5100 West Monday morning when he was shot in the chest. Now the investigation is underway into whether the homeowner was justified in his actions.
There is some very good information at the end of the article:
Vilos encourages all gun owners to brush up on the law.No matter where you are, no matter how good you think your state is on self-defense, know the law. Have a lawyer with experience in handling self-defense cases and firearms law available for consult. Keep quiet until your lawyer gets on the scene. Anything you say can be used against you - best keep your mouth closed and not give an overzealous DA a case where they might not have had one.
Dead Goblin Count: 85
That is all.
Link courtesy of Gunblogger Conspirator Tango - thanks for sending this along!
5 comments:
At first I hesitated when I heard he was shot THROUGH the glass door from the inside.
But then I thought.
-He was trying to break in
-He was in the BACK yard, so already trespassing, and likely attempting to hide from common view.
- Hostile fire has the right-of-way, the home owner was smart not to wait around for the intruder to start shooting.
Looks like a VERY clean shoot.
Also for anybody else who might feel wishy-washy about this, there is a simple solution:
DO NOT BREAK AND ENTER EVER!!!!
Let's hope other mischievous youth get the message loud and clear.
There's another article, on Fox I think, that was talking about how the man had already removed the screen and was now working on the glass door. Utah has some awesome castle doctrine laws and barring any new facts, this homeowner is in the clear... and I'm glad he is!
I keep hearing that I should have the number of a decent lawyer on hand. This ranges from CCDW issues to other grownup things like wills, accidents, etc.
How in the hell am I supposed to FIND a good all around lawyer?
Since we're on a gun blog, what should I do to quiz him on gun issues?
Weerd,
I'm always hesitate to comment much on stories like these because there's just so much that the media either omits or plain gets wrong.
In any case, someone standing on my back deck with a weapon of some sort trying to break into my house stands a damn good chance of catching some 00 buckshot...
Tango,
Thanks for the update. That makes it even clearer that this was a clear B&E.
Here's the rub. *AFTER* the fact, it's very easy to second-guess the homeowner. "Oh, he was just breaking in, why did he have to shoot him?"; "We shouldn't kill people over a TV" etc.
The real truth of the matter is that YOU DON'T KNOW what they're going to do. There is simply no way of knowing whether they "just" want to take your TV to pawn for drugs or murder you all for kicks like the bastards in CT and NH.
Don't give them the chance. Call 911, hunker down, and take whatever measures you need to take to keep you and your family safe.
Freiheit,
Check with your local 2A advocacy group - they should be able to give leads towards a lawyer who focuses on Second Amendment/self defense issues.
I'd keep that lawyer separate from your all-purpose lawyer, simply for the fact that I want an attorney who specializes in self-defense type defense should the worst happen and I need to defense my family with deadly force.
More info on that original link. Dude had an accomplice that was trying to break in through another entrance of the home at the same time, but ran after the gunshot.
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