Houston Father With AR-15 Shoots Costumed Man Who Tried to Force His Way Into the Wrong Apartment at 2:20 A.M.

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HOUSTON, TX — A father who woke on his couch to someone kicking his apartment door fired a single round from his AR-15 early Thursday morning after a man in a Halloween costume tried to force his way inside, repeating, “This is my apartment.”

It was not his apartment. Police say the wounded man lives in the same complex and was likely intoxicated coming home from a Halloween party when he tried to get into the wrong second-floor unit. The police account comes from Houston Police Lt. R. Willkens, as reported by FOX 26 Houston, which also interviewed the resident. The costume details come from police statements to KHOU 11.

Houston police officers and the Houston Fire Department were called to an apartment complex on Bering Drive in the Greater Uptown area around 2:20 a.m. Willkens said the resident had been asleep on his couch while his girlfriend and their 1-year-old child were in the bedroom.

He woke to someone shaking the door handle and, at one point, kicking the door. He grabbed his AR-15 and looked through the peephole. He did not recognize the man outside. Police say he opened the door only after checking whether the man was carrying any weapons. His girlfriend came out of the bedroom and also did not recognize him.

Police told KHOU 11 the man was wearing an orange suit and top hat like the outfit from the movie “Dumb and Dumber.”

The man tried to force his way in. He kept saying it was his apartment. The resident physically pushed back to keep him out. The man kept rushing the door. The resident fired once, striking him in the upper body.

The resident, who asked FOX 26 not to identify him, described the exchange at the door. “He’s like, ‘This is my house.’ I’m like, ‘This is not your house, bro,’ and then he’s trying to bum-rush in,” he said.

He told the station that “after he hit me, he tried to take me down,” and “that’s when I ended up shooting him.” The claim that he was struck comes from the resident. The police account describes him pushing back as the man rushed through the door.

Paramedics took the wounded man to a hospital in critical condition. No other injuries were reported. The girlfriend and the child were not hurt.

This one is hard. The man at that door turned out to be a neighbor who, police believe, had been drinking and picked the wrong unit. At 2:20 a.m., with a girlfriend and a baby in the next room, the resident had no way of knowing that. All he knew was that a stranger was kicking his door and then pushing his way through it.

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He did several things right. He checked the peephole, looked for a weapon, and asked a second person whether she knew the man. The decision I would think hardest about is opening the door at all. A locked door buys time, and time lets you call 911 and let officers figure out who belongs where. Once it opens, the distance is gone, and a confused neighbor and a determined attacker come through it the same way. That is the mindset piece worth carrying into your own home.

Police have not released the names of either man. The resident stayed at the scene, and he and his girlfriend are cooperating with investigators. No charges have been filed, and no charging decision has been announced.

Read the original story: Houston Father With AR-15 Shoots Costumed Man Who Tried to Force His Way Into the Wrong Apartment at 2:20 A.M.