Mesquite Resident Wakes to Loud Banging at 4 A.M., Finds Man Breaking Into the Home and Shoots Him
Key Takeaways
- A Mesquite resident shot an intruder early Saturday morning after waking to loud banging in their home.
- Police found the suspect outside with a gunshot wound and took him to the hospital, where he remains under custody for burglary.
- Texas law presumes that the use of deadly force is reasonable if someone is unlawfully entering an occupied home.
- The police have not released the suspect’s name or condition, and the case is still under investigation.
- The department has not announced any charges against the resident who fired the shot.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
MESQUITE, TX — A Mesquite resident woke to loud banging early Saturday morning, found a man breaking into the home, and shot him, according to the Mesquite Police Department.
Mesquite Police responded to a report of a shooting around 4:15 a.m. in the 2600 block of Brushwood Lane, as reported by Yahoo News, which attributes its information to the department. Officers arrived to find a man outside the home with a gunshot wound and rendered first aid.
According to investigators, the people inside the house woke up to the sound of loud banging. One resident went to check. That resident saw a man breaking into the home. The resident fired. The suspect was hit.
Getting out of bed to see what a noise is at four in the morning is the moment most people never plan for, and it is where a lot of homeowners get hurt. The resident in this case walked toward the sound and found someone already forcing a way inside. The gun matters here, but the mindset that put the resident in a position to use it matters more. Waking up fast, deciding the banging is a problem and not a dream, and moving with a plan is what training is for. Nothing on the nightstand does that part for you.
Paramedics took the suspect to a local hospital for treatment. Police took him into custody on a charge of burglary of a habitation. The department has not released his name or his condition, and the case remains under investigation. The charge is an allegation, and he is presumed innocent unless convicted.
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- Man Shoots, Kills Violent Intruder Now Faces Gun Charges
- Husband, Father Shoots Burglar In His Front Yard After Break-In
Texas law speaks directly to this situation. Under Texas Penal Code Section 9.32, a person’s belief that deadly force was immediately necessary is presumed reasonable when the person it was used against was unlawfully and with force entering, or attempting to enter, that person’s occupied home. The presumption exists because a forced entry into an occupied house in the dark puts the people inside at risk of death or serious bodily harm. The question in a case like this was never about the door. It was about who was coming through it and what happens to the people inside once he does.
Police did not characterize the shooting beyond the account above, and no charging decision regarding the resident has been announced.
Read the original story: Mesquite Resident Wakes to Loud Banging at 4 A.M., Finds Man Breaking Into the Home and Shoots Him