Shooting in Colorado

[Thesemindz]

I don't know if this has been posted here already, but I just saw the story on O'Rielly.

http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=252001

"At the beginning of the dispatch tape, the Parsons' girlfriend was heard saying "someone's trying to get in the house" and telling the dispatcher to "hurry up, he's trying to get in the house!" The Parsons' girlfriend was on the phone with a police dispatcher for nearly 4-1/2 minutes while the unknown male was trying to get into the home. She was then heard saying "Oh my God, he's coming in the back door!" and then "Are they on their way, because oh my God, he broke in the glass!" followed by the sound of gunshots."

Basically, the intruder was completely drunk and thought he was breaking into his own house. It was actually someone else's home. He was yelling, cussing, wasn't deterred by the barking dog, broke the window in and tried to unlock the door. That's when one of the people inside shot him.

Sad story. Sorry the guy got too drunk to figure out he was breaking into someone else's home. Sorry the poor people have to live with the knowledge that they took a life.

But tough luck. Good for the guy for defending his home and his girlfriend. Good for the state for not persecuting him for it.


-Rob

 

[seasoned]

First time I saw it, it is an eye opener for sure.

 

[Sukerkin]

Quite a scary situation for the householders to face and I am sorry that they have to live with the consequences of their actions; the chap who is dead clearly does not get that luxury.

However, at the risk of sparking a tangential debate, I have had to deal with a similar situation myself when a chap too drunk to know his own name broke in our back door thinking it was his house. Needless to say, that did not end with anyone getting shot.

What conclusions people draw about the levels of 'pressure' and fear in a society that causes such incidents are up to them but I do think its something that needs addressing, or at least recognising, as symptomatic of a fundamentl problem. To my foreign eyes at least, it's not the sign of a healthily stable society.

That's not to say that we're not getting somewhat similar worrying events over here. The one that springs to mind is a chap stabbed to death at a bus stop by a knife wielding teenager, in front of his three-year old daughter, whilst on the way to see his wife and newborn son in hospital. I don't think the details of the altercation are known yet but, to me it doesn't really matter - no argument should ever get to that level of escalation and it's a signal that something is broken that such things can happen.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Years ago a drunk student (exchange student) did the same thing at halloween. Would not back down or leave when he tried to 'crash' a house he thought a party was going on.

He got shot for his trouble. Unfortunatly this was before the Castle Doctrine and I think the home ower that shot got sued.

Instead of thinking 'guns in house are dangerious' one should think, 'drunk or on drugs' is dangerious!!! Cause it was drunks that broke into the houses!

Deaf

 

[astrobiologist]

Ya, very sad story. Honestly, I'm pretty straight forward about my beliefs of "kill or be killed", but I feel for the people involved in this situation. The guy who's gone won't know the pain he's caused. His family is most likely hurt by this, and those that did the shooting will have this weighing heavy on them for some time.

 

[Archangel M]

Here in the good old USA a persons home is their castle. You force your way in, drunk or not, at your own risk. Remember that the frontier days are only as far away as my great-great grandparents. As I knew my great grandmother, her folks dont see all THAT far away.

 

[chinto]

I am sorry that a life was lost, but I AM GLAD THAT THE HOME OWNER DEFENDED HIS LIFE AND THE OTHER LIVES THERE!

in short in my state .. and i hope in Colorado.. as there was no prosecution here , it is black letter law that you have the right to use deadly force to stop an intruder! I pray that that right of self defense is never some how taken from us!

 

[David Weatherly]

Years ago a drunk student (exchange student) did the same thing at halloween. Would not back down or leave when he tried to 'crash' a house he thought a party was going on.

He got shot for his trouble. Unfortunatly this was before the Castle Doctrine and I think the home ower that shot got sued.

Instead of thinking 'guns in house are dangerious' one should think, 'drunk or on drugs' is dangerious!!! Cause it was drunks that broke into the houses!

Deaf

I remember that story Deaf. As I recall the shooter served time for that incident.
Personally, I'm glad that the castle doctrine exist in this country. This new story is sad but as you say, another case of misery due to drugs and or alcohol.