Posted on 12/22/2004 4:25:32 AM PST by Ellesu
- HOUSTON) — A home invasion turns deadly when an elderly homeowner opens fire. The 79-year-old man says he fired his gun after he told the teenage suspect to leave.
Daniel Strelec fought in World War II and hoped he'd never have to kill again. Still, many people in his neighborhood think he had no other choice. But the veteran is rethinking his deadly decision.
For most of his life, Daniel Strelec enjoyed the home his father built. But these days it's more like a prison for the 79-year-old man. He hopes boarding up windows and doors will keep the bad guys out. "We've tried to get him to come live with us numerous times," said Janice Sebastian, the homeowner's daughter-in-law. "He refuses to leave. He's like a hermit in here."
But all that protection, police say didn't help when Robert Hinojosa, 19, ran through the yard, climbed in a window and broke into Strelec's home overnight.
Sebastian told Eyewitness News, "He sleeps with a gun under his pillow. So he got out of bed and stooped down in the corner and told him, 'Get out of my house or I'm going to shoot you.'"
Police say when the 19-year-old ignored that and a second warning, the man fired a single shot, hitting the teen in the stomach. That's when the robbery suspect bolted out the back door and ran away, collapsing in the yard not far from the home. He died on the way to the hospital.
"He just kept saying, 'Why did he have to do it? Why did he have to break in?' You know, he's just a young boy. He hasn't lived his life," Sebastian said.
Still, neighbors understand why the elderly man fired the fatal shot.
One neighbor said, "He had to protect himself, you know what I'm saying?"
"Well, he's an old man and I think he has his best protection now," said neighbor Edwin Flores. "There's nobody with him in there. It's the only way he could protect himself."
A few other young men who were thought to be hanging out with Hinojosa early Tuesday morning were taken in for questioning but not arrested. This case will now go before a grand jury. But police tell us some similar cases have been ruled as justifiable homicide.
In NY where I live, the fat gramma would be on TV crying, the elderly man indicted by some liberal ivy league assistant DA.
So the geez takes a career criminal (maybe a burglary prodigy, since his career started early) out of society, and now good citizens won't have to worry that he will rob them and hurt them or their families. Sounds good to me.
Hey, the old guy defended us in the war--and he'still doing a good job. Maybe we should get him a fruit basket for Christmas.
Quite the rap sheet there. The old man did society and Houston a favor!
If you like to read about these types of incidents, every month the American Rifleman runs several of them in its "Armed Citizen" column. (Along with other good articles, for that matter -- for instance, this month's article on Lewis guns was very interesting, and on a subject that I had not read a great deal about elsewhere.)
And Dr. Kleck has shown that firearms are widely used to defend oneself and one's family, as common sense would tell you.
Maybe this wonderful person did not understand English???
Who the F cares, he got what he deserved. If you do not respect other people's property and liberty, you get what you deserve.
There is no excuse for robbing someone's house. If you are hungry, go to a soup kitchen. If you are poor, get a job. If you are in need of a toilet, go to a public restroom.
I take a self defense course and we are taught that when people defend themselves, it is helpful in about 60% of the times. When people do not defend themselves, it is only helpful about 40% of the time. Guess which one is better?????
But the old man might not be. But I guess that is the underlying point the "It's not the kids fault he's bad, it's society's fault" folks will ignore.
This guy is actually thinking of boarding up his windows in order to deter more break-ins. Something tells me that he isn't living in a neighborhood with well manicured lawns with wonderful flowerbeds and lapdogs frolicking about behind the white picket fences.
More likely, this guy is living a real life "Space Invaders" videogame and the goons, thugs and criminals will just keep coming. Best of luck to him.
Apf
As a life long Nu Yawka I love Texans. I believe I was born in the wrong era and wrong place. Actually, traveled to Florida for the campaign and was with a few guys from Austin. Man, those guys were my kind of people.
When I came home on the plane, I told a liberal woman to "shove it" when she said she was depressed about the election.
In any event, I believe fear is the greatest deterrance of all. Sun Tzu knew it, Machiavelli knew it, The Soviets knew it, unfortunately, we have not acted in way to make the mooslums know it. Unless GWB gets his act together and drops the hammer on these mutants and barbarians, they will lose fear of us.
Remember the movie Patton where he said to Bradely that he was not concerned about the men losing fear of the Germans and becoming fanatics. He was concerned about them losing fear of him.
Homeowner, 80, Kills Suspected Burglar Charges Not Expected POSTED: 10:34 am CST December 21, 2004 HOUSTON -- An 80-year-old homeowner shot and killed a suspected burglar in his north Houston house early Tuesday, officials told Local 2. Video 80-Year-Old Homeowner Explains Shooting Suspect Investigators said a 19-year-old man broke into the home in the 500 block of Turney Drive at the North Freeway at about 1:30 a.m. and went into the homeowner's bedroom, where he was sleeping. The resident asked the intruder to back away, but he did not, according to officials, so the homeowner shot him once in the stomach. "When I shot him, he screamed and knocked the screen door completely out," said the victim, who did not want to be identified. The World War II veteran said he felt like it was "kill or be killed." "I don't feel good about it, but I had no choice. He should have got out. He would have been alive today," the victim told Local 2. The suspected burglar, Robert Hinojosa, died a short time later at Ben Taub Hospital. The homeowner, who has lived in the subdivision for 57 years, encourages others to protect their property. "Stand up for their rights. That's the most important thing. Don't let nobody get on you just because of your age. Show them you're just as good as a younger man," he said. The case will be referred to a Harris County grand jury, but charges are not expected.
Gun Control = One shot / One kill.
(No use in wasting perfectly good bullets.)
Semper Fi
....He hasn't lived his life......
Yes he has. He did a very poor job of it.
Another example of how the overly-liberal court systems helped cause another tragedy by withholding punishment and ensuring accountability and responsibility. The system does far more damage by overuse of mercy and a dearth of justice.
I thought this would be converted to HTML when I posted it--that's what it says in that little box there--LOL!
Don't know what I did wrong.
OHHH you forgot...he just adopted a kitten...LOL
If you use a single HTML tag, you have to put < p> everywhere it is required to maintain paragraphs.
Yes, I had already seen that, as well.
Interesting that for many purposes, "Hispanic" is a classification choice, but for crime reporting, at least in this case, this Hispanic-surnamed guy is "white".
In my self defense course, the instructor told us that the following, in order are the best for home protection:
1. Man Trained with a firearm;
2. Woman trained with a firearm;
3. Large attack dog;
4. Medium attack dog;
5. Small attack dog;
6. Man with knife;
7. Man with bat or club;
8. Man with self defense skills.
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