Briarwood Homeowner Kills Would-Be Burglar (with a gun! -- imagine!)

Newsday.com ^ | Feb. 11, 2003 | Melanie Lefkowitz, Sean Gardiner and Wil Cruz

[FairOpinion]

A retired air marshal and multimillionaire shot and killed one of two intruders who used a crowbar to force their way into his Briarwood home yesterday morning, police said.

Carlos Ugalde, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene after Amalio Santos, 47, shot him once in the chest with his licensed 9-mm handgun; a second man fled in a tan Acura, police said.

[FairOpinion]

Another story, where the news may have been very different, if the homeowner hadn't had a gun.

[banjo joe]

A retired air marshal and multimillionaire

????

[anobjectivist]

Yup, I see that too.

I'm surprised they didn't say "republican"

[ArrogantBustard]

According to the article, he owns a chain of "Latin" music stores, and drives a Porsche. Second career, apparently.

In any case, damn fine shooting. One shot, one kill. Too bad the other burglar got away. Also from the article, the neighborhood has experienced a rash of home invasions.

[Bob]

Also from the article, the neighborhood has experienced a rash of home invasions.

I think that rash has just been eliminated (or at least minimized).

[Vic3O3]

ping!

[harpseal]

Clear up your skin with a 9mm? Who'd a thunk it

[babyface00]

What?! He didn't try to reason with the intruders first? Or try and find out what the source of their anger might be? Surely the homeowner should have tried to understand (and sympathize with) the intruders' rebellion towards the repressive capitalist system. ...end sarcasm.

[Tacis]

Carlos Ugalde, the promising young student from a small town in Mexico, was simply trying to work his way through barber college doing storm door repairs. Here, he was shot without first notifying the local Mexican consulate. The shooter will now be required to support Ugalde's wife, their six kids and the 108 extended family members that Ugalde was supporting with his "midnight" supply business.

Presidente Fox will announce that cowboy Americans must simply stop shooting Mexicans just because they are committing violent crimes. If the shooter had called the police, young Ugalde might just be on his way to 6 or 8 days in prison.

[Sloth]

Sounds like they just wanted to redistribute the wealth a little. Another case of the richest one percent exploiting those who really need help.

[Sloth]

By the way, this exploitive killing was obviously a hate crime carried out by an Anglo against a Latino. Sure, his name may sound Hispanic, but we know from the Democrats that anybody that rich cannot be *authentically* Hispanic, so I assume he must default to being an honorary gringo:

"Being Hispanic for us means much more than having a surname," said New Jersey Rep. Bob Menendez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. "It means having some relationship with the reality of what it is to live in this country as a Hispanic American." Even though Estrada Santos is of Hispanic origin, and even though he lives in this country, Menendez argued, he falls short of being a true Hispanic.

[Ken H]

One shot one kill.

My kind of gun control!

[NerdDad]

From the New York Post Article http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/68909.htm

"The burglars broke into the basement door and found Santos there, pointing his licensed gun at them, the sources said.
The thieves fled, and Santos followed them outside, the sources said.
One of the burglars turned around and allegedly pointed his gun at Santos. Santos fired one shot that struck him in the face, the sources said.
The other man jumped into a tan Acura and drove off.
The burglars' gun was not recovered at the scene, and police speculated that the man who got away ran off with it. "

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that Mr. Santos took out the trash but this scenario is a ridiculous farce for the police to foist onto the reader.

Observation 1: As the shooter who just shot your partner in crime dead in the face, if you bend over to pick up his gun, you are going to die right beside him.
Observation 2: As the partner in crime of a guy who just got shot dead in the face, I'm too busy sh!ttin-and-gittin to pick up anything but my feet. My scared @ss is the only thing I'm concerned about running off with and I probably wouldn't take the time to climb into a car and drive for fear of the shooter drawing a bead on me.
Observation 3: In most jurisdictions, once the burglars left the house the danger warranting the use of deadly force has ended. Following the perps outside and then shooting one (especially when no weapon can be found) opens a big can of worms in criminal and civil liability.

The police are giving Mr. Santos a pass and I can appreciate that. But to suggest that the second guy picked up the first guy's gun and ran off pings the BS meter all the way over.

[Vigilanteman]

Pay this man bounty and buy him more bullets.

[groanup]

"One of the burglars turned around and allegedly pointed his gun at Santos. Santos fired one shot that struck him in the face, the sources said."

Hit the torso so he can be identified. Of course the handgun has a tendency to kick upwards.

One less maggot.

[groanup]

"Pay this man bounty and buy him more bullets"

It should be automatic with Freepers in the area. We had a store owner nearby who shot and killed one of two thugs who tried to rob him. The locals all stopped by and gave him shotgun shells for two days. He won't have to buy ammunition for years.

[NerdDad]

I recall growing up that we had a hunter (friend of my dad) who intervened in a cop killing. Texas State Trooper was making one of those "routine" traffic stops on the highway near Alpine. If you've never been there, it is a lonely stretch of road. The dirtbag overpowered him and killed him with his service weapon. A deer hunter traveling the other direction realized what had happened and dropped the dirtbag from an admirable distance with his rifle. Troopers and Rangers got together and rewarded the good man with a Gold Cup .45. It was a beautiful weapon to behold and a gesture that became something of a tradition in that part of the world. Seems like lifetimes ago.