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Homeowner shoots, kills burglar
Published September 5, 2006
SEGUIN — As most families were sleeping soundly early Labor Day morning, a local homeowner shot and killed a man who smashed through the back door of his home.
“The homeowners, who were asleep, awoke to a living nightmare,” said Seguin Police Department public information officer Aaron Seidenberger. “A person had broken into their home, and now they were violently struggling to get the suspect to leave.”
After breaking into the home at 798 Renee St. at 5:20 a.m., the man made his way down the hallway to the homeowners’ bedroom, where the husband and wife awoke. The male homeowner physically struggled with the burglar, who had armed himself with a wooden club-like object he found inside the home, police said.
The homeowner retrieved a gun from his bedroom and yelled for the man to leave. When the burglar charged, the homeowner shot the man at least once in the upper torso with a .40 caliber handgun, said Police Chief Luis Collazo.
“He shot from 10 feet or less,” Collazo said. “It’s point and shoot.”
The man staggered out the back door and fell to the ground. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Darrell Hunter.
Burglaries are a common occurrence in every city, even small town Seguin, Seidenberger said. It’s not unusual for a burglar to enter a home unarmed, grab a pillowcase and fill it with whatever he can carry.
But the Monday morning incident struck officers as odd for a number of reasons.
“Nine times out of 10, the guy breaks in and will run if the homeowners show up. But instead of fleeing, he chooses to attack?” Seidenberger said.
“What I find strange to it is the person chose to stay and fight. That’s what we don’t have every day. It’s not common at all that the burglar gets shot and killed.”
Collazo said the home would not have appeared empty to any would-be criminal.
“There were cars in the driveway — two,” he said.
The department is awaiting toxicology reports to determine if drugs or alcohol played a role in the man’s behavior.
As of press time, authorities were working to confirm the identity of the deceased. The suspect was described as a 5-foot-9, 200-pound Hispanic male.
The man was not carrying a wallet and a car was not found nearby, Collazo said.
The suspect’s body was taken to the Travis County Medical Examiner Office in Austin, where officials can use dental records, fingerprints and DNA to determine the man’s identity.
The Seguin Police Department entered photos of the suspect into a database and was exploring possible leads, also.
“We have some idea who he is, but we’re not for sure,” Collazo said. “I’m confident in the next day or so we’ll know who this person is.”
Officers did not disclose the identity of the homeowners and said the couple, who are in their late 40s or early 50s, did not want to talk about the incident with the media.
Though the homeowner is undoubtedly dealing with the psychological impact of his decision, Seidenberger likened the incident to an officer having to shoot a suspect in self-defense.
“He has to look at it [from the viewpoint of] ‘If I had not done what I did to protect myself and my wife, then I might not be here.’“
Collazo said the family was shaken by the morning’s events but was receiving support from friends and family.
“The neighbors were unbelievably supportive and very caring,” Collazo said. “There were four or five families out there immediately consoling the homeowners. This is a very close-knit and quiet neighborhood. That tells me two things — that crime can happen anywhere, and you and your neighbors make all the difference in the world.”
The homeowners were not visibly injured in the incident, said Lt. Mike Watts. No charges will be filed against the homeowner, Collazo said.
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