Around 5am on June 4, residents in the 9300 block of 21st Ave NW woke up to find a burglar in their home. A K-9 unit was called in and tracked the thief to the intersection of NW 94th and 24th Ave but lost the scent. The police report doesn’t say if anything was stolen from the home.
Burglar breaks in while homeowners sleep
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Are you legally allowed to shoot a burglar in a situation like this?
It would scare the crap out of me to wake up and find a stranger in my house.
“Are you legally allowed to shoot a burglar in a situation like this?”
Yes.
The intruder must be facing you and you have to feel that your life is in danger for it to be justified in the eyes of the Law. So, in other words, YES, shoot the a-hole!!!
If their back is to you, you cannot legally shoot them.
Misguided TJ…
If one is in your physical residence you could shoot no matter which friggin direction they were. Problems might arise if you shot them while climbing out a window or with a foot out the front door. That is pretty much verbatim from cop SPD friends.
ShootEm-
As I was told from an SPD friend as well…they must be facing you, you cannot shoot them in the back, that is not and will not be considered self-defense.
“Problems might arise if you shot them while climbing out a window or with a foot out the front door.”
So be sure to drag the body back in a little. I suggest Wade’s Eastside Guns in Bellevue for training.
How about stabbing? Is stabbing an intruder okay?
Can you Poop on them?
How did they get in?
Make sure there are no lights on and empty the magazine into the target. When the lights are turned on, call 911 then decide if exposing yourself to AIDs/hepC is worth doing CPR.
more trouble brewing in North Beach
Ok, no harm was done. Let’s not encourage people to start shooting around the neighborhood. It’s a good way to accidentally have the bullet kill your neighbor.
Get a dog.
Alright, turn around or I’ll shoot!
washington is a “stand your ground” state, which means that there is no obligation to retreat from a percieved threat in which you feel a life is in danger. i realize this is not a direct answer to which direction a home intruder must be facing in order for you to shoot them, but what it does imply is that you are given the okay to “shoot first, ask questions later” as long as you feel an imminent threat. shooting a guy in the back as he heads down the hall to where your kids are sleeping is okay, shooting them as they are running out your front door is probably not okay.
in any case it’s a good idea to yell “boo” first and wait for them to wheel around before you unload into them.
I think the public prosecutor’s opinion on what “self defense” is matters more than what SPD thinks. You can still be charged by the public prosecutor even if SPD doesn’t agree.
Hard to imagine being charged when shooting an intruder inside your own home, back or front. Fleeing outside is another matter, but even the guy in Northgate who shot a guy running away with his stereo only got probation and community service. Which was appropriate.
I like the “turn around or I’ll shoot!” ;-) Then after you empty your weapon, you can say “I mean “and”…!” ;-)
“Is stabbing an intruder okay?”
Not unless you’re a ninja master. A 9mm will do the job.
“Can you Poop on them?”
No need, they’ll usually do that on themselves after meeting your Glock.
“in any case it’s a good idea to yell “boo” first and wait for them to wheel around before you unload into them.”
Or offer them some free meth…
‘name’: actually, harm has been done by these intruders…has been going on for the past several months on and off. broke into my family’s home two weeks ago just a few blocks away. ripped off several valuables, including a car, broke a window to get in, and my kids are now freaked out, and some of us aren’t sleeping too well these days. thankfully, no one was home that night in this case, although i don’t think they were aware of that coming in.
shoot ’em up…maybe it’ll make them think twice. it’s only a matter of time before someone does get hurt…may as well be them, and not the homeowner or neighbor.
Throw a knife at them, when they turn around to see where it came from shoot them, then poop on them…there everyone is happy.
the main kid whose been doing most of these break-ins has been caught and arrested several times. he was put in juvy for awhile (and oddly enough the roberies stopped), but then he made up some stuff and squealed on people to get out. the SPD is too dumb to recognized they’re being played and keep letting him go.
okay hipstertipster-i spoke with a detective earlier this week…there are SEVERAL ‘minor’ suspects that are being watched, and adults that have recently been released from prison that are back at it again.
stop making ignorant comments about our ‘dumb’ spd letting them go…it’s the prosecutors office and our lax & liberal criminal justice system in washington that believes these ‘kids’ only need a slap on the hand…can only keep them locked up for so long, otherwise it would be ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’
If you shoot one in the back, be sure to turn him around and shoot him multiple times again… your story is that he spun while you were firing. It’s your word against his…. and he’s dead. No messy debate – case closed.