Shooting Intoxicated Person Overkill?

[NeuroTypical]

Oh, I believe your friend's account, and I have read others like it. One of the two national headlines in the last few months is like it (the father who shot the guy molesting his young daughter). But the majority of accounts I've read and the advice from my instructors seem to agree - if you are counting on the police to just automatically see that you were in the right and act accordingly, you are likely to be surprised.

The police are most likely to do something very important to them - go home alive after their shift. So they err on the side of caution when it comes to handcuffing people, especially people who admit to killing someone. They also seem to be big on understanding a fuller examination of the evidence brings light not immediately available at the scene - so again they err on the side of not letting a potential murderer get away.

I'd be interested to know - since this case appeared to be so obviously justified, was your friend sued in civil court by the next of kin?

[Anddenex]

I'd be interested to know - since this case appeared to be so obviously justified, was your friend sued in civil court by the next of kin?

No, there was more concern that the next of kin would seek revenge. This is a news article with regard to this experience.

Springville homeowner shoots, kills intruder | Deseret News

I would agree with your comment that people shouldn't expect the police to automatically assume they were justified. The police will make sure, in many cases, that they are safe, and then ask questions later.

I don't blame them.

[NeuroTypical]

I suppose his extensive criminal background and obvious status as unprovoked home-invader made lawyers unwilling to touch the case. The news article doesn't say anything about Mr. Martinez' citizenship status, but if his next of kin were not in the country, or not in the country legally, that often will mean no follow up civil case.

I'm sorry the guy and his wife had to go through such a horrible thing, and I'm glad the media stopped short of naming them in the story (although the public is one google search away from looking up the address). I hope they're doing ok.

[Echo2002]

If I felt threatened, yes I would shoot. Now days there's so many dangerous drugs a person could have taken that gives them super human strength I wouldn't want to wait around to see how intoxicated they were.

[Blackmarch]

Just finished watching Intoxication Nation on 20/20 and there was a brief story about an intoxicated 20-year old female college student that tried to find her way home after partying and entered into the wrong house. She was shot in the head by homeowners for trespassing. Would you consider this overkill?

And for sake of not turning this into a gun debate, we could replace the firearm with something else, like a knife. If someone walked into your home (did not forcibly make their way in) and was clearly under the influence of alcohol (you can smell booze on them), would you still proceed to use deadly force against that person - given - that he or she was not causing a life or death threat to your family but trespassing due to confusion?

20/20 did not focus much on this particular story but I did find it quite alarming. They did a quick interview of the wife, who explained that this girl wandered into their bedroom very confused and not verbally responding to their warnings to back-off, so her husband got his gun and shot her pointblank in the forehead. I admit that I would also be shook up but I would hope that a part of me would see that she was confused and out of her element, and that we'd call the cops before resorting to a lethal weapon.

Thoughts?

Overkill? Probably, but from the info posted here I can not condemn the man's actions in the end, even tho it was likely not the best route of action. The situation was unpredictable, and the intruder did not respond to the verbal commands. from the info given it doesn't sound like it was plainly obvious of how threatening or not the intruder was. Unfortunate as it was I'd lay the fault at the feet of the drunk female.

[bcguy]

I guess there was a party in my dorm and a drunk PJ crawled into my room once looking for the bathoom. I said, "you could have knocked". He was a hunk of a big guy as they usually are. IF you do not know what a PJ is, they are the Superman of the USAF equal in strength and stamina of a US Navy Seal.

I said, "sure go a head, its at that door" but in no means did I become a paranoid idiot like that drunk woman, and attack him with a weapon.

US is to much a gun happy country. This story does remind me once, of a Japanese student who mistaken the wrong house for a friends house and was dressed up as elvis? was shot on the lawn because he was received as being a threat.