First Horn said "MOVE [an] you're DEAD".
Where does it say that in the transcript?
What he did do was ignore a direct order from a person who works for the local law enforcement. The dispatcher advised him and then ordered him to stay in his home. He refused several times. Instead, he basically advised the dispatcher that he was going to "not let them get away with this". The dispatcher repeatedly ordered him to stay inside his house. Again, he kept telling the dispatcher that he was going to go outside and stop them. The sound of his shotgun is then heard being cocked on the tape, he tells the dispatcher he is going to go outside, then all that is heard is his shouting "Boom! You're dead!" and then several gun shots. All of which hit the assailants in the back as they attempted to flee away from him. Please tell me, what kind of threat does someone pose if they are running away from you? In short, he took the law into his own hands and decided to be their judge, jury and executioner.
Horn knew the law well enough to know he was within his rights to protect his neighborhood. He spoke of that on the phone also.
Yes, he did know the law. Which shows a level of premeditation. As the dispatcher informed him, goods aren't worth killing someone over. But he ignored the dispatchers repeated pleas and orders to stay inside his house. He is not within his right to protect his neighbourhood. He is not a police officer entrusted with that duty. He decided he would be the neighbourhood protector and has killed two people as they attempted to flee from him for a few items that were in a bag of loot that were stolen from his neighbour's home. As I said above, he decided that he would be their judge, jury and executioner and he did so long before he stepped out of his home.
As the legislator who wrote the castle doctrine states:
But the legislator who authored the "castle doctrine" bill told the Chronicle it was never intended to apply to a neighbor's property, to prompt a "'Law West of the Pecos' mentality or action," said Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth. "You're supposed to be able to defend your own home, your own family, in your house, your place of business or your motor vehicle."
http://cbs5.com/national/joe.horn.shoots.2.570499.html
Doesnt matter what I think police would have done. I dont flee from police. I wouldnt take the chance nor do I want to pay the penalty for fleeing a police officer.
He is not a police officer, though. He was a man who disobeyed and ignored direct orders from a law enforcement dispatcher to not leave his house and to not shoot anyone. Tell me, do you often ignore orders from people from your local law enforcement? If they tell you not to leave your house, would you ignore them and do it anyway? Because on top of shooting two men in the back, that's what Mr Horn decided to do. And here you are saying you wouldn't flee from the police, but you are saying Horn did a good thing in ignoring orders from the police to not leave his house and shoot.
Would you flee from a strange man with a shotgun who thought you weren't where you were supposed to be? I know I would without hesitation.
Try to twist it any way you want, but Horn did NOT shoot his neighbor. Horn had met his neighbor and there was no doubt (in Horns assessment and in reality) these people were not members of the neighborhood. Thats the fact.
Who is trying to twist anything? I was merely commenting that I am glad I don't live in Texas, because if I did and I was unfortunate enough to have some psycho like Horn living next door to me, I could very well have been shot and killed after I had to break into my own house after getting locked out by my 2 year old who was still inside the house and becoming distressed when he realised I could not get back inside to him and his baby brother.
You go and shoot the wrong person, in the wrong circumstance, you can be charged with a crime. That part of the reality too.
And? If my neighbour thought I was a criminal, he could very well have gotten away with it. After all, if you can get away with shooting a fleeing person in the back that posed no threat to you whatsoever (because when someone is running away from you, the threat is deemed to be over) because they were running away from you, I really have to wonder whether my neighbour would have been charged with a crime.
Justice can be a balancing act. In this particular case, two criminals made several decisions that resulted in their absence from society.
And now you have one individual who has decided he can take the law into his own hands and execute people because they robbed his neighbour's house, roaming free. I bet it gives his neighbours some comfort. Lets just hope none of them ever get locked our of their house or car at night. Tell me, do you think your TV or watch is enough to kill someone over? How about your neighbour's TV or watch?
Think about it.
