As homeowners retaliate against attackers, self-defense depends on the situation

SAN JUAN — A homeowner could face criminal charges after he opened fire on a 19-year-old man who threw a flower pot through his front window late Monday night, police said.

The teen ended up in a local hospital with serious injuries.

The gunfire erupted hours after a separate incident in which a rural Alamo man stabbed an alleged burglar who apparently asked to be attacked, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.

The sheriff said he expects no criminal charges to be filed against the man who stabbed the alleged burglar, who will be evaluated by doctors before he is booked at the Hidalgo County Jail on burglary charges.

The San Juan man who opened fire on the 19-year-old, however, could face charges if investigators decide the gunshots were not self-defense.

BROKEN WINDOW

San Juan police responded about 11:50 p.m. Monday to a report of shots fired at a residence at 412 W. 10th St.

The homeowner, whose name has not been disclosed, shot a 19-year-old man several times with a semi-automatic pistol after the teen threw a flower pot through a window at the house, San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said.

The 19-year-old was found early Tuesday morning at an area hospital, where he was receiving treatment for his gunshot wounds, Gonzalez said. He is expected to recover.

The chief said the teen knows the homeowner’s son, but investigators have not discovered why he tossed a flower pot through the front window of the house. He will face one count of criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.

The homeowner, however, could face felony charges for opening fire on the young man, who had stolen no property and was unarmed during the incident, Gonzalez said.

The shooter, a man in his early 40s whose name remains undisclosed, has told investigators conflicting stories about where he fired the gunshots at the attacker, the chief said.

‘CASTLE LAW’

Investigators have not determined whether the homeowner’s gunshots would qualify as self-defense or were justified to defend his property.

Gonzalez said investigators believe the homeowner fired from inside his house while the attacker was outside the home. Police continue to interview the homeowner and witnesses to the late-night shooting.  

State law permits a person to use deadly force to protect his own or a parent’s property if the person “reasonably believes deadly force is immediately necessary” to prevent someone who has just committed burglary, aggravated robbery, robbery or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property.

The law also allows for deadly force to be used during an imminent act of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft or criminal mischief during the night.

However, justification to use deadly force exists only if the person “reasonably believes” there is no other means of protecting or recovering property or that limiting himself to nonlethal force would put him or somebody else at “substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.”

If police decide to file charges against the homeowner, he would face one count of criminal attempted murder, a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction.

“You will always be more protected by the law while defending yourself than by protecting property,” Gonzalez said.

‘HE GOT STABBED’

In the case near Alamo, sheriff’s deputies responded about 9 p.m. Monday to a burglary near the intersection of Cesar Chavez and Sioux roads.

There, deputies learned the apparent burglar had broken into a man’s house with a knife and asked to be stabbed, Treviño said.

The burglar, whose name has not been released, had been going around the neighborhood earlier Monday evening asking people to stab him.

“He got his wish,” the sheriff said. “He got stabbed.”

The burglar is expected to recover and will likely face a charge of burglary of a habitation. Doctors will evaluate the man for mental illnesses to determine whether he can be safely placed among the population at the Hidalgo County Jail. No charges will be filed against the homeowner who stabbed him, Treviño said.

____

Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.