Victims ponder taking up arms after home invasions

NEAR ALTON — Mario Marquez held a cold piece of raw beef against his swollen eye Tuesday afternoon.

Four men raided his home the day before looking for cash, jewelry — anything valuable.

“They tied me up and put me on the ground,” the 51-year-old said in Spanish.

The invaders beat him with the butt of a shotgun and then ransacked his house, stealing $800 in cash and other valuables.

As they left, one of the attackers put the shotgun barrel into the mouth of El Diablo, the family pit bull, and pulled the trigger, killing the animal.

“I want to know who they were,” Marquez said. “I don’t know anything.”

But Marquez said he knows one thing investigators told him: Buy a firearm to protect your family in the event the invaders return.

“They told me to keep a gun here to protect myself,” he said.

Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies continue to investigate the two home invasions that occurred in broad daylight Monday near Alton. Both Marquez and the victim of the other home invasion said authorities recommended they purchase firearms to protect their property and their loved ones.

Sheriff Lupe Treviño said he could not confirm whether his investigators gave the men that advice.

“I don’t know that my investigators said that, but there is a merit to home defense,” the sheriff said. “Under the circumstances that these guys were attacked, I don’t see how they could get to a gun.”

Both Marquez and the other victim, Juan De Dios Porraz, who lives along Minnesota Road near Alton, were attacked while they were outside working in their yards.

The uptick in violent home invasions in recent months — and the increasing number of apparently innocent homeowners being targeted rather than rival drug gangs — has pushed up sales at McAllen gun shop The Armory, 2714 N. 10th St., owner Erick Kruger said.

Kruger has operated his gun shop for only a year and said his family took up arms after someone tried to break into his house three years ago.

“Somebody kicked in the door to our house,” he said. “We didn’t even know it.

“We armed ourselves pretty well after that deal.”

Kruger said he has seen a greater influx of first-time gun buyers coming into his shop recently, wanting to arm themselves to protect their property and their families. Most new buyers typically buy a home defense shotgun — which has a shorter barrel than traditional shotguns — or pistols to protect their homes.

State law justifies deadly force in a variety of circumstances.

Chapter 9 of the Texas Penal Code states that a person is justified in using deadly force to protect land or tangible, movable property to prevent arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft at night or criminal mischief at night.

The law also permits a person to use deadly force “to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping from the property” when the person believes the property cannot be recovered by any other means.

Kruger pointed to one particular shotgun he recommends because it includes a flashlight that illuminates when the grip is squeezed.

“It’s a good deal,” he said, “because you’d hate to shoot a family member in the house.”

Keeping firearms in the home opens the possibility of an accident, especially around children, if the guns are not kept out of reach.

In March 2005, a rural Donna family’s 5-year-old boy was shot with a 12-gauge shotgun by his 7-year-old brother.

The two boys had been playing inside a bedroom at their home when the 7-year-old found a loaded shotgun under a bed and aimed the weapon at his younger brother. The gun went off, ripping flesh from the younger boy’s thigh.

Gun locks are available — often for free — from most local police departments.

With five children at home, Porraz — the victim in one of the home invasions Monday — said he was still thinking about buying a gun to protect his family. He described himself as a religious man and said he doesn’t like the idea of shooting anyone — but would consider it if it protects his family.

A bandage covered the area where he was clocked in the forehead with the butt of a shotgun Monday afternoon. The 43-year-old had been working on his SUV at the time and eventually gave the two attackers $300.

“What’s most important to me is my kids,” he said in Spanish. “And if I need to kill someone to protect my kids, I will.”

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