A young man, just 14 years old, in the Houston, Texas, area faced a terrifying situation when a would-be robber started banging on doors in his neighborhood, with the allegation being that he was attempting to break in. The 14-year-old, apparently frightened by the situation, fired from inside his residence and struck the alleged would-be robber.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez posted about the incident on Facebook to alert locals to what happened. Beginning, he described where the incident occurred and said, “In the Cloverleaf area, East Harris County, Harris County Sheriff’s Office units responded to a call for service at the 14400 blk of Brownsville, neer Woodforest and the Tollway.”
Continuing, Sheriff Gonzalez described what the sheriff’s office has initially concluded happened, saying, “Preliminary: an adult male was knocking on doors, possibly attempting to break-in (not confirmed). Someone inside a residence, possibly a juvenile male, shot from inside, striking the male. The wounded male was pronounced deceased on-scene.”
Fox 26 Houston added more details on the situation. According to its report, the individual who was shot was allegedly prowling through the area, kicking and pulling on doors while demanding money from those inside. He is suspected of breaking into residences, as he had gloves and a backpack, which authorities noted to the Fox outlet, are usual tells that the individual is intent on committing robberies.
Describing the individual’s suspicious behavior in the neighborhood, one of the teen’s neighbors, Araceli Herrera, told Fox 26 Houston, “I turned on my camera and for sure there was a man looking in the ditch, had very weird behaviors, started walking around the ditch, then started to the neighbor’s property.”
It was when he got to that neighbor’s property, the home of the teen, that gunfire ended the situation. According to law enforcement authorities, the 14-year-old opened fire through the door, firing five or six shots from a firearm, killing the individual. The boy’s parents were reportedly not home at the time of the shooting.
Describing the shooting, Herrera told Fox 26 Houston, “Right as I looked back up in the window, the boy opens up the door and shoots the guy. He did one shot and then there was like a one or two second pause and did three more shots.” Herrera added, “Honestly, you do hear gunshots here all the time, but to actually see the entire thing and see the guy drop and all of that. It’s just a big impact.”
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Sheriff Ed Gonzalez added, speaking about the situation, that his office is still investigating whether the alleged robber was trying to break into the house. Sheriff Gonzalez said, “We’re still trying to confirm if he had opened the door, or unlocked the door, or just pulling back and forth on the doorknob.”
Texas’ Castle Doctrine provided, “A person in lawful possession of land or tangible, movable property is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other’s trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the property.“