It was a scary day for residents of an apartment in Dallas, Texas, when a group of would-be intruders, one of whom was dressed in a maintenance worker disguise, attempted to breach an apartment by kicking down the door. They were stopped by gunfire from the apartment’s resident.
The resident, Ethan Rodriguez, was at home at about 6 pm on Saturday when he heard his doorbell ring. Answering it digitally, he heard the voice of 30-year-old Aaron Contreras. Contreras was allegedly pretending to be a maintenance worker, wearing a maintenance worker outfirt and claiming to be there to check on the air conditioner filter.
Rodriguez, presumably not wanting to deal with the situation, said over the digital doorbell that he wasn’t home. That is when he saw the video of Contreras leaving and then returning a few minutes later with a handgun and another man.
The dastardly duo then attempted to kick in the door, pistol in hand. But Rodriguez was prepared for a fight and wasn’t willing to let them harm or rob him. So, before they could finish kicking down the door and burst into his apartment, he opened fire with his handgun.
Rodriguez managed to fire most of a magazine through the door and at Contreras, who ran away after firing only two rounds of his own back at Rodriguez. It appears that Rodriguez managed to get off 13 rounds of his own, as investigators found 13 bullet holes exiting the door and two entering it.
Mr. Gunsngear, a firearms YouTuber associated with Stephen Crowder, posted a video of the incident and said, “Sometimes intermediate barrier penetration performance matters for civilian gun owners 😎 Criminals pretend to be maintenance workers to gain access to an apartment but get a heaping of lead instead 🇺🇸🦅”
Sometimes intermediate barrier penetration performance matters for civilian gun owners 😎
Criminals pretend to be maintenance workers to gain access to an apartment but get a heaping of lead instead 🇺🇸🦅#dallas #crime #texas #CityLife #decay #urban #police pic.twitter.com/faLickZU1T
— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) August 21, 2023
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After the incident, Contreras was arrested by Dallas County Sheriff’s deputies. He was wanted on warrants for aggravated assault, deadly conduct, and attempted burglary of a habitation. He is now being held in the Dallas County jail on a $150,000 bond.
Commenters on the above video thought that Contreras was certainly in the wrong for attempting to break into Rodriguez’s home, though they were split on whether Rodriguez was right to fire before the door was kicked down or whether he should have waited until they were into his apartment.
One person, commenting on the situation, said, “IDK man, that’s a very questionable shoot, especially given the other apartment right behind the 2 intruders. It might be illegal, but I wouldn’t have open fired until I was more certain I’d hit center-mass. Certainly would not have fired blind.”
Similarly, another said, “Every 5 yrs I need to get 8 hours of classroom training to renew my permit to carry. They always say to never shoot through a door. I’m not going to pretend I know if it’s legal or not but it’s not a good idea in my opinion.”
Others argued that the threat posed by Contreras having a firearm made the situation pressing enough that Rodriguez needed to shoot when he did, rather than waiting for the thugs to enter his apartment.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video