Texas Dont Play Joe Horn Worth The read!

[Admin]

Man Kills Suspects While On Phone With 911
Two Men Shot In Texas By Joe Horn Who Saw Suspects Leaving Neighbor's House

Man Shoots Intruders
Audio tape of a 911 call captures a man in the act of fatally shooting two intruders at his neighbor's home. A Houston grand jury is deciding his fate. Russ Mitchell reports.



(CBS) The 911 call came from a Pasadena, Tex., resident, who alerted police to two burglary suspects on a neighbor's property. Before he hung up, two men were dead by his hand.
Joe Horn, 61, told the dispatcher what he intended to do: Walk out his front door with a shotgun.
"I've got a shotgun," Horn said, according to a tape of the 911 call. "Do you want me to stop them?"
"Nope, don't do that - ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?" the dispatcher responded.
"Hurry up man, catch these guys, will you? 'Cause I'm ain't gonna let 'em go, I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not gonna let 'em go. I'm not gonna let 'em get away with this ----."
Shortly after, Horn said he sees one suspect was standing in front of his house, looking at it from the street.
"I don’t know if they’re armed or not. I know they got a crowbar 'cause that's what they broke the windows with. ... Man, this is scary, I can't believe this is happening in this neighborhood."
He gets more agitated. The dispatcher asks if he can see the suspects but they had retreated into the target's house, out of view: "I can go out the front [to look], but if I go out the front I'm bringing my shotgun with me, I swear to God. I am not gonna let 'em get away with this, I can't take a chance on getting killed over this, OK? I'm gonna shoot, I'm gonna shoot."
"Stay inside the house and don’t go out there, OK?" the dispatcher said. "I know you're pissed off, I know what you're feeling, but it's not worth shooting somebody over this, OK?"
"I don’t want to," Horn said, "but I mean if I go out there, you know, to see what the hell is going on, what choice am I gonna have?
"No, I don’t want you to go out there, I just asked if you could see anything out there."
The dispatcher asks if a vehicle could be seen; Horn said no. The dispatcher again says Horn should stay inside the house.
Almost five minutes into the call, police had not arrived.
"I can’t see if [the suspects are] getting away or not," Horn said.
Horn told the dispatcher that he doesn’t know the neighbors well, unlike those living on the other side of his home. "I can assure you if it had been their house, I would have already done something, because I know them very well," he said.
Dispatcher: "I want you to listen to me carefully, OK?"
Horn: "Yes?"
Dispatcher: "I got ultras coming out there. I don't want you to go outside that house. And I don't want you to have that gun in your hand when those officers are poking around out there."
Horn: "I understand that, OK, but I have a right to protect myself too, sir, and you understand that. And the laws have been changed in this country since September the First and you know it and I know it."
Dispatcher: "I understand."
Horn: "I have a right to protect myself ..."
Dispatcher: "I'm ..."
Horn: "And a shotgun is a legal weapon, it's not an illegal weapon."
Dispatcher: "No, it's not, I'm not saying that, I'm just not wanting you to ..."
Horn: "OK, he's coming out the window right now, I gotta go, buddy. I'm sorry, but he's coming out the window. "
Dispatcher: "No, don't, don't go out the door, Mister Horn. Mister Horn..."
Horn: "They just stole something, I'm going out to look for 'em, I'm sorry, I ain't letting them get away with this ----. They stole something, they got a bag of stuff. I'm doing it!"
Dispatcher: "Mister, do not go outside the house."
Horn: "I'm sorry, this ain't right, buddy."
Dispatcher: "You gonna get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun, I don't care what you think."
Horn: "You wanna make a bet?"
Dispatcher: "Stay in the house."
Horn: "There, one of them's getting away!
Dispatcher: "That's alright, property's not something worth killing someone over. OK? Don't go out the house, don't be shooting nobody. I know you're pissed and you're frustrated but don't do it."
Horn: "They got a bag of loot."
Dispatcher: "OK. How big is the bag?" He then talks off, relaying the information.
Dispatcher: "Which way are they going?"
Horn: "I can't ... I'm going outside. I'll find out."
Dispatcher: "I don't want you going outside, Mister..."
Horn: "Well, here it goes buddy, you hear the shotgun clicking and I'm going."
Dispatcher: "Don't go outside."
On the tape of the 911 call, the shotgun can be heard being cocked and Horn can be heard going outside and confronting someone.
"Boom! You're dead!" he shouts. A loud bang is heard, then a shotgun being cocked and fired again, and then again.
Then Horn is back on the phone:
"Get the law over here quick. I've now, get, one of them's in the front yard over there, he's down, he almost run down the street. I had no choice. They came in the front yard with me, man, I had no choice! ... Get somebody over here quick, man."
Dispatcher: "Mister Horn, are you out there right now?"
Horn: "No, I am inside the house, I went back in the house. Man, they come right in my yard, I didn't know what the --- they was gonna do, I shot 'em, OK?"
Dispatcher: "Did you shoot somebody?
Horn: "Yes, I did, the cops are here right now."
Dispatcher: "Where are you right now?"
Horn: "I'm inside the house. ..."
Dispatcher: "Mister Horn, put that gun down before you shoot an officer of mine. I've got several officers out there without uniforms on."
Horn: "I am in the front yard right now. I am ..."
Dispatcher: "Put that gun down! There's officers out there without uniforms on. Do not shoot anybody else, do you understand me? I've got police out there..."
Horn: "I understand, I understand. I am out in the front yard waving my hand right now."
Dispatcher: "You don't have a gun with you, do you?
Horn: "No, no, no."
Dispatcher: "You see a uniformed officer? Now lay down on the ground and don't do nothing else."
Yelling is heard.
Dispatcher: "Lay down on the ground, Mister Horn. Do what the officers tell you to do right now."
Two days later, Horn released a statement through an attorney.
“The events of that day will weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life," it said. "My thoughts go out to the loved ones of the deceased.”
The identities of the men killed were released Friday.
They are Miguel Antonio Dejesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30. Official records show that each of them had a prior arrest in Harris County for drug offenses.
The men were reportedly shot at a distance of less than 15 feet.
A woman who lives nearby who asked not to be identified told CBS News affiliate KHOU correspondent Rucks Russell that she always saw Horn as a grandfather figure. "He is the guardian of the neighborhood," she said. "He takes care of all our kids. If we ever need anything, we call him.”
But according to Tom Lambright, Horn’s attorney and a friend for more than four decades, he’s the one in need now. “He just needs everyone to know he’s not a villain, he’s not a bad guy,” Lambright said.
He went on to say that Horn voluntarily gave an extensive video statement to police immediately following the shooting.
Horn was not taken into custody after the shooting. A Harris County grand jury will decide if charges are to be filed.
Lambright says Horn acted in complete and total self defense and has nothing to hide.
Local opinion has been passionate on both sides of the shooting.
One letter to the Houston Chronicle said, "He didn't shoot them in the legs, to make sure they did not run away, or hold them at gunpoint until police arrived. No, he was judge, jury and executioner."
Another letter writer praised Horn, saying, "Where does the line form to pin a medal on Joe Horn? I want to get in line." Another wrote, "Let's get rid of the police force and just hire Joe Horn!"
Support for Horn was also running about 2-1 in an online survey of readers on the KHOU Web site.
The incident may prove a test for a new law recently passed in Texas which expands the right of citizens to use deadly force.
Under Texas law, people may use deadly force to protect their own property or to stop arson, burglary, robbery, theft or criminal mischief at night.
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."

[Proheat]

We need more Joe Horn's in this country and maybe the crime rate would drop!!! There are too many criminals getting off on technicalities and commiting crimes again!!!

[PistolPete]

bring him up to Philly and see if he can clean up the streets

[Captain Michael Buffington]

That is the way things should be, no way in hell they will convict a hero

[flatbottom]

Lets take this away from joe horn a minute, Just a minute. What in the hell are two men doing robbing a home? Something a man and his wife have worked all their lives for. Ok back to the original post.
I know the liberal clan will declare a psychological effect across the social level because of this "killing two burglars" with a shot gun. You will here plea's pertaining to victims rights. Bullshit. Victims rights my chopping board. Those two were breaking all morals we were taught. That thought of what if the family is home. What will we do. Or what will we do if some one catches us, had been thought out carefully. Joe Horn reacted on the defence. A defence we all think about every day we leave for work. Every night we go to bed. Every time our children look at us innocently before they leave for school. The burglars and other criminals have created a defensive effect across the social level because of their actions. Where is the liberal clan in our defence? You have the podium.

[Captain Michael Buffington]

come on Flat...you know they don't respond to logic....

[GALAZIO]

Yep... and as of Sept 1st, we no longer have to take "flight before fight" actions. I'll tell ya, it has gotten pretty bad in and around Houston. Good to see some national attention to something done right. What will be ironic is the lack of liberal media coverage when this gentleman walks. Here's a quick article about the new change to our "defense" laws. Now if other states would adopt a similar law, we might make a dent in taking back our streets.

DALLAS (Reuters) - Criminals in Texas beware: if you threaten someone in their car or office, the citizens of this state where guns are ubiquitous have the right to shoot you dead.

Governor Rick Perry's office said on Tuesday that he had signed a new law that expands Texans' existing right to use deadly force to defend themselves "without retreat" in their homes, cars and workplaces.

"The right to defend oneself from an imminent act of harm should not only be clearly defined in Texas law, but is intuitive to human nature," Perry said on his Web site.

The new law, which takes affect on September 1, extends an exception to a statute that required a person to retreat in the face of a criminal attack. The exception was in the case of an intruder unlawfully entering a person's home.

The law extends a person's right to stand their ground beyond the home to vehicles and workplaces, allowing the reasonable use of deadly force, the governor's office said.

The reasonable use of lethal force will be allowed if an intruder is:

- Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes

- Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place

- Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place.

The law also provides civil immunity for a person who lawfully slays an intruder or attacker in such situations. (here's where this guy will walk).

Texas joins several other states including Florida that have or are considering similar laws.

Sympathy for violent offenders and criminals in general runs low in Texas, underscored by its busy death row. The state leads the United States in executions with 388 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A conservative political outlook and widespread fondness for hunting also means Texans are a well-armed people capable of defending themselves with deadly force.

It is easy to acquire guns over the counter in Texas and lawful to carry a concealed handgun with a permit.

[Admin]

So basicly If you walk into a store with intent to rob there is a good chance now they will just blow you away and ask questions later.

You would think this should slow down crime.

I had the oppertunity to speak to a guy I worked with In New Orleans last night.

I worked next to this guy for 7 months and he is still there but now looking for an out. Said last month they had more murders then days in the month.

I know tons of people from NO are still in houston and things have been nuts.

Sad to say but this country needs to allow citizens to clean things up.

Hell I looked out my window a few years ago and saw a kid shooting herion under the street lamp on my lawn. The cops blew it off, I think a good ass kickin would have taught him that if he shoots up on my lawn he gets shit broke.

[GALAZIO]

Here ya go Admin... Looks like the Black Activist are realizing "Don't Mess with Texas". We need more of this when criminals come into our "hoods". Good to see the folks turn out and show another side for once.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...g.protest.khou

[Captain Michael Buffington]

La. should learn from my home state of Ms....They have the same laws as Tx. I caught two 14 year old kids taking the outboard off my homemade majek style flats skiff 3 years ago just after the law was passed and put three triple ought buckshot rounds within 2 feet of their feet...if I had not known who they were(neighbors kids)they would be no more...their shitbird parents threw a fit, cops told them they were lucky as it was not the first time they had pulled this at my place. Let's just say it was the last . Little bastards go the other way when they see me to this day .
Michael