Or how many they would have broken into. Hell, Mr. Horns house could very well have been next.
To me, this is very brazen breaking into a house in broad daylight.
Again, I believe that since there has been such an uprising surrounding what Mr. Horn did, you will find more and more people waiting to call 911 or calling, reporting the crime and then hanging up.
Then, just a month later, we have this. What's different between the Joe Horn shooting and this one is the suspect was actually breaking into this man's home.
64.233.169.104
Suspected burglar fatally shot at Harris County home
By KEVIN MORAN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
A southwest Harris County homeowner shot and killed a man he discovered climbing into a window of his house at about 2:15 a.m. today, investigators said.
Steven Dunbar, who apparently lived several blocks away, died in the window of the home in the 3400 block of Cascadia, Harris County sheriff's homicide Det. Rolf Nelson said.
The 33-year-old homeowner, Damon Barone, was asleep in the house with his wife, a son, 6, and an infant daughter when he heard a loud noise, Nelson said.
"The homeowner says he heard a loud noise, possibly a gunshot, that startled him out of bed," Nelson said. "As he got up, he said he heard another loud noise and he said the house was shaking."
Carrying a pistol, Barone was on his way to investigate the noises when he heard glass breaking in a bedroom.
"When he entered that bedroom, he said he saw a burglar coming through a broken window," Nelson said. "He shot several times and struck the burglar several times, killing him at the scene."
Deputies found a screen door on the back of the house torn from its metal frame, Nelson said.
"He's got a pretty extensive criminal record of felonies over the last 13 years," Nelson said of Dunbar, 44. "He has at least 12 arrests for felonies and a half-dozen convictions. We don't know if he was intent on some other crime or if it was a burglary for something he could turn into money."
The area around the shooting scene was taped off by deputies at about 3 a.m. and the homeowner was not available for comment.
The home is in the Forest View subdivision near the intersection of FM 1093 and Addicks-Clodine.
Nelson declined to say exactly how many times Dunbar was shot and where the bullets hit him.
The case is expected to be referred to a Harris County grand jury without charges, Nelson said.
If the shooting occurred as Barone described it, Texas law allowing people to defend their homes from intruders likely will preclude the filing of charges. Today's home-invasion fatality appears more clear-cut than that involving Pasadena resident Joe Horn, who shot two men last month as they emerged after apparently breaking into his neighbor's home.
Horn, 61, is being investigated for the Nov. 14 shootings in front of his home in the 7400 block of Timberline Drive. The two men, Diego Ortiz, 30, and Hernando Riascos Torres, 48, are suspected of breaking into Horn's neighbor's home in the middle of the afternoon.
The two, Colombian citizens who were in this country illegally, were confronted by Horn in his front yard after a police dispatcher told Horn not to go outside with his shotgun. Police said both men were shot in the back and died at the scene.
After investigators left the site of this morning's shooting, Barone did not answer knocks at his door.
Records show that Dunbar lived about three blocks away in the 15700 block of Wingdale. No one answered at that home, although two cars were parked in the driveway.
About noon, Belcio Rodriguez, 22, arrived at his parents' home across the street from Barone's on Cascadia. He said he lived with his parents in the neighborhood until two years ago and that his family was frightened by the shooting.
``We need more security,'' he said, referring to police patrols.
Rodriguez said the shooting was disturbing, but that people have a right to protect themselves and their property.
``We have to protect the family,'' he said.
A screen door that was ripped out of a sliding glass door frame could be seen leaning against the back of the home. |
