2cnd amendment accident....or stupidity?UPDATE!!

Very sad and I agree there should be some time done.

I think the story is a little misleading - from reading just a couple comments it sounds like there was more to it than he was just at the back door. Seems like he was pretty drunk, he broke a window, and I can understand how that would look like something much more than it was in the heat of the situation. A broken window definately doesn't constitute firing a shot being as the homeowners life wasn't yet in danger but im just saying, im sure there was at least a little bit more to it than what was reported. I would have presented the weapon at that time (probably with a few loudspoken hateful words too) and im sure that would have been plenty enough to have made the decision between a threat and take the shot, or a stupid drunk who realises he's made a terrible mistake and is backing up pleading for life.

Sad story either way

Yeah. The city's leading citizen, who is dead drunk, tries to come into my house in the wee hours of the morning and I shoot him and it's not his fault? I'm at the age where I don't enjoy fighting like I used to so I probably would've shot him too. Drunkeness only leads to trouble. It was his own fault.
Mark

"m gardner" wrote:Yeah. The city's leading citizen, who is dead drunk, tries to come into my house in the wee hours of the morning and I shoot him and it's not his fault? I'm at the age where I don't enjoy fighting like I used to so I probably would've shot him too. Drunkeness only leads to trouble. It was his own fault.
Mark

pretty hard to argue that! couldn't agree more. yes it may have been missleading, but i'll tell you if someone catches me off gaurd and i have my wife and children in my house, being drunk isn't an excuse......... thats a chance your taking----- KEEP YOURSELF UNDER CONTROL!!

1.The parents of 22-year-old Sean Kennedy said detectives have told them their son, who had been drinking, was shot Sunday night after breaking a window to try to get in through the back door of a house a block from where he lived.


2.The occupants of the house called police to report that they believed a burglary was occurring.

All I am saying is the people inside the house most likely thought someone was breaking in they called police the window gets broken as he is trying to enter what he thinks is his home the home owner is fear of life and or proerty and kills what belives to be a person trying like heck to get into their home and defends himself and his property.

It is still a sad deal but the home owner most likely did what he felt was putting an end to a desperate intruder. Although Sean was just DRUNK and confused.


http://www.examiner.com/a-1771260~Colorado_s__Make_My_Day__law_eyed_in_home_shooting.html

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Prosecutors are considering whether a Colorado law meant to protect homeowners against intruders applies in the case of a man killed outside a house he mistakenly thought was his.

The parents of 22-year-old Sean Kennedy said detectives have told them their son, who had been drinking, was shot Sunday night after breaking a window to try to get in through the back door of a house a block from where he lived.

"The detectives agreed from everything we told them and from the way things looked that was pretty much what happened," said Kennedy's mother, Lisa Kennedy, told the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Under Colorado's "Make My Day" law, people are allowed to use deadly force in self defense against intruders in their home.


The street numbers of the house where Kennedy was shot, 3212, are the same as the house where he lived. Kennedy's house has a wooden privacy fence in the backyard, while the home where he was shot has a chain-link fence. His friends said he was in no condition to notice the difference after an evening of drinking and watching the Denver Broncos game at a friend's house.

Two people were inside the house that Kennedy tried to enter, police said. Police declined to identify them.

Colorado Springs police spokesman Lt. David Whitlock declined to comment on the account given by Kennedy's parents but said the right to self defense will play a role in the district attorney's decision whether to file charges.

David Webster, a defense attorney and former prosecutor, said it's still unclear whether the "Make My Day" law will apply to this case.

"It gets murky if the door is broken but not open," he said. Prosecutors also must consider whether Kennedy was warned before being shot.

The occupants of the house called police to report that they believed a burglary was occurring. Police have not said how long after the call that shots were fired.

"The time frame will be key," Webster said. "It sounds like they were trying to do the right thing and get law enforcement there."

Kennedy was an assistant golf pro at a Colorado Springs golf course.

no doubt that anyone thinking of getting in my house is going to meet Mr Mossberg,but i also don't think you can open the door and shoot.

someone tried to convince me yesterday that your truck is an extension of your house,and that you could use deadly force to stop a break in of your rig.......not buying it.
not sayin it shouldn't be[it would sure put the fear of God into criminals].

If this poor misbegotten kid WAS an intruder, everyone would be saying that the homeowner did the right thing and treating them in a much different light.

I'm sorry, but from the "description" of what happened, I see no difference in the mind set of the homeowner. There should be no charges filed. Tragic, yes. Preventable, yes. Homeowner's fault, NO!

"ABert" wrote:If this poor misbegotten kid WAS an intruder, everyone would be saying that the homeowner did the right thing and treating them in a much different light.

I'm sorry, but from the "description" of what happened, I see no difference in the mind set of the homeowner. There should be no charges filed. Tragic, yes. Preventable, yes. Homeowner's fault, NO!

Agreed. The way I look at it is dont get so drunk you cant tell which house is yours. If someone is driving drunk and gets into an accident and dies we dont charge the driver of the other vehicle do we?
The bottom line is I dont care if your drunk, sober, or high as a kite, you try coming in through my door or window and i'm going to make you really think twice about it. As sad as it may sound my philosophy about it is if i'm ever in a situation where i need to use force to protect my family I will shoot to kill. The last thing I want is to spend time in prison because I shot the guy in the leg or arm and then he decided to file charges on me. This guy did what I hope every one of us would have done, he was protecting his family from someone trying to break into his house.
Yes it's sad the kid died, but just because your drunk does not give you a free pass, you still have to be able to be in control.

I'm not trying to stir the pot at all, but I don't really understand. Like you said 79ford, you have to be in control - where was the shooters control?? There was no threat, a broken window? Hell turn on a light and shout, thats all it takes. even with a true intruder just knowing someone is home is (in most cases) going to be enough to scare the stupid freeloader off. And if then he continues to try and get in, then by all means empty a clip! But this guy hadn't even gotten inside yet, I wasn't there so by no means am i presuming to know it all in this situation, but I don't see the justification of taking the shot at this point.

All this being said, I still don't think the shooter should be or will be charged. But I do think he fired a little too soon.

Does nobody really agree with me on this? (That's fine if so, like I said in the beginning, i'm not trying to start an argument - Maybe i'm just too nice, haha)

looks like me and you are on the short list :) i have to think that some of the comments are from folks with no kids.i also think the FACT that there was no breech of the house other than the broken window,and that the shooter CONFRONTED Sean by OPENING the door,then shooting him,left the shooter wide open to civil proceedings if not the criminal.
still no updates on pending charges and i can't understand why not?.......it is what it is.

From the small statement quoted by the mother, I believe even she believes her own child was in the wrong. I've got two grown kids and now have three grandkids, with the three grandbabies living with us as both of their parents as very shortly getting ready to ship out, one to Iraq and one to Afganistan.

Keep in mind, we all do not know the facts of the case and what truly happened that fateful night. We are only going off what the media has reported thus far. From my perception of what has been reported, the homeowner had every right to do what he/she did. Though, I'm sure with hindsight being 20/20, they wished they had done something else different.

Who's to say the kid was not beligerent and wondering who the heck was in his house? Thus threatening the homeowner? I am sure the proper folks are asking the proper questions before deciding a proper course of action.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/charges_46953___article.html/killed_house.html

update,,,,,,,,wouldn't of thunk it!

Sounds like our golf pro had an excessively high blood alcohol level. People that can drink that much and still function have had lots of practice. They nearly always suffer some sort of severe conseqences, then whine about it. I got to see lots of them go through the system. Don't drink. It's easier not to do stupid things. Sounds like the judge thought it was a righteous shooting.
Mark

Mark, I gree.

I have kids, 3 1/2 to be exact. My oldest is 18. One can only imagine what the home owner was going through and what we would do if we were faced with an intruder. Pounding on the door is one thing. When a window is broken and an arm is reaching in to unlock the door, thats a whole different issue.

What would I have done? If I thought for one split second my family was in danger, I would unload my clip on the would be intruder.

I for one am very happy to see the DA not file charges.
Just my opinion and off the soapbox I go.