Buckskinner
Member
Man shoots, kills intruder
Botched home invasion leaves one man dead
By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ
The Salinas Californian
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RICHARD GREEN/THE SALINAS CALIFORNIAN
Monterey County Sheriff's Department Detective Tom Jenkins, front left, helps remove a body Monday after a shooting at a central Salinas apartment complex.
A Salinas man shot and killed one of three robbers who burst into his apartment, tied him up and ransacked his home early Monday morning, police said.
The man, whom police declined to name, somehow freed himself, retrieved his own gun and opened fire on Juan Herrera, 34, of Salinas, in his doorway, killing him. The two other robbers escaped and remained at large late Monday.
It was 5:48 a.m. when Herrera, along with a man and a woman, came to the front door of an upstairs unit at the Maple Terrace Apartments complex on the 700 block of East Romie Lane, Sgt. Mike Groves said.
The woman knocked at the door, and when nobody answered, the two men kicked it in, Groves said.
One of the three brandished a pellet-gun pistol, he said.
The robbers tied up the occupant, identified by neighbors as a college student in his 20s, and left him in a back room as they ransacked the apartment, Groves said.
After untying himself, the man got out his own handgun and fired several shots at Herrera's chest, police said.
"At least three shots were fired from his own handgun," Groves said.
Police are still investigating whether the home-invasion victim has a firearms license. Groves said it's unclear why the robbers targeted the man's apartment.
After the shooting, the occupant, who was not injured, ran across a parking lot and asked neighbors to call police, Groves said.
"I heard loud noises, and I heard a kid run up and down the street shouting 'Help,'" said Jeremiah Hurley, who was awakened by the commotion. "Then I heard the sirens."
"I can't believe they would do a home invasion that early in the morning," said Tammy Fischer, Hurley's roommate. "I figure I lived in the best neighborhood in Salinas."
Police arrived just after 6 a.m. and found Herrera's body sprawled across the stairwell that leads to the apartment where the robbery occurred.
Workers at a 24-hour answering service center at Maple Terrace apartments said they heard the commotion but thought it was a domestic disturbance.
"This stuff never happens around here," said Richard Ramirez, who lives in the neighborhood.
TO HELP: Anyone with information about Monday morning's home invasion is asked to call the Salinas Police Department's anonymous tip line at 775-4222.
Originally published Tuesday, March 23, 2004
NOTICE ANYTHING YOU DON'T LIKE?!!
The victim needs a firearms license? I don't think its necessary to to be licensed to have that pistol. It may be illegal to be in possession if not registered to him. Either way, its infuriating.
Botched home invasion leaves one man dead
By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ
The Salinas Californian
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RICHARD GREEN/THE SALINAS CALIFORNIAN
Monterey County Sheriff's Department Detective Tom Jenkins, front left, helps remove a body Monday after a shooting at a central Salinas apartment complex.
A Salinas man shot and killed one of three robbers who burst into his apartment, tied him up and ransacked his home early Monday morning, police said.
The man, whom police declined to name, somehow freed himself, retrieved his own gun and opened fire on Juan Herrera, 34, of Salinas, in his doorway, killing him. The two other robbers escaped and remained at large late Monday.
It was 5:48 a.m. when Herrera, along with a man and a woman, came to the front door of an upstairs unit at the Maple Terrace Apartments complex on the 700 block of East Romie Lane, Sgt. Mike Groves said.
The woman knocked at the door, and when nobody answered, the two men kicked it in, Groves said.
One of the three brandished a pellet-gun pistol, he said.
The robbers tied up the occupant, identified by neighbors as a college student in his 20s, and left him in a back room as they ransacked the apartment, Groves said.
After untying himself, the man got out his own handgun and fired several shots at Herrera's chest, police said.
"At least three shots were fired from his own handgun," Groves said.
Police are still investigating whether the home-invasion victim has a firearms license. Groves said it's unclear why the robbers targeted the man's apartment.
After the shooting, the occupant, who was not injured, ran across a parking lot and asked neighbors to call police, Groves said.
"I heard loud noises, and I heard a kid run up and down the street shouting 'Help,'" said Jeremiah Hurley, who was awakened by the commotion. "Then I heard the sirens."
"I can't believe they would do a home invasion that early in the morning," said Tammy Fischer, Hurley's roommate. "I figure I lived in the best neighborhood in Salinas."
Police arrived just after 6 a.m. and found Herrera's body sprawled across the stairwell that leads to the apartment where the robbery occurred.
Workers at a 24-hour answering service center at Maple Terrace apartments said they heard the commotion but thought it was a domestic disturbance.
"This stuff never happens around here," said Richard Ramirez, who lives in the neighborhood.
TO HELP: Anyone with information about Monday morning's home invasion is asked to call the Salinas Police Department's anonymous tip line at 775-4222.
Originally published Tuesday, March 23, 2004
NOTICE ANYTHING YOU DON'T LIKE?!!
The victim needs a firearms license? I don't think its necessary to to be licensed to have that pistol. It may be illegal to be in possession if not registered to him. Either way, its infuriating.