Pflugerville Tx. Shooting

Pflugerville death happened after confrontation
Jarrod Wise
Jackie Vega
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) – A man is charged with manslaughter after police said he fired 15 rounds through the front window of his home, striking and killing a teen in east Pflugerville Monday night.Pflugerville police found Daquan Wilson, 18, lying face-down and unresponsive when they arrived in the 1300 block of Ivybridge Drive at 9:47 p.m. He was transported toSt. David’s Round Rock Medical Center , where he died from a gunshot wound.Joseph Anderson, 32, faces charges after he said he fired his handgun through the window when he heard a group of men outside his front door talking about shooting him. Anderson had gotten into an argument with one of them – his stepdaughter’s boyfriend – in a nearby playground a few minutes before over his stepdaughter being there without permission, according to an affidavit.Wilson was not identified as being one of the men at the park, but he was in front of the door with the boyfriend when Anderson fired the gun, police said.Anderson told police he didn’t want to hurt anyone, but that he was just trying to scare them.Wilson was hit in the chest. His family described the death as senseless.”He just graduated last month on the fifth, and last night was July 5. He died and lost his life,” said Wilson’s mother, Connie Wilson.She said he had a lot to live for. He had just graduated Pflugerville High School and was on their basketball team. He was working three jobs and was about to enter the Dental Hygiene Program in college. All that, she said, was cut short.Wilson said, “It just was a senseless loss. It really was. Our community is going to miss him greatly.”"He’s not even 19 years old and talking about donating organs and funeral arrangements. But, for what reason? There’s no reason a person should be shooting out their door,” said Daquan’s father, Michael Jefferson, who tried to hold back tears while he spoke.Neighbors in the area are shocked something like this would happen in their community. The neighborhood is full of children playing in the late afternoons.Erica Hernandez said, “I’m terrified because I’ve lived here for 11 years now, and got three kids. I’m worried about the safety of my kids and the neighborhood’s kids because nothing like this has ever happened. Its scary, very scary.” Tuesday afternoon, family and friends of Daquan held hands and prayed over the spot where his body lay just 12 hours earlier. Now that same spot is adorned with flowers, candles, and memories of a life cut short. “It can happen to any child,” Jefferson said, as tears rolled down his face. “It didn’t have to happen in Pflugerville. It didn’t have to happen to him.”Authorities took Anderson into custody for questioning a short while later.Investigators learned Anderson was involved in a confrontation with his stepdaughter’s boyfriend earlier in the afternoon at an elementary school playground. Anderson had gone to the playground to pick up his stepdaughter after she had not returned home as she was expected to, and had words with her boyfriend and another friend at the park, police said. Anderson said the boyfriend threatened to kill him, but he had dismissed it because the boyfriend was “just a kid.”After Anderson and his stepdaughter left, she received two phone calls that Anderson told police made him feel threatened. The first warned that the boyfriend and friends were “looking for where you stay,” police said.The second call advised the stepdaughter that the group was going to “shoot whoever opens the door,” police said.Half an hour after the confrontation at the playground, the boyfriend and five or six of his friends showed up at Anderson’s house and approached the front door, police said. Anderson said he moved everyone to the back of the house when he heard the voices on the other door utter the words, “come out” and “shoot” and “get out of the way,” police said.That’s when Anderson said he fired his gun from inside his residence toward the front of his home, striking Wilson in the upper torso with one of the 15 rounds he sprayed through the front window. Pflugerville police charged Anderson with manslaughter, a second-degree felony. And although Wilson was on the property when shot, authorities said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon that the Castle Doctrine will not apply in this case.
This story keeps changing in the news, the Lib's made it seem initally like a race issue. If you watch it build you will see the truth come to light in the end.
He made lots of mistakes, this is good to read as a "How Not To" handle a situation.
In the end I think we will see he was a scared Man defending his daughter his home and his Life.

 

Panic is not a good legal defense.

 

No, but a group of men outside your door talking about shooting you is. I'm curious to see how this is going to go.

 

This is a prime example of the wisdom of not saying any more than " I acted in self-defense and will not discuss it any further without my lawyer present".

 

Amen If I had been in his shoes I would have Dailed 911 1st. 2nd I would have made sure of my target and not sprayed and prayed.

Prayers for all involved.

 

Shooting people for verbal threats is an even worse legal defense than panic.

 

I agree.


The "scare" statement is going to bite him hard in the end.

Poor dude.

 

This was at apparently at night. However, I'm not sure if a crime was being committed against him. Hard to say from what was reported.

Sounds like with a real good attorney he could get off. I agree this also sounds like a real good time not to say anything.

Also sounded like a real good time to have not fired your weapon and maybe have waited until forcible entry was attempted.

 

These goons had threatened his life more than once. Terroristic Threat is a crime in Texas. It is legal to shoot in self defense in Texas if one is in fear of his life or great bodily harm. Six to one odds, at night, combined with terroristic threat/ The DA and cops ought to be ran out of town for doing anything more than an investigation. THEY and that worthless street scum are the criminals, not the homeowner.

Seems like every time some young punk goes out of his way to get shot that his family starts catterwauling about how the lost loved one had so much potential, was turning his life around, wanted to be a doctor, or preacher, or whatever. How much you wanna bet if they do the tests, they find cocaine residuals in his tissues?

Good riddance! The homeowner probably saved someone's life down the road.

jim

 

I am ashamed of the reaction here.

This shooting is indefensible. Why can't anyone find the words? An innocent person was killed through gross stupidity. All we can say, as responsible, knowledgeable gun owners, is "he shouldn't have talked to the cops"?!?!? I am ashamed of the reaction here.

15 shots out the window? Who was he aiming at? Where/who exactly was the threat? Who was he "defending his family" against?

No "making sure of your target" or being "responsible for every round".

Can anyone here say that hearing "threats" outside the door is enough to put you so in fear for your life to justify emptying a magazine out the window at the voices?

What's legal isn't always what's right. This shooting is neither. This shooter is an embarrassment to responsible gun owners. There was nothing done right here. This shooting was a crime however you look at it. Do you think this one's going to make "The Armed Citizen"?

But since "In the end I think we will see he was a scared Man defending his daughter his home and his Life."some here are going to pin a rose on the "poor dude." "Good riddance! The homeowner probably saved someone's life down the road." You've got to be kidding! Does being in the presence of someone making a threat make you a valid target? Stupid killer is the proper characterization. Even in Texas.

 

I hope, MileHighMan, that you will forgive me for being more willing to empathize with a young stepfather dealing with what he felt was an angry, murderous mob saying they intended to shoot him as soon as he opened the door.

The outcome of this incident is the result of poor or non-existent firearms training, and ignorance of deadly force law as it is written. VERY few outside of our immediate community have the knowledge of these subjects.

At most, this should be used as an example of the need for firearms training.

 

Self defense here in Kentucky is measured by "would a reasonable person fear for his life under these circumstances?"

I assure you that there are some people who can say "I'm going to kill you," and make you a firm believer, make you afraid for your life.

Whether or not this was the case is a question for the jury.

We can't be there for the trial.

None of us will sit on that jury.

I hope this man gets a fair trial, if he's tried, with a reasonable jury.

KR

 

what i remember in the local press here in Austin is that the shooter (homeowner) told the police that had not intended to shoot anyone but had fired rounds through his door with the intent of scaring the guys off.

i am not in any way defending the actions of the juveniles/young adults who went to a man's house and instigated another confrontation with him. i think the Grand Jury will look long and hard into the context of the meeting, including the prior terroristic threats, and the initial confrontation.

from what i understand the homeowner was outside his house and when the group of guys showed up, he retreated into his house, locked his gun, and locked his door. then these guys either pound on the door and try to kick it in or what not and the guy fires through the door, killing one of them.

two things that i think the Grand Jury will have to analyze:

1. in favor of the homeowner: was the use of deadly force immediately necessary and was it reasonable? that is the legal standard in Texas. tie in the prior confrontation, the death threats, the second confrontation when they show up en masse at his doorstep. homeowner retreats into his house. guys pound on his door, whether or not to kick it in who knows. what would a reasonable person have done? call 911? possibly. but if the sequence of events occurred so fast, did this homeowner have time to call 911? or did it end even before the homeowner could have reasonably grabbed a phone? would you have grabbed a phone and called 911 first, or would you have grabbed your gun first? i think i would have gone for the gun before i went for the phone, personally. the threat is imminent, and all the cops can do, unfortunately, is show up after the guys have forced entry into your home.

2. not in favor of the homeowner: why did the homeowner fire negligently through a door "to scare" and not to stop the immediate threat? i believe this statement is very damaging, and i believe this man's defense would have been much easier to defend had he not made this statement. the law doesn't allow reckless discharging of firearms to scare people, even to just scare people.

i believe this man will face an indictment with the Travis County Grand Jury and will have to defend himself in a court of law to a jury of his peers.

i hope the jury sees it his way.

 

I think the man was mentally unprepared for the situation & when trouble came he panicked. I would probably grab the gun & the phone. Fort the family up & watch the door while waiting for police. If they come through the door it is time to stop the threat. If they stay outside let the police deal with them.

 

+1.

 

Milehighman & Killchain,

y'all said or affirmed:

Chainsaw2 said:

Have you read more about this, or do you have some clearer insight than the article posted? If not, I think it's pretty hard to judge without having all of the evidence that a jury will get. I won't judge him either way; I simply don't know enough about what happened.

I will follow the case closely as it develops, as we all should. Regardless of the outcome, there is much to learn from this mess.

KR

 

I don't agree, and certainly can find no outrage or sympathy for the deceased in this situation.

As a reasonable person, I would agree that the shooter was in fear of great bodily harm or death based on the statements at the door, and earlier in the day, and I would agree that the use of deadly force was justified given the disparity in force.

While the "scare" statement is incriminating and may justify negligence, it was NOT the shooter that searched for the boyfriend and his gang. It was a man in his home, a home that had a group of threatening young men outside of the door. THEY are at fault because if THEY were not at this mans door, he would NOT have been in fear of his life, and would NOT have discharged his firearm.

 

Should have bunkered in and had his family call the cops while he covered the front. But hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.

I live in a bad neighborhood, and when the temperature gets hot and the windows are open and people are out past midnight I've heard people scream 'I'm going to f-ing shoot you n----!' and the like. Never at me. I call the cops, but I grab a rifle and back away towards the center of the apartment first. If I was terrified, had reason to believe that any moment now these people who had come to kill me would open fire through the door and the front of my home?

I don't know. Walls don't stop bullets. All he has is concealment, not cover, as he so aptly proved when he fired out.

Whatever happens to her father, I hope the stepdaughter learns to associate with better people.

 

As per the Constitution, the shooting is defensible. As for the shootee being innocent, sure, innocent.

He was part of the mob threatening the homeowner.

I see no reason to be embarrassed by a person who might have made a poor decision in a potentially life threatening situation anymore than I am embarrassed as a responsible car owner by those car drivers who crash into other people during some sort of crisis. There are plenty of embarrassing gun owners out there who do some really stupid and embarrassing things, no doubt and do them under non-critical circumstances, but I don't identify with them either.

 

The kid was a disrespectful punk, he was trespassing, he made verbal threats. The home owner had no way of knowing if he (or the 5 other guys) were hopped up on dope or armed. But he did know they were just outside his door talking about killing the guy. Is this behavior any different than drawing an airsoft gun on a cop and getting shot? The home owner's mistake was not calling the cops. Leave the door closed and see if they try to break in then drill them.
But then again, that was Texas and I don't know their laws. Legally, does he have the right to come out of the house, identify his target and drill him because he is on the property and threatened him with overwhelming numbers at hand? If that is the case, then he is simply a bad shot for using 15 rounds to do the job of 1.

 

It's a hard call. I mean, I would be making trouser chili if six guys were threatening me with phone calls and then showed up at my house, but I would have had the police there (or at least have called them) after the first call.

And personally, I would have set up an ambush inside my home for any intruders to come through, rather than shoot out the windows - better chance of survival. This would have also *most likely* protected the H/O from being charged, if a baddie was killed actively trying to kill you in your own home. Also, by shooting out the front he could have killed someone across the street or something. Let's be honest, clear aggression, threatening and a show of force from the deceased, but irrational behavior from the H/O. Poor guy has to take a ride on the Justice System now. He'll probably beat it, but we just don't know all the facts here in armchair-land.

 

Part of the reason I posted this was to alert you fellow Texans that this is how you'll be treated in the Press. The story was much more than what was initally told here in this article, there were many other articles like this; but this was pretty typical.
1)The Step daughter is 15 the young Man she was seeing (not the one shot) was over 18.
2)Its been reported on the local radio (590 AM in Austin) He did call Police, he was told it would take 3 to 5 minutes responce time.
3) Not only were there threats outside the door aparently at least one young Man was beating/kicking the door before he fired.
All in All I think we here can see various mistakes made, but regardless aparently even in Gun friendly Texas (at least in the Austin area) You will be found guilty even before the whole story gets out, ..and by the way don't expect a follow up story to help clear your name.
Thanks
A/M

 

I personally would have called the cops every time these bozo's made a threatening call, and tried to file a peace bond or restraining order whichever is best. When they showed up at the door, then I'd have called 911 or had the wife call them. Then, I'd have taken up a good position just past on in the living room and waited for them to kick in the door. If they broke down the door, then I'd have defended my home. Too bad for them.

All in all, this inexperienced guy made a lot of mistakes. However, he was in his home, not looking for trouble, not making threats, just defending his home and family. Anyone that feels this classic case of self-defense is wrong needs to come down to earth and get a healthy dose of reality.

I'm betting MileHigh and his ilk have never been in this type of life-threatening senario. It's terrifying for a newbie to be in this situation, and he has almost certianly had no training for this. Few would have acted any differently, and to say one is ashamed of him as a gun owner is indefenseable. You weren't there in his shoes, and have no right to Monday morning quarterback him. THAT kind of mindset is what makes me ashamed of gunowners.

jim

 

If he would have just said, "I was in fear of my life and my stepdaughter's life. I want an attorney", that could have solved a lot of problems.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

They could just as easily shot thru the door and killed the homeowner or members of his family. We don't know the history of the relationship between these individuals but from this writeup it doesn't sound good. We don't know if this group was an Explorer group looking to get a merit badge or the local version of neighborhood narco-terrorist-wanna-be gang bangers.

It sounds like there was a confrontation of sorts earlier nad this man may have known that it was now game time for keeps and he played to win.

Isn't there a sig line about it being better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6? This may be the classic test of that thought.

It's a bad deal all the way around and his troubles have a long way to go before resolution yet.