Scenario - As you pull into your driveway, criminals flee from your house

[USAF_Vet]

If I am coming home from work and saw people fleeing my house, I will probably shoot if I am in a position to do so. In this instance, I would be getting home late at night, and my wife and kids would be in the house. If my family is in the house, I don't know what harm the perp has done to them. If I see a weapon in their hand, it's lights out. If I see my laptop, I might simply not see them run in front of the car. Ooops.

If my family is with me, then I would be a good witness. And the SOB better pray be didn't hurt my dogs.

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by USAF_Vet: If I am coming home from work and saw people fleeing my house, I will probably shoot if I am in a position to do so. In this instance, I would be getting home late at night, and my wife and kids would be in the house. If my family is in the house, I don't know what harm the perp has done to them.

What would justify your use of deadly force against someone fleeing your house? Surely you do not believe that not knowing what they have done would count.

Here are a few pertinent points from the forum rules:

Advocacy of any kind of unlawful or clearly unethical conduct is not permitted. Additionally, we hold to the principle that deadly force should be employed only as a last resort. This is for two reasons: (1) the experience of knowledgeable persons shows that even lawful shootings, etc., can prove extremely costly in many ways to the law abiding citizen or officer, and (2) it is essential for successfully fulfilling our roles as ambassadors to the world at large.

Everyone who posts here or anywhere else on the Internet should understand that such posts are permanent, and they may be subject to discovery in legal proceedings at any time in the future. Should any member ever find himself or herself involved in such proceedings, posts containing comments that could be interpreted unfavorably could prove damaging.

It is incumbent upon everyone who carries a firearm to familiarize himself or herself with the relevant laws in their jurisdiction and anywhere else where they may be carrying.

 

[bikerdoc]

All of the above is why I do not like "what if scenarios"
Too many variables, too much speculation and assumptions, too much testosterone, too much misinformed or too little knowledge of state and local laws, and finally little recogniton of the consequenses of not acting correctly.

No, I dont like what ifs.

 

[beatledog7]

Even so, I'd be glad for Texas law to apply everywhere. Just because you can, doesn't mean YOU have to. Your stuff will be safer just because there are other people who ARE willing. And insurance can't replace everything.

Maybe the stuff of people who live in Texas is more secure because of Texas law regarding use of deadly force; maybe it's not. I suspect it's not. If this law serves as an effective deterrent, why are there still petty thieves in Texas?

Having supposed legal cover to shoot a person in the back for stealing a TV does not in any way justify such an action. And yes, there many things insurance cannot replace, like your soul.

 

[Dnaltrop]

Considering that I have a Mother in law who almost never leaves my house, I'd be hard pressed to sit back and hope that she's inside, uninjured.

The Missus would call 911 firstly. Beyond that I'd like to say that "i don't know" but the truth is I'd be doing anything in my power to discern her condition.

My In-law has "been through the grinder" (understatement with details not appropriate for this forum ) and would fight people twice her size like a wounded animal until incapacitated. Especially given her own obvious access to my Firearms as needed, such a scenario means she's dead or dying, and the intruder now has a Pistol, making them an immediate threat to any and all other innocents to my mindset.

I DO have a small advantage in the installation of a home camera system that can be replayed through my phone, That would certainly help with better knowledge of the situation, rather than running blindly into an ambush.

Assuming they haven't torn the walls apart and found the DVR already.

 

[USAF_Vet]

What would justify your use of deadly force against someone fleeing your house? Surely you do not believe that not knowing what they have done would count.

Here are a few pertinent points from the forum rules:

I completely understand the forum rules, and I'm not advocating illegal actions. Like doc said above, it's a what if filled with speculation and assumptions.

This is a thinly veiled SHTF thread, and I answered in the most honest way I could, giving a very specific set if circumstances. This is not a situation one can train for, so it's completely reactionary. If a felony has been committed, or is in the process of being committed, often times deadly force is authorized. If armed 'people' come rushing out of my home where my wife and kids sleep as I pull into the driveway, I'm not going to assume I just happened upon an armed tea party who were there by invitation. Armed 'people' fleeing from my home in the middle of the night were in my home illegally. Just because I am not 100% certain what crime they committed while inside does not mean I would just stand idle and let them flee. If I'm on my property, and they are fleeing my house, armed, I am in their way. My justification: armed men fleeing from my home, running armed toward me, I am in fear for my life. They were armed, fleeing one crime and right into another.

But really, we can only speculate on what we might do in this given what if scenario. Any action we claim we might take is pure fantasy. In this particular worst case scenario, I would honestly not consider legal ramifications first and foremost over the safety of my family. I would call out anyone who says they would do otherwise.

 

[GEM]

If one talks to CHL experts in TX, after an incident you would be a fool not to talk to an attorney. Even if not charged, it's estimated the consultation and interaction with the law might cost $5K.

Don't trust naive views of TX to make you NOT talk to a lawyer.

 

[Kleanbore]

Posted by USAF_Vet: If a felony has been committed, or is in the process of being committed, often times deadly force is authorized.

In many jurisdictions, the use of deadly force may be permitted, if it is immediately necessary, to prevent certain kinds of felonies.

Armed 'people' fleeing from my home in the middle of the night were in my home illegally.

That may be true, or, depending upon whether someone may have may have let them in, it may not. Either way, it is completely irrelevant to the justification of deadly force.

Just because I am not 100% certain what crime they committed while inside does not mean I would just stand idle and let them flee.

You had better rethink that one.

If I'm on my property, and they are fleeing my house, armed, I am in their way. My justification: armed men fleeing from my home, running armed toward me, I am in fear for my life. They were armed, fleeing one crime and right into another.

If they were fleeing, that fact may go a very long way toward rebutting any presumption that may otherwise have existed that you had had a reasonable fear of imminent peril oo death.

The best way to look at this may be to understand that deadly force may be excused (justified) when it is immediately necessary for self preservation, but that individual citizens are not permitted to employ deadly force to exact justice.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Kleanbore, if it were a simple matter of legal vs illegal, you are absolutely correct. I won't even try to argue against that. But we're talking about a highly charged, very personal, very emotional scenario. Justified or not, I think in that given scenario, I would be hard pressed to not act.
In a perfectly emotionless perspective, what is legal would be the penultimate answer. But we don't live in an emotionless bubble. We live in a highly over emotional society that just as often panders to criminals as it does victims.

 

[WNTFW]

Just to illustrate a point; the OP say "1 or more people fleeing from your house, with your property". They have since turned into "armed people". Already we have a different take on the situation.

I could come up with a harmless explanation or two as to people fleeing. (without property) I have a similar (not fleeing) instance that actually happened at a friends house.

Scenario threads always have some scope shift to them. "If a guy is bigger than you" turns into "what if there are two guys & both are smaller that you"

 

[Sam1911]

Good point. We've got plenty of answers to the op's question, and several other possibilities as well.