Man Kills Suspects While On Phone With 911
Two Men Shot In Texas By Joe Horn Who Saw Suspects Leaving Neighbor's House
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Attorney Tom Lambright reads a statament from his friend of four decades. (KHOU)
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Police at the scene in Pasadena, Tex., where a 911 caller fatally shot two men allegedly burglarizing his next door neighbor's house. (KHOU)
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A statement from Joe Horn reads, "The events of that day will weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life. My thoughts go out to the loved ones of the deceased." (KHOU)
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Man Shoots Intruders
Audio tape of a 911 call captures a man in the act of fatally shooting two intruders at his neighbor's home. A Houston grand jury is deciding his fate. Russ Mitchell reports.
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Joe Horn, 61, told the dispatcher what he intended to do: Walk out his front door with a shotgun.
"I've got a shotgun," Horn said, according to a tape of the 911 call. "Do you want me to stop them?"
"Nope, don't do that - ain't no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?" the dispatcher responded.
"Hurry up man, catch these guys, will you? 'Cause I'm ain't gonna let 'em go, I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not gonna let 'em go. I'm not gonna let 'em get away with this ----."
Shortly after, Horn said he sees one suspect was standing in front of his house, looking at it from the street.
"I don’t know if they’re armed or not. I know they got a crowbar 'cause that's what they broke the windows with. ... Man, this is scary, I can't believe this is happening in this neighborhood."
He gets more agitated. The dispatcher asks if he can see the suspects but they had retreated into the target's house, out of view: "I can go out the front [to look], but if I go out the front I'm bringing my shotgun with me, I swear to God. I am not gonna let 'em get away with this, I can't take a chance on getting killed over this, OK? I'm gonna shoot, I'm gonna shoot."
"Stay inside the house and don’t go out there, OK?" the dispatcher said. "I know you're pissed off, I know what you're feeling, but it's not worth shooting somebody over this, OK?"
"I don’t want to," Horn said, "but I mean if I go out there, you know, to see what the hell is going on, what choice am I gonna have?
"No, I don’t want you to go out there, I just asked if you could see anything out there."
The dispatcher asks if a vehicle could be seen; Horn said no. The dispatcher again says Horn should stay inside the house.
Almost five minutes into the call, police had not arrived.
"I can’t see if [the suspects are] getting away or not," Horn said.
Horn told the dispatcher that he doesn’t know the neighbors well, unlike those living on the other side of his home. "I can assure you if it had been their house, I would have already done something, because I know them very well," he said.
Dispatcher: "I want you to listen to me carefully, OK?"On the tape of the 911 call, the shotgun can be heard being cocked and Horn can be heard going outside and confronting someone.
Horn: "Yes?"
Dispatcher: "I got ultras coming out there. I don't want you to go outside that house. And I don't want you to have that gun in your hand when those officers are poking around out there."
Horn: "I understand that, OK, but I have a right to protect myself too, sir, and you understand that. And the laws have been changed in this country since September the First and you know it and I know it."
Dispatcher: "I understand."
Horn: "I have a right to protect myself ..."
Dispatcher: "I'm ..."
Horn: "And a shotgun is a legal weapon, it's not an illegal weapon."
Dispatcher: "No, it's not, I'm not saying that, I'm just not wanting you to ..."
Horn: "OK, he's coming out the window right now, I gotta go, buddy. I'm sorry, but he's coming out the window. "
Dispatcher: "No, don't, don't go out the door, Mister Horn. Mister Horn..."
Horn: "They just stole something, I'm going out to look for 'em, I'm sorry, I ain't letting them get away with this ----. They stole something, they got a bag of stuff. I'm doing it!"
Dispatcher: "Mister, do not go outside the house."
Horn: "I'm sorry, this ain't right, buddy."
Dispatcher: "You gonna get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun, I don't care what you think."
Horn: "You wanna make a bet?"
Dispatcher: "Stay in the house."
Horn: "There, one of them's getting away!
Dispatcher: "That's alright, property's not something worth killing someone over. OK? Don't go out the house, don't be shooting nobody. I know you're pissed and you're frustrated but don't do it."
Horn: "They got a bag of loot."
Dispatcher: "OK. How big is the bag?" He then talks off, relaying the information.
Dispatcher: "Which way are they going?"
Horn: "I can't ... I'm going outside. I'll find out."
Dispatcher: "I don't want you going outside, Mister..."
Horn: "Well, here it goes buddy, you hear the shotgun clicking and I'm going."
Dispatcher: "Don't go outside."
"Boom! You're dead!" he shouts. A loud bang is heard, then a shotgun being cocked and fired again, and then again.
Then Horn is back on the phone:
"Get the law over here quick. I've now, get, one of them's in the front yard over there, he's down, he almost run down the street. I had no choice. They came in the front yard with me, man, I had no choice! ... Get somebody over here quick, man."Two days later, Horn released a statement through an attorney.
Dispatcher: "Mister Horn, are you out there right now?"
Horn: "No, I am inside the house, I went back in the house. Man, they come right in my yard, I didn't know what the --- they was gonna do, I shot 'em, OK?"
Dispatcher: "Did you shoot somebody?
Horn: "Yes, I did, the cops are here right now."
Dispatcher: "Where are you right now?"
Horn: "I'm inside the house. ..."
Dispatcher: "Mister Horn, put that gun down before you shoot an officer of mine. I've got several officers out there without uniforms on."
Horn: "I am in the front yard right now. I am ..."
Dispatcher: "Put that gun down! There's officers out there without uniforms on. Do not shoot anybody else, do you understand me? I've got police out there..."
Horn: "I understand, I understand. I am out in the front yard waving my hand right now."
Dispatcher: "You don't have a gun with you, do you?
Horn: "No, no, no."
Dispatcher: "You see a uniformed officer? Now lay down on the ground and don't do nothing else."
Yelling is heard.
Dispatcher: "Lay down on the ground, Mister Horn. Do what the officers tell you to do right now."
“The events of that day will weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life," it said. "My thoughts go out to the loved ones of the deceased.”
The identities of the men killed were released Friday.
They are Miguel Antonio Dejesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30. Official records show that each of them had a prior arrest in Harris County for drug offenses.
The men were reportedly shot at a distance of less than 15 feet.
A woman who lives nearby who asked not to be identified told CBS News affiliate KHOU correspondent Rucks Russell that she always saw Horn as a grandfather figure. "He is the guardian of the neighborhood," she said. "He takes care of all our kids. If we ever need anything, we call him.”
But according to Tom Lambright, Horn’s attorney and a friend for more than four decades, he’s the one in need now. “He just needs everyone to know he’s not a villain, he’s not a bad guy,” Lambright said.
He went on to say that Horn voluntarily gave an extensive video statement to police immediately following the shooting.
Horn was not taken into custody after the shooting. A Harris County grand jury will decide if charges are to be filed.
Lambright says Horn acted in complete and total self defense and has nothing to hide.
Local opinion has been passionate on both sides of the shooting.
One letter to the Houston Chronicle said, "He didn't shoot them in the legs, to make sure they did not run away, or hold them at gunpoint until police arrived. No, he was judge, jury and executioner."
Another letter writer praised Horn, saying, "Where does the line form to pin a medal on Joe Horn? I want to get in line." Another wrote, "Let's get rid of the police force and just hire Joe Horn!"
Support for Horn was also running about 2-1 in an online survey of readers on the KHOU Web site.
The incident may prove a test for a new law recently passed in Texas which expands the right of citizens to use deadly force.
Under Texas law, people may use deadly force to protect their own property or to stop arson, burglary, robbery, theft or criminal mischief at night.
But the legislator who authored the "castle doctrine" bill told the Chronicle it was never intended to apply to a neighbor's property, to prompt a "'Law West of the Pecos' mentality or action," said Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth. "You're supposed to be able to defend your own home, your own family, in your house, your place of business or your motor vehicle."
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See all 538 CommentsJust a decision that Bush makes on a world basis.
Straight forward premeditated murder!
Just another punk killer with a lame excuse.
Posted by libsluvsuvs at 02:31 PM : Nov 17, 2007
There are three problems:
1. Wait until some kid forgets his keys and is just trying to get in the house, or something innocent like that, and some trigger-happy neighbor blows him away.
2. These were burglars, and apparently UNARMED. No reasonable person thinks that death is the appropriate penalty for a burglary. If a cop had shot them under these circumstances, the cop would be going to jail and deservedly so.
3. The phone call transcript clearly indicates that Mr. Horn UNDERSTOOD and CHOSE TO IGNORE the direct instruction of the police dispatcher not to go out there. Because he initiated the confrontation in defiance of the order not to do so, I would vote to indict him on two counts of murder.
There are two less burglers in the world. Its not pretty...its not perfect...but, its a start. In Kennesaw, Georgia, when residents were required to own a gun, burglaries declined precipitously.
Some 280 Americans have died from police taserings since 2001...the ''don''t taze me bro'' Florida student could have been one of them...the police do not have a monopoly on force in this society--and both criminals and police should be cognizant of this important fact. If the legal establishment won''t fight crime by keeping criminals off the streets, then the citizens will. There are 1,000,000-plus languishing in prison in America today for using drugs and selling them--lets stop wasting resources on this and use them to fight real crime.
bitanmax--So what if the burglers were Mexicans...why does that make a difference to you? If they weren''t illegals, they were either guest workers or Americans...and in any event, regardless of race, creed or national origin, Texas and America are well rid of them.
Mr. Horn shot those robbers in his yard, they were coming after HIM! I say BRAVO. Good shooting. Two less scum buckets robbing houses.
I say that anyone who has the nerve to break into a home has the nerve to be shot to death by anyone who catches them.
Good shooting Mr. Horn!
It was not a "cowboy" mentality that led the Anglo-American oligarchy to attack Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a cold and calculated assault for geopolitical objectives. If there is any kind of mentality at work here, it is the deranged Pretty Boy Floyd mentality that ''what is yours is mine and I will take it" exhibited by a large and growing criminal class in the United States...from the White House to the streets of Pasadena, Texas. These people are punks and shooting is too good for them! Go sing your sob song to the man in Connecticutt who was wounded and had his family murdered before his eyes by punks like these. Tell it to the parents in New Jersey who saw their college bound children murdered in a school yard.
Thanks Joe - I praise you for being a good shot
People have a right and a duty to protect their property and persons and those of their neighbors. The government has failed to do its job--and has shown just how worthless it is in handling the basic duties of a government--potecting the people and serving the needs and interests of the people.
BTW was anyone home during the robbery? They owe Mr Horn a big thank you.
A Misplaced Texas (71 yrs old and yes, I can shot to save my life.)
THAT IS THE WAY ITS SUPPOSED TO BE! LET THE LAW DEAL WITH THEM!
"The jury has the right to determine both the law as well as the facts in controversy." Justice John Jay, 1789.
"The jury has the power to bring a verdict in the teeth of both law and fact." Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1902.
Get a CITIZENS RULE BOOK...THE POWERHOUR sells them, INFOWARS.COM, the AMERICAN FREE PRESS and others... support them and an informed jury.
As the CRB notes, the rights of juries began to be impinged by the judiciary when juries began to NOT confict people for helping run away slaves under the Fugitive Slave Act....
The way the justice system is now, these two, if caught, would have been right back out on the streets again. WE HAVE TO TAKE BACK OUR RIGHTS & FREEDOM. Per previous post, the system is, "Catch & Release.
life has little value to these redneck creeps.
bush and his war making, republican christian supporters are good proof of that.
Take ''em OUT!
These weren''t kids out on a prank or lark. These were grown men already on self-destruct. Had they been home with their families where they should''ve been this man would not have been forced to take action.
Protecting you and yours, also means your neighbors and theirs...that''s what they teach in neighborhood watch.
Go Joe!
Posted by mdc76082 at 04:33 PM : Nov 17, 2007
Sadly, you are the reason that a lot of people feel we need laws prohibiting what Joe Horn did, not to stop people like Joe Horn, who knew what he was doing, but to stop idiots like you who are likely to kill innocent people. Perhaps if we could simply execute stupid rednecks like you, we wouldn''t need to debate this issue.
a little flag waving here, a little bible thumping there,
those ignorant red state republicans fall right in line, boy!
i mean, those republicans got gawd on their side.
now how can you beat that?
war, hate, christian creeps, republican snakes...
that''s the red states for you, folks!
Anyone who kills someone who is attempting to surrender or otherwise poses no threat is guilty of murder (to some degree).
Even in Texas . . .
Mr. Horn used excessive, unjustifiable force but he will be no billed by the grand jury and will not be prosecuted.
I wonder what people would say if cops had done what he did (shotgunned two unarmed guys to death)?
Posted by tuckerndfw at 04:26 PM : Nov 17, 2007
Wow, this is the first time you ever posted anything I didn''t find totally offensive and ignorant. Did someone get a hold of your user ID and password?
the red states prefer upstanding, christian , faith professing republicans
and top notch leadership like george bush, jr.
the red states would like to find another prez like george bush. jr.
the red states are considering drafting rush limbaugh to be the republican candidate.
he has all the qualifications...
fat, bigoted, republican, christian, drug user, demogogue.
oh well, that''s the red states for you, folks!
i''m gonna blow his head off.
i don''t care if he is only 15 years old.
as long as he''s a texan and he''s on my neighbor''s property...
he''s dead!
ha,hah,ha.
they''ll make me a hero in texas.
maybe they''ll make me a governor.
after all, they made bush governor.
ha,ha,ha.
redneck creeps!
bush''s kind or people.
good, republican, x....tian people.
bible thumping, war making, flag waving redneck creeps...
they still love bush in texas!
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