Shooting in Pasadena Texas

A 911 dispatcher instructed Joe Horn to stay inside while two thieves made off with his neighbor's property. "I ain't going to let them get away with this. They stole something. They got a bag. I'm doing it.".

"Don't go out the house," the dispatcher cautions in a measured voice. "You're gonna get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun."

"Wanna make a bet? I'm gonna kill 'em."

"Stay in the house......"

"They, they're gettin' away!"

"It's alright. Property's not worth killing over, OK? Don't go out the house. Don't be shootin' nobody. I know you're pissed and you're frustrated, but don't do it."

"They got a bag of loot!"

"Which way are they going?" the dispatcher asked.

"I can't......I'm going outside, I'll find out," replied Horn. The dispatcher protested, trying to keep Horn inside his home. "Here it goes buddy, you hear the shotgun clicking, and I'm going."

"Move...You're dead!" BLAM! BLAM! Blam!

Officers arrived several moments later. Two men criminals were recently deceased, shot by a 12 gauge at approximately 15 feet. One was across the street, and the other had collapsed two houses down behind a bank of mailboxes in the Village Grove East subdivision.

Texas Penal Code states a person can use deadly force to defend another person's property if he reasonably believes he has a legal duty to do so or the property owner had requested his protection.

"Any loss of life casts permanent devastation over the lives of everyone involved," Horn said. "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."

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