A Texas county sheriff warned would-be robbers that if you come into his county waving a gun, you could leave in a bag. The comment came after a homeowner in his county used his gun to defend himself from a man attempting to rob him when he arrived at his home Wednesday evening.
The incident occurred in Fort Bend County located just southeast of Houston near the town of Richmond. The homeowner had just pulled into his driveway when the would-be robber approached him with a gun and demanded money. The homeowner pulled out his own gun and stopped the robbery attempt by shooting the man twice, ABC13 in Houston reported.
Moments later, a neighbor took a photo of the homeowner, gun in hand, standing near the deceased robber. Witnesses reported a black truck with two people inside fleeing the scene after the shooting.
Update: photo shows homeowner–with his gun in hand–moments after he shot/killed robber. details at 10 #abc13 pic.twitter.com/90s1zy11rW
— Jessica Willey (@ImJessicaWilley) May 12, 2016
Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls told reporters it was a pretty “cut-and-dry case” of self-defense. Sheriff’s deputies recovered two guns at the scene – the homeowner’s and the robber’s.
“Don’t come into Fort Bend County and start waving guns around because you could leave in a bag,” Nehls told ABC13.
The sheriff appears to believe the robber came into Fort Bend County from neighboring Harris County (Houston).
“We just want to come home from work and spend time with our families,” the sheriff explained. “We don’t need thugs coming into this county to try to rob us of our possessions. So here’s my warning to criminals. You may want to go back to Harris County.”
The case is being investigated as an aggravated robbery, the sheriff said.
Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey told Breitbart Texas in an interview on Thursday morning that Texas law allows you to “use deadly force when you reasonably believe the use of deadly force is necessary to protect yourself from a person committing an unlawful act against you who is also using or threatening to use deadly force.”
When asked if someone could take advantage of Texas self-defense laws to kill someone, Healy said, “A great deterrent against that is all of the people who review the evidence to determine if the shooting was reasonable. We have checks and balances that start with the responding police officer, and continue on to the law enforcement department’s review of the evidence, to a district attorney’s review and even a grand jury.”
“Common Texas horse sense will determine if the use of deadly force is reasonable,” the district attorney stated.
A neighbor of the homeowner told ABC13, “He did the right thing. People are ready to defend their homes.”
The robber, who died at the scene, was described as a Hispanic male in his twenties, KPRC NBC2 in Houston reported.
Following the shooting, the homeowner ran into his home where he lives with his two parents who are in their 80’s, the NBC affiliate reported. He then called 911 for assistance.
Another neighbor had no sympathy for the deceased robbery suspect. “I don’t feel sorry for him. I don’t feel sorry for him,” Nikia Smith told KPRC.
This is the second time in less than a week that a potential robbery victim used deadly force to stop the robber. On Saturday, a man in Galveston County walked up to a driver of a pick-up truck in a drive-thru line at a League City McDonald’s and demanded money. The driver, who had his young son with him, pulled his own gun and fired multiple shots at his assailant. That robber also died from his injuries.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter@BobPriceBBTX.
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