Homeowner Kills Home Invader
Man perched at head of the stairs and started firingBy Jim Forsyth
Monday, July 10, 2006
Three men who tried to mount a home invasion in Stone Oak this morning were greeted not by the terrified homeowner they expected, but by a handgun wielding resident who blasted away, killing one of the would-be invaders and leaving the two others running for their lives, 1200 WOAI’s Michael Board reported today.
It started shortly before three in the 25000 block of Summit Creek, near Hardy Oak, when Leonard Packham heard several pickups pull in front of his home. Packham grabbed a handgun, and perched at the top of the stars with a good view of the front door, the gun locked and loaded.
When the intruders started trying to kick in the door, Packham started firing. Police estimate he got off eight rounds before the attempt to kick in the front door ended. Police followed a trail of blood a a block away to the intersection of Summit Crest and Summit Creek. That’s where they found one of the would-be home invaders dead. He had been shot three times.
Police Sergeant Gabe Trevino says Texas law is clear in cases like this.
“You are allowed to use deadly force in defending your property from imminent attack in the nighttime,” he said, adding that bad guys don’t have to come into your house before you can shoot.
“There’s that old story that if you shoot someone you should drag them inside the house, that’s not true,” Travino said.
Trevino said you can even open fire at nighttime house burglars who are in the process of running away.
Two pickup trucks, apparently abandoned by the men, were found in Packham’s front yard.
Detectives say there were no lights on and no cars in the driveway, and point out that the men rang the doorbell before starting to kick in the door, indicating the trio may have thought the house was empty. Trevino says the area of far north San Antonio has seen ‘its fair share’ of burglaries.
Trevino said the district attorney’s office will make a final determination of charges. He said a second man was also in the house with a gun trained on the front door, but its not known whether that man fired. Detectives say there appears to have been nothing inside the house that would have singled it out for attack, and no apparnet connection between Packham or his roommate and the trio.
Trevino said Packham and the other man both called 911 before the shooting to report men trying to break into their home.
