Texas homeowner's have a dilemma. Someone enters the front door at 1:00AM while shouting. The homeowner grabs a gun, fires a shot, and the potential invader is killed.
If the invader was a police officer, then the homeowner gets arrested, faces a grand jury, and may face trial for manslaughter.
That's what happened yesterday in Midland, Texas, according to the morning paper in Affidavit: Officer hears Heidelberg announce presence of police before shot was fired:
Midland Police Department officers who were dispatched to a residence early Tuesday morning with Officer Nathan Heidelberg heard a gun shot and then found Heidelberg face down, according to documents released late Tuesday night by the Midland County District Attorney’s Office.
Homeowner David Charles Wilson told Texas Ranger Cody Allen that he was inside the residence in the 3300 block of Eagle Cove and fired a handgun in the direction of Heidelberg, according to Wilson’s arrest affidavit.
Wilson faces second-degree manslaughter charges, according to the affidavit. He was released on a $75,000 bond, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article.
Heidelberg and Officer Victoria Allee were dispatched to Wilson’s home at about 1:16 a.m. Tuesday in reference to an alarm/panic alarm call. Upon arrival, officers walked the perimeter of the residence and did not observe anything out of the ordinary. Then Heidelberg noticed the front door of the residence was unsecure, according to the affidavit.
Another article provides Mr. Wilson's side of the issue:
"We would like to express our deepest sympathies to Officer Heidelberg’s family and the Midland Police Department for the events that lead to his death.
We are cooperating with investigators to attempt to learn all the material facts as soon as possible.
David Wilson believed that his family was experiencing a home invasion and only fired his weapon to protect his family."
There are some substantial questions so far unanswered. Was the police officer inside the house when the shot was fired? Other than shouting, was there anything else any of the police officers did to alert a homeowner that they were, in fact, police officers? Were the red lights on the police car flashing?
It's a homeowner's dilemma -- hold back and hope like hell that the person shouting is a police officer and not a home invader attempting to mislead the homeowner into compliance.
I've written about this issue at this blog. In particular, see this post from 2009 titled Citizen Police Academy about a question I asked of a SWAT team officer, who, by the way, is currently the Chief of Police. Here's that part of the post:
Here's one little tidbit that may or may not be helpful to know. A SWAT team leader gave a lecture and showed some of the gear they use. And he answered questions.
Sample question: "A Midland citizen is lying in bed at night, he's got his handgun by the side of the bed, and he hears a commotion at the front door. If it's the police he would comply with what ever they demanded. But how does he know whether it's a home invasion or the SWAT team?"
Long answer made short: "There have been home invasions in Midland where the invaders said they were police. ... You don't know."
So when a homeowner hears someone shouting and banging on the door, how does he/she know whether the potential invader is a police officer or a home invader intent on doing harm?
It would certainly help the homeowner if police car red lights were flashing in view of anyone occupying the house. If the counter argument is that the lights would scare away a burglar, well, that's one outcome, but it's preferable to the death of police officer or the homeowner.
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8:59 AM 3/6/2019
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