Is This Guy A Hero...?

Question

Should this guy be hailed as a hero? Or a psychopath?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/30/wuspolls330.xml

A Texas man has become a hero after he took it upon himself to shoot and kill two burglars who had broken into his neighbour's house.

Joe Horn called the police to report the burglary and then stepped outside and shot the burglars dead as they left the neighbour's house.

A recording of the call suggests Mr Horn, 61, was itching to kill the two burglars.

"Don't go outside the house," the 911 operator pleaded.

"You're going to get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun. I don't care what you think."

"You want to make a bet?" Horn answered.

"I'm going to kill them."

Answer 1

Had he not made the threats, and then gone out and shot them in the legs, I would feel very differently. I have to admit that my first reaction was "good, serves them right". But then common sense kicked in. No, this cannot be right, he is not a hero. He is a killer, and he has ruined two families lives.

Answer 2

I heard the 911 one call on the news last night. From what I got from the conversation he's definitely a psychopath. He was perfectly safe inside his house. The police were on their way to arrest the men robbing next door. The operator was pleading with him to leave them alone, but no he gets out his shotguns, ignores the operator and shoots them. Now I'm no liberal and I think the men robbing the house were scumbags, but that can't be right, the police have got to arrest this guy and charge him with murder. If not this sets a dangerous precedent for the future.

Answer 3

He was foolish, not a hero, even though he had the guts to report a crime being committed to a neighbor's property and act upon it. A lot of people would have just ignored it. This did not justify him killing the perps. They were not harming or threatening him in any way. He could have held them at bay with that shotgun of his until the cops arrived.

They have proof that he said he was going to kill them - premeditated murder. However, with the Texan mentality of shoot first, ask questions later, who knows what will happen.

Answer 4

I wonder if this question will keep getting posted until the posters get an answer that they like.

I don't see how someone who gets his jollies out of killing people that aren't a threat to him could possibly be called a hero. Granted, it appears that he may have killed a couple of burglars, but then since he killed all the witnesses, we only have his version of events. What happens next time, when he shoots his neighbor? Or his neighbor's kid?

Would you want a homicidal maniac living next door to you? Fortunately, he lives in Texas where he can only shoot the inmates who think him a hero.

Answer 5

I don't think burglars should be shot - but we are far to lenient with them.

Some people can takes years and years working hard to afford what they have.
Then these people come along and take it away in minutes.

Sometimes when they are caught, they are put in prison for a while and then sent around the world on holiday. Remember?

I dislike the Muslims intently - but I think they have the right idea about cutting a hand off.

Answer 6

Hi, I am from the UK where laws are very much different from the USA. I sometimes envy the Americans for being able to defend there homes but I have to say that if the report you have quoted is true, you cannot put this man down as a Hero.
Protecting your home is one thing but this goes beyond that concept. I also realise that each State in the USA has its own laws but even in Texas I cannot see this being interpreted as self defence.
It would be interesting to see the out come of this – BUT HERO NO

Answer 7

he's my hero like Rosa Parks is a hero to black individuals. it fairly is not that she replaced into so heroic, she in simple terms had sufficient and wasn't going to take anymore that day. This guy is a similar. He had sufficient and in that 2nd, that replaced into what he needed. i'm as happy with him as i'm of Rosa Parks. They the two did something they felt replaced into suitable interior the face of injustice. His replaced right into a splash greater violent, yet, no harm no foul.

Answer 8

Certainly no hero and as far as I can tell he committed murder.

The Burgulars were not on his property (originally at least, although they crossed his yard while trying to escape), they had no firearms, he was not in fear for his life (except by his own eagerness to kill them), and he was instructed not to leave the house by a police representative.

Apparently one of them made "lunging movements" towards him, not something I would have done to someone pointing a 12 gauge at me. I'll be interested to see where they were facing when they were shot

His lawyer immediately made claims that he was "in fear of his life" as that would be grounds for firing, but if that isn't shown he's guilty... He actually said that he was going to kill them to the police operator!

Not exactly the Lone Ranger.

Answer 9

He should have listened to the 911 operator. I have no sympathy for the burglars, but firing a weapon in a residential neighborhood is a really bad idea. Innocent people are killed all the time by stray bullets.

If it was him or them, of course he had the right to defend himself, but that was clearly not the situation here. All he had to do was wait for the police to do their job.

Answer 10

No he's not a hero. He killed two people. Granted they were burglars but they deserved to go to jail not to be shot in cold blood, especially when they were posing no threat to anyone else's life. From what I can gather they were not armed, but he was so he had the upper hand. That doesn't constitute self defence in my book.