80-year-old Chicago Man Kills Armed Home Intruder | Is it Legal to Shoot?

Chicago Tribune

An 80-year-old Chicago man shot and killed an armed man who broke into his two-story house  Wednesday morning.

At about 5:20 a.m., the homeowner and his 83-year-old wife discovered the intruder entering their home through a back door.  Apparently, the burglar had broken a basement window, gone up the back stairs to an enclosed porch, then had tried to open the back door that led into the first-floor apartment.  The door was locked, so the burglar tried twice to break in through a back window – the couple’s bedroom window, according to the homeowner’s son.   At some point, the burglar then fired a shot and the elderly man fired back.  At home was also the couple 12-year-old grandson.

“It’s a good thing they had a gun, or they might be dead,” said Curtis Thompson, who lives next door to the couple, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Neighbors described the elderly couple, who both walk with canes, as pillars of the community in Garfield Park, where home invasions have been all too frequent.

Their neighbor, Shaquite Johnson, told MyFoxChicago that the two are “heroes” for fighting off the attacker — and that the shooting means there is “one less criminal” walking the streets.

Relatives of the couple told the Sun Times that the man is an Army veteran, his wife a former nurse. Police said neither the man nor the woman was injured in the attack.

No charges have been filed against the homeowner, but Chicago currently has a statute outlawing the possession of handguns.  Its legality is currently being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, reports Fox News.

A high-profile Chicago attorney has already stepped forward offering to represent the man pro bono if he faces charges for possessing a weapon.

“Self-defense isn’t just a right, it’s a duty,” said attorney Joel Brodsky. “If this man is prosecuted for saving his own life it’s not just a travesty, it’s justice turned inside out.”

As for the intruder, he was in his 30’s and out on probation for a drug conviction.  This all beckons the question – is it legal to shoot an intruder who is in your own home?  Well, depending on what part of the country you live in, the law does differ. 

In general, the American Bar Association states that you do have a legal right to protect yourself and your property, but recognize that you may end up in court if you shoot an intruder or whack him over the head with an iron pipe.  You would have to argue that you really did act in self-defense or in defense of your property, and it would be up to the jury to decide whether to believe you.

Meanwhile, in some states an effort must be made to escape the property before you are allowed to legally shoot.  On the other hand, in some parts – Texas for example – the story is different.  There, after the Castle Doctrine became law in 2007, homeowners can legally use a gun to defend themselves from home invaders without retreating before shooting, says National Rifle Association spokeswoman Vickie Cieplak.  Before the passing of the Castle Doctrine law, a person had to retreat to another room in his or her house before shooting an intruder.