Cleaning crew member shot and killed on porch after arriving at the wrong house

[Pseudonymph]

If you are in your house, you have no moral right to shoot someone who isn't. Someone has keys that aren't working? Cool. Why would a burglar try keys in your door? Use some logic. Yell "Stop, who are you? Why are you here?" and maybe assume they're just at the wrong house because that is the far more common scenario. People are absolutely wild.

 

[Rolypolyoly]

This is NOT a case of just anyone arriving at the wrong address. You are omitting several minutes of someone actually attempting to break into a home. Was shooting through a door monumentally stupid? I agree. But let's not turn this into Door Dash or Pizza delivery stupidity, either.

Nobody was attempting to break into the home. I can accept that the homeowner believed someone was attempting to gain entry because they heard someone try the door, however we know that the homeowner also had visual of the people outside his door, and if he could see them enough to describe their appearance then he could see them enough to notice they were struggling with keys, and not attempting to force entry!
Let's not let this turn into home invasion territory either!

 

[tlcya]

This is NOT a case of just anyone arriving at the wrong address. You are omitting several minutes of someone actually attempting to break into a home. Was shooting through a door monumentally stupid? I agree. But let's not turn this into Door Dash or Pizza delivery stupidity, either.

Let's not forget that "several minutes of someone trying to break into a home" was actually someone attempting to use a key to open the door of a home they believed they were welcome at and invited to. And let's not tell one another what to post, Shall we?

 

[IceIce9]

In this day and age, where uber eats and doordash, etc. are an actual THING in the world, the idea that someone would fire a weapon through a closed door because someone is on their porch is absolutely terrifying to me. This could have been anyone in the world who landed at a wrong address through human error, or a girl scout, a kid selling raffle tickets for his football team, the local precinct committeeman with a petition, any number of perfectly normal, non threatening reasons someone might be at a residence's door.

I just cannot wrap my head around the monumental stupidity of the homeowner. I worry this is related to the fact that the victim had certain physical attributes and a very specific "look"

Especially since he looked out the window and could see that they were Hispanic, as he reported in their description.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

We don’t know if the homeowner made an attempt to communicate with the people trying to gain access to his home. imo

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

I’ve never had any delivery person, girl scout, local politician, etc make an attempt to gain entrance into my home. I don’t think this circumstance compares to that. imo

 

[sunspun]

We don’t know if the homeowner made an attempt to communicate with the people trying to gain access to his home. imo

Well, I don't know, is that true?

I thought they hadn't, but maybe that is something we don't know for sure yet.

I just feel like we would have heard that happened, if it had. Maybe it just wasn't reported, but I think it's more likely that no words were shouted or exchanged before they shot.

 

[sunspun]

I wonder if homeowner/s followed up after the shooting to call 911 to get EMS on the way and to alert police that they were arriving to the scene of the shooting.

I don't think we've heard much of what they did after they shot and killed the woman. I know it is reported upthread that they shouted, "Go away!" to a neighbor who arrived on the scene to help, immediately after she was shot. And it also said that the homeowner/s stayed inside the house until police arrived.

So I know one thing they didn't do, was make any attempt to render aid to the person they shot.

Even police officers do that (well, sometimes).

 

[sunspun]

I’ve never had any delivery person, girl scout, local politician, etc make an attempt to gain entrance into my home. I don’t think this circumstance compares to that. imo

But if any delivery person, Girl Scout, local politician, etc., DID come to your door at 7a.m. and try to put their keys into your door lock, would you think you had the right to shoot a gun through the door at them? God, I would hope not!

 

[IceIce9]

I’ve never had any delivery person, girl scout, local politician, etc make an attempt to gain entrance into my home. I don’t think this circumstance compares to that. imo

What about people who open a storm door to leave a pizza flyer, or advertisements for windows, siding, or roofing?

That is a common practice where I live.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

I don't think we've heard much of what they did after they shot and killed the woman. I know it is reported upthread that they shouted, "Go away!" to a neighbor who arrived on the scene to help, immediately after she was shot. And it also said that the homeowner/s stayed inside the house until police arrived.

So I know one thing they didn't do, was make any attempt to render aid to the person they shot.

Even police officers do that (well, sometimes).

Maybe they were concerned about their neighbor. The homeowner knew there were two people. imo

 

[Gators North]

IDK what I would do if this happened to me. I have a Ring camera so I would be able to see who was at the door. If someone was on my porch with their cleaning supplies, I’d probably talk through the Ring device and tell them that they had the wrong house.

If they kept trying the door and I was scared, most likely I’d go upstairs, lock myself in the bathroom and call 911.

But I would NOT fire any shots through the door. MOO and JMO

 

[Megnut]

What are the odds that burglars have the key to your front door? As yet, there was no threat to them breaching the door. The homeowners were safe, in their home, in a position apparently to eyeball the "threat", with LE on the way.

That's why we lock our doors.

First line of defense.

Easily it could have been the first and only line of defense.

And LE would have sorted out the misunderunderstanding, the homeowners would be happy the door lock worked and the unwitting trespassers weren't foe, merely lost.

No harm, no foul. Easy call for LE to sign off on.

Instead, here we are.

JMO

 

[CuriousCricket]

Let's not forget that "several minutes of someone trying to break into a home" was actually someone attempting to use a key to open the door of a home they believed they were welcome at and invited to. And let's not tell one another what to post, Shall we?

The homeowner had no way of knowing the situation of the people attempting to break into the home. A home invasion was reported when help was called for. They were terrorized in their home for several minutes.

How does anyone who has never experienced that know how long they would / could wait before doing something?

In this tragic event, I believe more lives were lost than Maria's. Her physical life is gone and her family will be living with her loss forever.

However, in my personal opinion, other lives were also lost. The shooter may still be walking around, but his/her life is also destroyed -- as the result of a number of mistakes made by other people. He could not possibly know what led to people attempting to break into his home. So far as I know, he was a good citizen enjoying an ordinary morning until people attempted to enter his home.

I personally see this as a tragedy for everyone involved. I also happen to have compassion for everyone involved. I don't for a second believe Pizza delivery, Girl Scouts ringing a bell, or anyone else not actively attempting to break in would be in danger.

A valid point was made that passersby might have been hit, but in this case thankfully weren't.

It is probably apparent that I do not personally see this as one-sided as many appear to. If this case is studied and learned from, perhaps a repeat of it might be avoided and at least some good come from this terrible event.

 

[dm799]

Another from the Pistorious school of self-defense. Michael Dunn also comes to mind along with many others.

Cowards, all of them.

JMO.

 

[tara83]

The homeowner had no way of knowing the situation of the people attempting to break into the home. A home invasion was reported when help was called for. They were terrorized in their home for several minutes.

How does anyone who has never experienced that know how long they would / could wait before doing something?

In this tragic event, I believe more lives were lost than Maria's. Her physical life is gone and her family will be living with her loss forever.

However, in my personal opinion, other lives were also lost. The shooter may still be walking around, but his/her life is also destroyed -- as the result of a number of mistakes made by other people. He could not possibly know what led to people attempting to break into his home. So far as I know, he was a good citizen enjoying an ordinary morning until people attempted to enter his home.

I personally see this as a tragedy for everyone involved. I also happen to have compassion for everyone involved. I don't for a second believe Pizza delivery, Girl Scouts ringing a bell, or anyone else not actively attempting to break in would be in danger.

A valid point was made that passersby might have been hit, but in this case thankfully weren't.

It is probably apparent that I do not personally see this as one-sided as many appear to. If this case is studied and learned from, perhaps a repeat of it might be avoided and at least some good come from this terrible event.

I guess I am just a decent human being who knows shooting a human being through a lock door is wrong.

 

[Gators North]

The homeowner had no way of knowing the situation of the people attempting to break into the home. A home invasion was reported when help was called for. They were terrorized in their home for several minutes.

How does anyone who has never experienced that know how long they would / could wait before doing something?

In this tragic event, I believe more lives were lost than Maria's. Her physical life is gone and her family will be living with her loss forever.

However, in my personal opinion, other lives were also lost. The shooter may still be walking around, but his/her life is also destroyed -- as the result of a number of mistakes made by other people. He could not possibly know what led to people attempting to break into his home. So far as I know, he was a good citizen enjoying an ordinary morning until people attempted to enter his home.

I personally see this as a tragedy for everyone involved. I also happen to have compassion for everyone involved. I don't for a second believe Pizza delivery, Girl Scouts ringing a bell, or anyone else not actively attempting to break in would be in danger.

A valid point was made that passersby might have been hit, but in this case thankfully weren't.

It is probably apparent that I do not personally see this as one-sided as many appear to. If this case is studied and learned from, perhaps a repeat of it might be avoided and at least some good come from this terrible event.

With all due respect, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this. MOO, the homeowners weren’t terrorized. Again, MOO.

 

[Megnut]

Homeowners may have been within the law and their right to shoot, poised and ready when/if an intruder crossed the threshold.

Fortress (castle) was reinforced and the residents were protected.

JMO

 

[Lebowski]

We don’t know if the homeowner made an attempt to communicate with the people trying to gain access to his home. imo

correct, as far as i know. i have not seen any reporting or statements that he did or didn't attempt to communicate with them. i have only guessed it, because i think it would have been mentioned by now if he had. i've tried to be clear that i am just guessing and we don't yet have confirmation one way or another.

 

[louvillian08]

The homeowner had no way of knowing the situation of the people attempting to break into the home. A home invasion was reported when help was called for. They were terrorized in their home for several minutes.

He could not possibly know what led to people attempting to break into his home. So far as I know, he was a good citizen enjoying an ordinary morning until people attempted to enter his home.

sbm. At this point, there are conflicting reports about if Maria even attempted to use the keys to open the door:

“She didn’t even put the key in when I heard the shot happen,” Velázquez told an Indy Star reporter. “I saw my wife had stepped back twice, and then the keys dropped. Then she dropped and I went to catch her.”

At this point, the only evidence of "attempting to enter his home" that we have is 2 people standing on his front porch