A little after midnight, on Wednesday, March 13, a teenage girl in St. Louis woke her dad when she heard what sounded like someone trying to get into the house through the front door. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch states that the girl’s father, who was armed, opened the front door and a man, who was obviously intoxicated, “walked right in”, according to police. After the two men engaged in a physical conflict, the father shot the intruder in the leg with a handgun.
Police found the intruder about a block from the home, and he was arrested. It was not clear at the time whether the drunken man was attempting to break into the home or if he was simply too drunk to realize that the home was not his own.
Regardless of the intoxicated man’s intentions, the father’s decision to shoot him is valid and acceptable under Missouri castle doctrine law, which allows a person to use potentially deadly force in an effort to protect one’s self, family or property.
The intruder was taken to a local hospital, where his condition is stable and he is expected to survive.
Neither the name of the resident or the intruder has been released.
©2013 Jennifer L. Cruz. All rights reserved.
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