comment: >
  
  The murderer will get off because as long as you “fear for your life” then it’s ok to shoot whoever you want and call it self defense.
context: Aren't burglars in your house? Who just shoots random outside people through the window? >
  
  People who shouldn't have guns. >
  
  And still they have them, otherwise people would cry about their rights. To me it sounds just as an excuse. People are so fanatic that it seems they're just waiting for the slightest chance to pull out a gun and go full Rambo without repercussions. They don't want the right to own firearms, they want the right to shoot someone whenever they feel like it, which means they should be as far away as possible from any gun. >
  
  Exactly. They are looking for reasons to use them. >
  
  When I lived back in Texas, I attended our neighborhood's HOA meeting- there were two people who overtly threatened to shoot the homeless people using the river next to the neighborhood trail if they tried to steal anything from their backyards. >
  
  Wow!  Record that!  Texas law allows shooting people on your property based on ghe Castle Doctrine... based on you have the right to assume  tresspasser is going to harm you.  Which has awful repercussions.  More data like this is good.
  I agree with above, there's a lot of people buying guns who really want to legally shoot at people/kill people. >
  
  I’ve seen so many times where people seem excited to use their gun to possibly murder someone. It’s pathetic. They want have murder fantasies where they can get away with shooting and killing someone. >
  
  I used to deal with him in a previous profession. Cesar was professional, down-to-earth, kind, hard-working, and an overall pleasure to work with in an industry full of unsavory people.
  This sucks, the guy worked hard to take care of his residents. We talked once about how people would be crazy sometimes and that guns in the hands of 'the crazies' were a real hazard. >
  
  My brother-in-law manages and does repairs at a small complex not too far from Buffalo. At the height of the blizzard two apartments lost their heat, and he left the safety of his own house to drive there with electric heaters for them, while he tried to get their heat on. I really hope this doesn’t get spun as a “tragic accident.” No sane person would think a burglary would be happening under those conditions and turn their balcony into a shooting range. The shooter should be in custody. He killed an innocent man and destroyed a family. >
  
  Doesn't your life have to be in immediate danger to use lethal force while protecting property? You can't just go shooting even real robbers if they are running away from you. So why is it okay to shoot randomly before any perceived threat. >
  
  I’m sure I will be corrected if I’m wrong but I believe in Texas you can use deadly force to protect your property. >
  
  Edit: see u/Phaedryn ‘s correction below. As someone who carries a concealed handgun daily, I know my local laws well. I was confusing best-practices when carrying a handgun with law. One of those practices being that if you’re carrying a handgun, avoid confrontation at all costs and immediately leave an escalating situation.
  In most (all?) states, you have a duty to retreat when you’re in public - meaning that if you can avoid an altercation you have a duty to avoid it, and can only meet a threat with deadly force to protect life - not property. Most courts will take circumstance into account. For instance, if I can retreat from a gas station being robbed at gunpoint but instead choose to engage and protect the life of the clerk who’s being held at gunpoint, I will likely not be charged with homicide. 
  Castle doctrine states that you have no duty to retreat from your own home and may engage a threat with deadly force with far fewer restrictions than engaging a deadly threat in public. This also has limits. I can’t shoot someone who stepped onto my property to pick up their dog’s poop. I can’t shoot a delivery driver. You still have to demonstrate that your life or the life of someone in your duty of care was in danger. 
  Whether or not the courts always apply these principals justly is another question entirely… >
  
  Texas has a stand your ground law in public. So you can protect your property even in public. It's one of like 10 states that has it. >
  
  That seems like it could be so easily exploited.
  So if someone steals a bag of your chips and doesn't give it back, you can kill them? What about a single chip?
  Is there a dollar amount where you can start shooting people over taking your property? >
  
  Have you seen the video? It’s fucking horrible. >
  
  This wouldn't be justified even if he was a burglar. You can't just smoke someone in a multi-tenant dwelling. >
  
  Exactly.
  That's what so damn many of these folks with their "...and then I'll get my gun!" home invasions fantasies want to do. They want to shoot someone and they want to know when they can get away with it.
  They put basically all their thoughts into why they think they'd be justified (or legally protected) to shoot someone and next to nothing into but what if, in this hasty decision, I'm wrong? As someone said below, it's shoot first and then ask questions later. >
  
  Most of these deranged fucks that own guns are just waiting for the day to murder someone and get away with it. >
  
  No. Millions of people who own firearms have no desire to shoot or kill another human being. >
  
  
  No. Millions of people who own firearms have no desire to shoot or kill another human being.
  
  squak millions of  good apples squak >
  
  What an intelligent comment. Wow. Much impressed. >
  
  Why thank you, kind stranger. I actually appreciate that, you made my day a little brighter, seriously. Here I assumed you were just spouting out talking points and you return with compliments, that's just magnanimous of you. Bless your heart ❤️ >
  
  Go forth and spread your wings, fly little birdie, I believe in you. ❤ >
  
  His poor family. Five sons and a wife of 29 years. I can’t imagine what Christmas will be like for them in the future. >
  
  if i was one of the sons that guy would be getting it, no question. >
  
  And then the family would have to mourn another family member: the son who got a long prison sentence... >
  
  Murder. Straight-up murder.
  ​
  "Montelongo leaves behind 5 sons and a wife. Christmas was set to be his 29th wedding anniversary."
  Fuck that murdering bastard. Lowest kind of scum. >
  
  I hate to break it to you, but in Texas this guy isn’t even gonna get arrested >
  
  Unless there are enough national news reports.
  This one is juicy enough to grab hold of. Those five kids without a daddy on Christmas are excellent headline fodder. >
  
  Why would the local PD care what people out of their jurisdiction think? Even if there is enough local pressure, no jury in Texas would ever convict this guy. >
  
  Not everyone in Texas is inbred. Plenty of folks would vote to fry the shooter. >
  
  Sometimes I think we're a nation of cowards. I get being startled. But having your first instinct to fucking shoot someone? >
  
  We absolutely are. The idea that someone has to first put you in reasonable fear of death or grievous bodily injury first is basically a dead letter. Republicans are so scared of their own shadow that anything can be a pretext to that fear. Even throwing popcorn or allegedly a phone (that left no mark of any kind) as in the case of that theater shooter. They want to pretend these days that they're the "tough" and "manly" crowd but the type of conflict that would've been solved with a simple fistfight between men in the past will almost surely lead one of the combatants to draw a gun and kill the other instead these days. >
  
  It sounds like he was murdered >
  
  "No arrests have been made at this time".
  They didn't even release the name of the guy who shot him.  That guy gets to spend Christmas with his family. >
  
  He’s sleeping like a baby too because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong. His trashy family almost certainly is treating him like a hero. >
  
  I love how you guys are just inventing a person to be mad at in this comment section. >
  
  Nah, the killer definitely exists. The mistake is in assuming what is going through the killer's head now. 
  The only thing we know for sure though is that when it mattered they weren't thinking clearly enough. Likely they were scared and they were armed and, well, that's been a good enough defense for a bunch of times citizens were killed in the US regardless of how dangerous the killed person was or wasn't. 
  I don't have the answer, but things are a mess. >
  
  
  The mistake is in assuming what is going through the killer's head now.
  
  Granted. And we shouldn't cast TOO many aspersions on the guy and his family's character. 
  At the same time, the sort of person that fires without knowing what they are firing at or what's behind it...isn't the sort of person who should own a deadly weapon. >
  
  These guys are just waiting to be finally able to kill someone. What a tragedy. >
  
  Wait, they have not arrested the dude who killed him? What fucked up country we live in... >
  
  Open and shut case of murder in Australia - you cannot use lethal force against someone who is posing no threat even if they are in your home much less outside on a balcony in an apartment complex.   Considering this is Texas I expect no charges.  A lot of conservatives think this is what home defence looks like.  Shoot first ask questions later. >
  
  There's so many psychopaths just waiting for any opportunity to kill someone and call it self-defence. >
  
  George Zimmerman was the first to popularize and illustrate how to do it. >
  
  It's been the law in Texas since 1879 I believe. >
  
  Even the wild west didn't allow guns like we do today. The shootout at the OK corral happened because someone got arrested for carrying a gun in town where it wasn't allowed. >
  
  This. We have cowboy movies to thank for this idea that people walked around town with guns on their hips and had duels in the streets. >
  
  I mentioned this in another thread but once after one of the many hurricanes I’ve experienced the power went out. It was hot and I couldn’t sleep so I had the windows open and was sitting up in my living room. About 4am a black man walked into my backyard. I knew there was something on a pole in my yard that had something electrical on it so I just watched him. He had a long pole and he did something and the power came back on. As he was walking out of my yard I said “Thank you”. Poor guy probably shit his pants. >
  
  Yay. Everyone has guns now. What could go wrong? >
  
  No arrests!?!? How is this person not being charged with murder?!?? You don’t get to shoot people and then decide later if they were committing a crime or not. US guns laws are wack. >
  
  
  You don’t get to shoot people and then decide later if they were committing a crime or not.
  
  The cops do it all the time, this guy was just following their example of how to get away with murder. >
  
  When all you have is a hammer every problem is a nail. >
  
  Americans and their guns. >
  
  manslaughter with a fire arm should be minimum 500,000 dolllar fine and 40 years in jail >
  
  Why should manslaughter with a firearm carry a more severe penalty than manslaughter with a vehicle or construction equipment?
  Manslaughter implies it being unintentional, any argument used to make guns more severe could be equally applied to any other piece of machinery with deadly potential. >
  
  A vehicle or construction equipment is used for specific and constructive purposes.  A gun is used to kill.  If you can't see why there is a difference between the two ... >
  
  That’s not an explanation as to why manslaughter should carry a heavier sentence… we already have different laws on the books to cover degrees of intent, making manslaughter a 40 year sentence kind of defeats the point. >
  
  When I use my car, the act of using it isn't for killing if I end up committing manslaughter.  You didn't mean to kill anyone but you did.
  When I pull out my gun, it's for the purpose of killing.  You did mean to kill someone, but you ended up killing the wrong person. >
  
  I’m not a gun person at all, but I presume some people own guns because they can be fun to go target practicing with.  In that case it’s quite possible to “pull out a gun” without the intent to kill someone or some thing. >
  
  “No arrests have been made at this time” he murdered an innocent man in cold blood!  I bet the shooter is noticeably less tan than the victim… >
  
  Just deranged, slaughtering a human because you think they might steal something, just a broken society. >
  
  Some people are scared that a burglar might harm them if they are found inside the house.  Regardless, you don’t just shoot anyone who happens to be on your balcony. >
  
  Good point, I shall start shooting anyone who comes within a mile of the property, just to be on the safe side. >
  
  That’s not what I suggested, but ok. >
  
  Indeed, 
  If everyone just kills anyone who happens to be near their home, just in case they might do something bad, there a very good chance that most of the people shot will be perfectly innocent. >
  
  It’s almost like guns shouldn’t be so plentiful in a nation that spends all its time on using the news to be scared. >
  
  Poor guy, working on Christmas Eve because weather caused burst pipes. I bet if he would have knocked on the door to tell the residents he would be doing the work he still would have been shot. >
  
  Of course he won’t get charged - it’s Texas and the worker was a POC. I’m sure the governor will give him a medal or something. 
  Fuck Texas. >
  
  I'll take the other side of that....I bet he does get charged.  This is not a case of self defense. >
  
  But it’s Texas. And he’s not white. So they don’t care. >
  
  Grand jury should meet today.  I think they will care. >
  
  No. District attorney has to present case to Grand Jury, then they vote. Likely takes a couple weeks >
  
  Agree...the holidays was a perfect time for this dude...he needs to take a road trip while he still can. >
  
  Better be able to afford a really, really good lawyer. Still probably going to jail, but it is Texas he may get a medal. >
  
  What jail? Nobody goes to jail for killing Hispanic people in Trump's Texas. I can already see tears of concerned people defending the shooter and how sorry they feel for them. 🙄 >
  
  No need for them to get the window fixed, with their new job at Fox they'll be able to afford a new, better, place. >
  
  How awkward would it be to be the backup maintenance guy that had to fix this window? >
  
  Maybe try calling the police before firing shots from your window. >
  
  Sadly, that isn’t the American way. We shoot first and ask questions later. >
  
  I thought that you are supposed to call the cops first so they shoot the plumber allowing you can save your ammo for the future fight against the government. >
  
  No arrests, wtf. You do not have the right to shoot anyone. Did they even wonder how he made it to the sixth floor, did they even call out to ask why they were there. It sounds like they just opened fire. Arrest and convict them. They murdered someone! >
  
  
  no arrests have been made at this time
  
  Because the police apparently think it's reasonable to shoot at people outside based on no concrete evidence of anything? >
  
  And just like that, if there were more laws against guns, those 5 kids wouldn't have a dead father as a Christmas present but no "GuNs ArE oUr CoNsTiTuTiOnAl RiGhT" >
  
  The 2nd amendment was added on, its an amendment.   And another amendment can remove it just like the 21st did to the 18th >
  
  This would never happen in the real world. You're talking about a huge amount of people who will just not get rid of their guns. If the right to bear arms was removed I see no enforcement of this that is practical. You think that people are gonna knock on every door and search for guns and confiscate them? Its simply not in the realm of possibility. Source: I am from Texas.
  I dont like guns at all I just cannot see how guns could ever be gone. The genies out of the bottle.
  Edit: the UK and Australia are not the US. >
  
  You can still do a lot of damage control if ownership of guns can be regulated. >
  
  In Australia they did the buyback and bought back 20% of guns and the next year gun deaths dropped 58% in a year. >
  
  gun crime was already trending down across western nations in the 90s, though. >
  
  Trending down is a couple of points a year not 58%. >
  
  So he was murdered. What the hell is wrong with people? >
  
  How the fuck has no arrest been made. >
  
  How did he get on to the balcony??? If he was on the balcony and the door was closed leading to the balcony and you just shot him. I think that might be a problem for the shooter am I not correct?? >
  
  He shot the poor guy though the window. This was also 6:00 pm when a lot of people are coming home from work, there's no excuse. >
  
  Oh God I somehow just assumed it was late night or early morning, I know police response times can suck but there really is no need to shoot someone without checking who they are at 6 PM. And it is an apartment complex, not even a house! (But, similarly, if the water company guy shows up at your house incorrectly the sane response is not to shoot first and ask questions later) >
  
  
  there really is no need to shoot someone without checking who they are at 6 PM.
  
  There is plenty of reason to shoot someone if you are already itching to shoot someone. If he didn't even ask who was there, I am just going to assume he wanted to shoot someone and that's his reason. >
  
  
  There is plenty of reason to shoot someone if you are already itching to shoot someone. If he didn't even ask who was there, I am just going to assume he wanted to shoot someone and that's his reason.
  
  Agreed. He cums bullets. >
  
  Worth pointing out that burglary isn't worth killing someone over in the first place. >
  
  Value is subjective. I value the things in my home that I worked my ass off for way more than the life of someone that feels it's okay for them to steal from me.
  Everyone isn't rich. Stealing $5000 worth of things from someone might literally be years of saving from their job for them. They should not be expected to just let a thief take that away from them.
  (This has nothing to do with the article, the guy in the article should be charged with murder) >
  
  Not to mention that I have no idea why that person is breaking into my home. It could be to steal my tv, it could be to murder me, it could be to kidnap my child, it could be all 3. How am I supposed to know? 
  Am I just supposed to sit there and hope that it’s just the first one? >
  
  How do you know they broke in at all?
  Better shoot them first, and ask questions later - right???
  (/s) >
  
  
  How do you know they broke in at all?
  
  If it's at night and my home is locked and I live alone, and someone is in my home, how the fuck else did they get there? It's called deductive reasoning. If you have other people living in the house with you, then you can't go as far down the deductive reasoning tree.
  ​
  
  Better shoot them first, and ask questions later - right???
  
  No, lmfao. If you're armed, and they appear to be a threat, you aim your gun at them, and tell them to leave or to not move until the police arrive. >
  
  No arrest at this time.  Police must have felt that was the white thing to do >
  
  Even if he WAS a burglar … how the hell do you decide from there to SHOOT someone ….? It’s mindboggling. >
  
  When you make a low barrier to entry for owning deadly weapons >
  
  The biggest problem with guns is once they enter the equation, more logical courses of action aren’t even considered….leading to murders deemed “self defense”. >
  
  Sounds like a person that was waiting for any excuse to shoot another human. Reminds me of the guys, that have anger issues, who become bouncers at the clubs. So they have any excuse to choke people out or beat on them. >
  
  What a convenient excuse to murder someone. Have a beef, just wait for them outside your window. >
  
  I knew it had to be either Texas or Florida. Both states are in a race to the bottom. >
  
  Shoot first, ask questions later. Works great if you're holding the gun.
  On the receiving end, not so much.
  We had someone break into our garage a couple years ago. He set off an alert on my cellphone. Before he left, he got a handful of coins from our car. Whatever. 
  One of my coworkers asked if I ran to the garage with a gun.
  What do I own that's worth risking my life, or worth taking another person's life??? >
  
  “No arrests have been made.”
  ‘Murica, fuck yeah! >
  
  Here in the UK id open my window and go "Can i help you mate" which would be met with "Oh no, just checking the pipes i work for the building," which would be met with a "Oh, Ok brilliant crack on mate"
  In the states its like "JOLENE, SOMEONE JUST CROSSED OUR PROPERTY BOUNDRY, GET THE FUCKING 50 CAL" >
  
  Please save me. I hate it here :-( >
  
  
  No arrests have been made at this time. 
  
  Texas is so gross. >
  
  Liability insurance, mandatory for all gun owners, with all profits going to payouts, funerals and medical bills of innocent gun victims please. >
  
  So fuck poor people? >
  
  Poor people have to pay car insurance and I don't see anyone upset about that. >
  
  
  I don't see anyone upset about that
  
  Because they're driving around without insurance. Once they get pulled over then you see them be upset >
  
  Yes, they get to be upset but they're still held to the same requirement to have car insurance and are punished when they don't. >
  
  We need to fix "property is more valuable than lives " rhetoric. >
  
  Police we’re probably like “ well he’s not white so I get it. Have a good night”. >
  
  What is wrong with these gun nuts? What In the hell are they so damn scared of all the time? They are the scary ones! >
  
  
  The case is under investigation and Grand Prairie detectives will refer the case to the Tarrant County grand jury for review.
  
  Sundown town shenanigans. Sounds like a murderer is getting off. >
  
  Another "Texas gun law" allowing irresponsible individuals to shoot first and walk away - because GOP = "everyone can have a gun" laws   coupled with but he is a brown man. >
  
  No arrests? Feckin joke America is, slaughter someone because you think he may be threat to someones stuff/property? Murder is what it is. How unbelievably unfair and heartbreaking for the family. >
  
  The nra should be declared a terrorist organization first, then the politicians they buy... >
  
  All first world nation countries this would be murder 2 charge. Ohh yea, really America is not first world country. I’ll check myself. >
  
  Weaponized fear. Fucking Americans. >
  
  Man these “good guys with guns” sure are out here making America safer. >
  
  RIP that is horrendous, “No arrests made” open and shut murder case >
  
  Maybe some people deserve to be doxxed. >
  
  
  shot the Montelongo through the window.
  
  Oof. Would love to hear from a lawyer about how this shakes out in that jurisdiction. >
  
  Obviously the only solution is for maintenance workers to be armed and trained in building clearing before maintenance work. That way the good guy maintenance crew can shoot anyone who would endanger them first. >
  
  As a Texan, I hate guns. It's such a personality trait here. Sorry folks, guns are not toys, they're not appropriate for children and you aren't cool for shooting first and asking questions later. This isn't the old west and even if it were, there wouldn't be near as many shootings/shootouts as today. I bet the MF that shot him drives a big truck, wears those cringe Oakley sport shades, and saw this more of an opportunity to shoot someone and get away with it. Why did he feel the need to shoot him through the window? You have a gun, he is visibly not armed and also outside your home. He could have verbally confronted him, not shoot first ask questions later. I'm sickened by the people I have to share this planet with. Who fucking kills anyone on Christmas Eve? I'm losing faith in humanity more each day >
  
  Repeal the 2nd amendment. >
  
  Everything’s dumber in Texas >
  
  Murderer: “his skin color made it look like he was an armed threat”
  Texas Cops: “looks about right to us - carry on, good citizen.” >
  
  Guns are so great for protecting your home, especially when you can shoot unarmed people outside your home and not even get charged with anything.  (in case you’re from Texas or Florida- this is satire!) >
  
  Texas: Where you can shoot anyone, anytime, for any reason and hey! you'll be fine. >
  
  The maintenance worker should have been armed, then nobody dies because guns save lives! >
  
  Is there any information on how common murders like this happens vs an actual home invasion scenario where shooting would be justified? Do we even see many cases of home invasions? Or do burglars wait till your out of your house to steal? >
  
  Just “another” law abiding citizen exercising his constitutional right to own a gun. Yeah right. >
  
  We think everyone is an enemy. ‘We need moar guns!!!!1’ No, we need some common sense. >
  
  I can't fucking believe they didn't arrest the shooter. How the fuck do you shoot a person doing their job, and not get taken into custody?!?! >
  
  Part of the tragedy of gun nuts (or bobby traps with something else), killing someone who had a legit reason to be there >
  
  I wonder if yet again because the victim was brown the law enforcement sided with the shooter? It seems like it to me. But I don’t live in Texas. >
  
  Which law-abiding responsible gun owner was it this time? >
  
  I’ve read too many stories like this. Even ones where guys with action hero fantasies end up shooting their own family members (daughter sneaking back in after curfew for example). Even as a gun owner myself, the risks just don’t seem worth it anymore. They haven’t for a long time. >
  
  Jail that dumbass.  It was an apartment complex - there are people literally everywhere, constant maintenance, and people consistently mistaking their apartment for others (as they all look the same). >
  
  shoot first, ask questions never >
  
  And yet this is what so many vocal people on the right want to do. They want to be able to shoot (at) someone with little to no reason and little to no repercussions >
  
  this is why we need to have some laws based on an eye for an eye
  if you wanna shoot someone, and turns out they werent doing crimes and instead was just a POC doing their fucking job, you should receive firing squad
  i would think americans love this since it involves more death and bullets
  but i can see no other way to make some of these murderous hogs stop killing innocent people >
  
  Another reason to avoid the shithole that is Texas. >
  
  I love people who see someone has been killed and instead of being mad at the murderer they go on a rant about guns. People don't go after cars when someone drives through a crowd of fucking people. It's fucking dumb dude. >
  
  We require licenses to drive. >
  
  And have that license and legal ability to drive taken away if someone does kill with a car. >
  
  Why go anywhere or do anything? Some asshole can just shoot you for doing your FUCKING JOB. Fuck Texas in the ass right now. I’m not leaving my house for shit. >
  
  what a beautiful, paranoid, violent and consequence free of living you have there in texas. >
  
  No arrests made.
  Just gonna come out and say it. FUCK TEXAS.
  Liberals who live in Texas, you should know what I mean by now. Fuck. Texas.