comment: >
  
  And then the family would have to mourn another family member: the son who got a long prison sentence...
context: Aren't burglars in your house? Who just shoots random outside people through the window? >
  
  People who shouldn't have guns. >
  
  And yet it seems fully legal down in Texas:
  
  The resident stayed at the scene and is cooperating with detectives.
  No arrests have been made at this time.
  
  One of the many reasons I’d never live in a gun-crazy shithole like Texas. I’d like to think that killing a maintenance worker for zero reason other than misplaced paranoia would be illegal in my state. >
  
  They just want all citizens to have the same right to murder people at will that police currently do. >
  
  I was thinking the same thing.  All you have to do to invoke Castle Doctrine / Qualified Immunity is to be white and say that you were “afraid.“  You don’t even have to do anything to attempt to remove yourself from the situation or reduce your risk.    
  The Reveal did a podcast (Dec 9, 2021)  interviewing another maintenance man in North Carolina who was shot by a tenant who claimed he was afraid he was being burgled.  This guy OPENED HIS LOCKED DOOR so he could shoot the maintenance man in the chest.  No charges filed in either case bc white man claiming Castle Doctrine.  Coincidentally -or not- both shooters white, both victims non-white.    
  So, does the Castle Doctrine apply when the (white) cops are kicking in your (non-white) door?  Ask Brianna Taylor. >
  
  Or her BF - who had great aim, and control, and they tried to bury him.  The banter of the officers on arrival was enlightening and sickening, especially in hindsight with knowledge of the details of what actually happened. >
  
  Yes.  Just awful.  
  You know that in the story above if the call had gone in that a black tenant had shot a white maintenance man the cops would have shown up in full SWAT mode and there would be no “cooperating with detectives” — there would be a gunman-with-unknown-motive who was killed at the scene. >
  
  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. >
  
  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? >
  
  So if the family in the van had a gun they also would have been within their rights to murder ATM guy right? It's retaliation but their lives could have been in danger >
  
  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.