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A video has surfaced showing a tenant, Ethan Rodriguez, firing through his apartment door in Dallas, as two men, posing as maintenance workers, attempted to break in.
The incident occurred at the Interlace Apartments.
By August 22, one of the suspects, 30-year-old Aaron Contreras, was arrested on multiple charges including aggravated assault and attempted burglary. The second suspect’s identity has not been disclosed, according to KHOU11.
Rodriguez had initially told one of the intruders through his doorbell camera that he wasn’t home.
When the supposed worker returned with another man and tried to kick down his door, Rodriguez fired at them, especially when he saw a gun in one of the suspect’s hands.
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“I was hoping I got ’em,” he told WFAA. “That was mainly it, just hoping I got ’em.”
“[Police] told me I let off 13 shots,” he continued. “I couldn’t believe it, but then again I did empty the clip!”
During the incident, Rodriguez was home with his brother. One of the suspects shot back, but neither Rodriguez nor his brother were injured. However, some bullets went into his neighbor’s apartment. Thankfully they were not home at the time.
Rodriguez’s wife and their 7-month-old child were also not present during the shooting.
Following the event, Rodriguez stated that he would be moving his family to a different residence.
“Everything happened I guess you could say in God’s favor. I protected my family, and he was just being a dummy trying to come to my house and get whatever,” said Rodriguez.
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He would likely be facing jail time if one of his rounds had hit someone in the other apartment.
Remember you own every round you fire. If a round you fire in self defense hits an innocent bystander, your use of deadly force may not end in your favor.
I get being scared, but you still have to THINK before you act.
He shoots like he has a CLIP gun.
That’s my kind of guy. Good for you man. If they come back shoot before they ring the bell.
should have let them bust the door open then shoot them as they entered.
I’ve got to disagree.
Remember that old adage about there’s always someone bigger than you/badder than you? Even though the baddies are armed, they MAY be either better trained, or have better luck in a gun battle.
The old “OODA loop” comes to mind in this scenario. Baddies were convinced owner wasn’t home, in the midst of trying to breach the door when the door started shooting at them! Classic!
The dweller’s only error is that he wasn’t shooting near the lockset mechanism. Anyone in the process of breaching is working that part of the door. I’m sure he’d have scored a hit or two if he’d have aimed there, instead.
BUT, be sure you live somewhere with good Castle Doctrine before you shoot through your door. Otherwise, you’ve got to let the knuckleheads make entry, and engage from strong cover/concealment. Refer back to my first paragraph. That may not work out, they might be luckier, or a better shot than you imagined!
well he did a great job of killing the wall and the door across the hall……..at least with my way he can see what he is shooting and score some hits!
I have to agree with the original poster. If the folks across the way were watching through their peep hole or just standing in the area then that’s probably a big problem with innocent victims. The best thing to do, if time will allow is to have anyone else at home dial up 911 and get the best position possible and open up when you can see a target. Even though that was a clearly a home invasion attempt with at least one the criminals holding a firearm, I would NOT have ripped off 13 shots before the door was breached.
The home owner gambled and won, God Bless him and his family. I just would have chose another gamble, hoping that the threat stops the projectiles.
Maybe the home owner stood at an angle where the rounds went into building mortar. Hard to tell by the video but I still see the risk as to great to shoot 13 times.
I figure he was standing off to the side where the door opens. great news the wall is expected to make a full recovery!
That’s weird, I posted 2 replies but only the last one has turned up so far. I do agree with the first post by Paul being the best course of action even though the results turned pretty good in this case.