As reported, a Greene County, Tennessee homeowner reportedly used his gun to stop three violent home invaders.
Police say that three home invaders broke in to a house on Houston Valley Road late at night. The homeowner, who has suffered three burglaries in the past year, reportedly heard the noise and went to investigate. In the kitchen, the homeowner is said to have found three home invaders, and ordered them to stop. When the intruders refused to stop, the homeowner reportedly feared for his life and fired in self defense, striking and killing one of the home invaders and causing the others to flee. The deceased home invasion suspect was reportedly identified as 17 year old Michael Edward Aldridge Banner. Police are said to have arrested two other suspects in the home invasion, reportedly identified as Joshua Martin and James McMahan. The homeowner was unharmed.
In the homeowners statement to the news, he reportedly expressed regret for fatally shooting a 17 year old. To that, I would say a few things. Firstly, a 17 year old male is often near the peak of his physical strength, and can pose quite a threat if violent. Secondly, while a 17 year old likely lacks the judgment of a 40 year old, they certainly know right from wrong, and are not immature children. Virtually every 17 year old who commits a home invasion does so with the understanding that their actions are illegal and dangerous, and cannot reasonably claim age as an excuse. Thirdly, I would caution against second guessing self defense actions, as discussed more fully in this article. Finally, while it is sad that this young man’s life is over, just as any loss of life is sad, it is far better that the attacker die than his victims.
My thanks to Don for pointing out this self defense case.
There is another comment that could be made about the death of the 17 year old, he will no longer be breaking into houses and potentially harming people. What would they have done to the home owner if he hadn’t been armed? How many crimes had these three done and would have continued to do? They know the risks, but may not believe it could happen to them.
I would still feel bad about killing him. Not so much as to let him hurt me, but enough to let people know that I weighed the options, and ended up being pushed to open fire by his attack.