Holey Toledoan: Burglar gets ventilated while breaking into home

A Bearing Arms reader reported this defensive gun use that happened just five blocks away from him:

Police say Antione Garret, 34, and his girlfriend awoke to the sound of someone breaking into their home on Leybourn Avenue. When Garret heard the front window shatter, he ran downstairs and saw Randy Estrada, 21, climbing inside. Garret fired his handgun several times, until Estrada climbed back out the window and ran away.

A short time later, Estrada called 911 to report that he had been shot and was taken to a Toledo hospital for treatment. He is expected to survive his injuries.

“If someone’s breaking into your house and you fear for your safety, you have the right to defend yourself and your family. And in this case, that’s what we believe Mr. Garret has done,” said Sgt. Joe Heffernan with the Toledo Police Department.

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Note two things in this story:

  1. Garret shot to stop the threat. Under the laws of most (if not all) states, you are legally allowed to shoot until the threat stops being a threat. He won’t be charged by even the most anti-gun DA because he stopped firing when Estrada decided to flee.
  2. Bullets don’t work like they do in the movies. Estrada wasn’t violently thrown across to room to stop moving the moment he was shot. He took at least one hit and was able to retreat. Even if shot with a .454 Casull, the average person will not immediately show the “Hollywood” signs of being hit, so you must go by their behavior, not your expectations of what their behavior should be.

Garret is not expected to be charged for shooting Estrada, while Estrada is lucky that he survived to face burglary charges.

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