An Indianapolis homeowner managed to defend himself against a suspected burglar and hold him for police this week, but still ended up becoming the victim of thieves. 

According to police in Indianapolis, when officers arrived at the scene around 5:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, they found a man lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the leg, as well as another man holding him at gunpoint. Alfred Burdine is rebuilding the home, and told police he decided to check on the property on his way to work. That's when he discovered a stranger trying to get away with his generator. 

"When I came around, I could see more of him. So, I parked right there, and I got out the car, and he was happy with the generator, walking off that way, and then, I walked up behind him, and then, I circled around him after I got his attention," Burdine said.

Burdine said he had his gun drawn when he confronted the alleged burglar.

"The possibility of him going violent at that time was pretty high. It's 4:30 in the morning, nobody around. You're bold enough to break into my garage, my house, you're bold enough to do anything," Burdine said.

Yep. Police haven't said whether or not the burglar was armed with a weapon of any kind, but Burdine says when the man put his hand into a pants pocket, he feared that he was about to pull out a gun or a knife. That's when Burdine fired a round in self-defense, striking him in the leg. After that, the suspect complied with Burdine's orders to stick around for the police. 

Burdine himself was questioned by authorities, but was released a short time later. What was already turning out to be the mother of all Second Mondays was about to get a little worse. 

Burdine said when he got back from being questioned at the police station, he was being burglarized a second time.

According to police records, a suspect in that case was arrested, too.

"I don't know what is going on. I think we just need more patrols because there are a lot of people with drug problems, and there is no treatment for them," Burdine said. "Since they closed Central State, where do these people have to go? You got people with mental problems; you got drug addicts. Where do you take these people, even if they wanted some help?"

More patrols? Yeah, I've got some bad news for Burdine on that front. The IMPD is currently down about 350 people from its budgeted staffing level of 1,843 officers, so even if the department decides to flood his block with increased patrols, they're not going to be around for long. They'll have to be deployed to the next hot spot just as soon as one pops up. And honestly, if the biggest problem in Burdine's community are addicts committing property crimes, I'm not sure that's even going to be considered important enough for the department to divert more officers to the area. 

I think Burdine's doing the best he can in the world he lives in; one where there aren't enough beds to house every person who needs extensive inpatient treatment, where there aren't enough police to ensure a patrol car will be driving down the street (or even a few minutes away) if his life is threatened, but there is an individual right to keep and carry a firearm so you can protect yourself. 

I have no real expectation that either Republicans or Democrats are going to undertake the dramatic reforms to our mental health system that are needed. I certainly don't think the city's Democratic mayor, who ran on a platform of begging the Republican-dominated legislature to pass gun control laws, is going to be able to make the city a significantly safer place; at least until he admits the futility of trying to ban his way there.

No matter how much we try to change the world, we live in the one we've got, and it can be a dangerous place. Carrying a gun doesn't make that danger disappear, but it at least gives us a better chance of survival.