Danny Ricketts wishes that what happened to him early Monday morning was nothing but a bad dream. The Vietnam veteran was fast asleep in his bed in Albquerque, New Mexico when he woke to a strange sound coming from a bedroom window. When he looked, he spotted the blade of a knife sliding back and forth underneath the window sill before the window started opening from the outside.  

With his PTSD, the Vietnam War veteran keeps a weapon close by. 

“I keep a pistol on my nightstand under a hat. I reached and got it and I said, I still don’t know quite what I said, ‘What the f**k you doing, get the h*ll away from here’ something like that,” said Ricketts. 

Then, he fired one round and the person took off. 

Ricketts says he didn't see any blood on the window sill after the stranger fled, but when police responded to his 911 call they found the would-be intruder a short distance away with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. 

“I looked at the window and I didn’t see any blood and I didn’t see any bodies. So I thought I missed initially and I was kind of grateful at that,” said Ricketts.  

... “When I was in the police car I could see in the distance the body, and I asked the detective if it was the body of the person I shot, and they said ‘Yeah’ and I felt kind of bad,” Ricketts said.

Police say, as of now, Ricketts is justified in the shooting.

“Sounds like this gentleman the other day he called police, he secured his firearm I believe, he told them exactly what happened,” APD Spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos.

According to the Gallegos, the Albuquerque police are looking at five other recent homicides that may be ruled self-defense as well; a total that doesn't include another incident back in March when a woman shot and killed a burglar who tried to enter her home while she and her 4-year-old granddaughter were inside. Alissa Tinnin initially cooperated with 32-year-old Joseph Rivera, handing over her car keys and talking with him to deescalate the situation. But shortly after Rivera left her home, he once again tried to gain entry, and Tinnin used her gun to protect herself and her grandchild.

Sirens could be hard as police closed in. Rivera could be heard banging on the door before kicking it in.

Tinnin: “Get back. get back. I have a gun. Get back. Get back. I will f******* shoot you.”
(Gunfire)
Dispatcher: “What did you do?”
Suspect: “Why did you shoot me?”
Tinnin: “Because you’re in my f****** house!”

Tinnin then told Garcia she would help him and held pressure on his gunshot wound. 

Tinnin: “I will give you water but if you f****** hurt me, I’m going to shoot you again”

Tinnin then begged the dispatcher for help.

Tinnin (crying): “This is not happening… where are the police?”

Minutes later officers moved in dragging Rivera out. “I do believe we had a guardian angel here with us and I do firmly believe that God was watching over us,” said Tinnin.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has tried to curtail the right to carry in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County through an emergency proclamation, but the courts have so far limited her edict to a ban on concealed carry in public playgrounds. While the governor has made it legally dangerous to try to protect your kids or grandkids while they're playing on a slide or see-saw, she hasn't been able to eradicate the right to armed self-defense completely, and thankfully not in private homes. 

I understand the heartache that Ricketts feels about having to take another life in order to protect his own. I don't know a single gun owner who eagerly anticipates being the victim of a violent crime in the hopes of being able to use a gun in self-defense, or to protect the lives of others. But Ricketts wasn't left with much of a choice once a stranger armed with a weapon of his own decided that the veteran's apartment was the perfect target for a little late-night breaking and entering. According to police, he responded reasonably under the circumstances. It was the armed intruder who made a series of bad decisions that ultimately led to Ricketts discharging his handgun; a fatal encounter that never would have happened had the suspect simply strolled by Rickett's apartment instead of trying to force his way inside.