A homeowner shot two men who broke into his detached garage in Tacoma’s South End early today, killing one and injuring the other.
The homeowner started providing medical aid to the injured burglar moments after the shooting, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said. Paramedics took the injured burglar, described as in his 20s, to St. Joseph Medical Center for treatment of his injuries, which were described as “non-critical.”
Meanwhile, Tacoma police detectives were interviewing the homeowner about the shooting and investigating the crime scene.
The homeowner and his wife heard noises at their home in the 3800 block of South D Street about 4:40 a.m., Fulghum said. Dogs were barking.
The homeowner grabbed a handgun and went to investigate as his wife called 911, Fulghum said.
The homeowner went into his detached garage, where he found the two burglars. The homeowner confronted the two and held them at gunpoint, Fulghum said.
The homeowner told police that when the two men charged at him, he fired his gun, Fulghum said.
One of the intruders ran off and died a short distance from the detached garage.Tacoma firefighters found the man in the alley behind the house when they arrived.
The other intruder was wounded and stayed in the detached garage. The homeowner provided medical aid, Fulghum said.
The homeowner has told officers his home had been burglarized a couple of times in recent weeks, Fulghum said.
A little more practice and he could have scored a deuce. Still, not a bad night’s shooting.
Detached garage, makes it burglary in a building, not a residential burglary. The homeowner better have something better than “I’ve been burglarized recently” or he’s going down for excessive force. That’s Tacoma WASHINGTON, not Tacoma MONTANA. Someone will be howling for his scalp by now…especially if the burglars are people of color and he’s not.
Tacoma Washington falls under the same laws as the rest of the state with regard to shooting in self-defense. If they charged him he was fully within his rights to shoot them.