Investigators Say Garland Homicide Appears To Be Self-Defense
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
GARLAND (CBSDFW) - A Garland homeowner who shot and killed a man in his driveway isn't speaking publicly about it, but police say for now they don't expect to charge him with a crime.
Authorities have not identified the 47-year-old man killed, but police say it was his ex-girlfriend who warned the homeowner he was coming back, and that's why the homeowner was ready for him.
Tampered home surveillance equipment is the first sign that this was not an ordinary crime. Police say that and a warning phone call is what caused a homeowner to grab his gun and go outside.
"I'd probably call the cops, you know what I mean. I don't know if I'd go outside, but I don't know the situation, so I can't judge," neighbor Duc Quach said.
Quach kept an open mind as he began to learn details about the shooting. But when Matthew Lee heard the shots Thursday night he didn't know what to think.
"I poked my head out the door, walked out a little bit from my front door and saw the gentleman, the homeowner standing in his driveway, and I saw a gentleman lying on his back at the edge of the driveway, so I went back inside and waited for the cops to arrive," Lee said.
Police questioned Lee about the shooting and the homeowner.
"They said, 'you're the one that called in the shots fired, right?' I was like, yes. 'Well he actually called in too, but he called in after you did,'" Lee said recounting his conversation with police.
Lee says he listened to what the homeowner told investigators.
"He came at him. He charged at him is what he said. He didn't say if he had a weapon or anything, 'he charged at me, I shot him,'" Lee said.
That's why police say for now, the case appears to be one of self-defense, and some neighbors tell us they can imagine themselves in the homeowner's position.
"Everybody has their rights. That's why everybody has a gun, you know what I mean? He was protecting his family," Quach said.
The case will ultimately be up to the grand jury to decide what happens to the homeowner, but for now police say he and other witnesses are cooperating with investigators.
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)