Father of dead teen burglary suspect says Dallas homeowner went too far
DALLAS -- A Texas community is rallying behind a man who shot and killed a burglary suspect and wounded at least one more when he caught them coming out of his home carrying his things.
Now, the father of the teen suspect who was killed is speaking out. He says the shooter went too far, CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
It was late at night when police say a homeowner received an alert on his phone warning him that he had intruders in his apartment.
The man rushed home to find three men coming out his back door carrying his property. He opened fire killing one of the men and wounding another, while the third suspect escaped.
"The man was protecting what's his," Debra Jackson said.
Jackson lives next door to the apartment where the burglary happened. She insists her neighbor did the right thing.
"I'm glad he did it. I really am," Jackson said.
Seventeen-year-old suspect Keanu Wilson died at the scene. His father tells CBS DFW that the shooter should be prosecuted.
"I could understand self-defense, but if my son didn't have no weapon on him, and he came out blasting, shooting, shooting to kill, yeah I think he should deserve some type of time," Wilson's father Phred Carson said.
A legal expert tells CBS DFW that the "Castle Doctrine" would not apply in this case if the home was not occupied, but Texas' Defense of Property law could justify deadly force if the shooter reasonably believed he could not recover his property any other way.
"You know, I hate anybody lose their lives, but for what they did, I'm not sorry. No I'm not," Jackson said.
"Let it be their family, and then let them say the same thing," Carson said.
CBS DFW was unable to contact the homeowner who fired the shots, and neighbors tell CBS DFW he left early Saturday morning and hasn't been home since.
Police say he is cooperating with the investigation.