Sacramento-area property manager who shot, killed burglar says he was protecting his family
RANCHO CORDOVA – A Rancho Cordova property manager shot and killed a burglar who broke into his shop in the middle of the night.
It happened around 1:15 a.m. on the 10000 block of Folsom Boulevard at Stylens, a motorcycle parts shop.
The property manager of the shop, Robert, who did not want to give his last name, was in the living quarters in the back of the shop with his grandchildren.
No one is in custody right now for this deadly shooting, but the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is still investigating if the property manager acted in self-defense.
Robert told CBS13 that he pulled the trigger to protect his family.
"Every time I think about it, it really bothers me," Robert said. "But at the time, I didn't think about anything but saving my children's lives."
He said it was a split-second decision he made after his 14-year-old grandson woke him up suspecting someone had broken into the shop.
"When he kicked the door in he came at me," Robert said. "If he had ran away, I wouldn't have had to shoot nobody. I'd live with the broken windows and broken doors, but he continued to go at me."
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Sergeant Amar Gandhi said the suspect broke into the front part of the shop and then was trying to bust through the door to the living quarters where Robert was sleeping with his 14-year-old and 4-year-old grandsons. Investigators are still reviewing all the evidence and claims.
"Victims are tired of being victims," Gandhi said.
Robert said the suspect had a bright light in one hand and what he later found out was a butane torch in the other.
"I thought he had a gun, but I wasn't sure," said Robert. "Thank God I had a gun."
After Robert fired the gun, the suspect ran off, dropping dead about 30 paces away from the shop in a Chevron parking lot.
"Any reasonable person in that shop owner's position, in my opinion, likely would have used deadly force because they feared for the safety of themselves and their children," said local attorney Justin Ward who is unrelated to the case.
Ward said Robert's actions will likely be justified because the law does not require him to know the intention of the burglar.
"You're not going to hope that this is a nice burglar and he's just going to say, 'Oh I am sorry, I am just going to leave now,'" Ward said.
It was a terrifying encounter that led to the deadly shooting, but Robert's first concern was his family.
"You don't want to have to do this. The rest of my life you have to live with it," Robert said. "But I also hear my children laughing and they are with me, and they are glad they are ok."
The sheriff's office could not confirm if the man who broke in had any weapons on him. He has not yet been identified.
