Houston, Texas

From Click2Houston.com of August 19, 2005

Police: Resident Opens Fire On 2 Intruders, Kills 1

Relatives Speculate Man Was Targeted Because Of Business He Owns

Police said a man grabbed his shotgun and killed one of two men after he said they busted into his southeast Houston apartment and opened fire, police told Local 2 Friday.

Officers with the Houston Police Department said a man and woman inside the apartment heard someone shouting and banging on the front door of the man's apartment on 75th Street near Harrisburg Boulevard at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

Investigators said as the resident retrieved his shotgun, the two men invaded the apartment and opened fire on him.

Police said that is when the resident fired back, fatally striking one of the intruders in the back. That man's identity has not been released.

"They confronted them in his living room. Shot once. Apparently one of the suspects shot back at him with a shotgun. The suspects ran out. One of them went downstairs and fell down before he died," Houston Police Department Sgt. L.A. Flores said.

The other man fled the scene.

Officers with HPD's Homicide Division are investigating the shooting. They have not said if the resident would be charged.

Relatives of the apartment residents told Local 2 the man owns a furniture business in the area and speculated that was the reason the intruders targeted him.