Rancho Cucamonga, California

From the Los Angeles Times of January 7, 2006

Oxnard Man Who Broke Into Apartment Is Slain

An Oxnard man who broke into the bedroom of a Rancho Cucamonga apartment early Friday morning was shot and killed by one of the occupants — a prison counselor for the state Department of Corrections, authorities said.

The intruder, Hector Soto, 21, of Oxnard, died less than three hours after being shot and undergoing surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, the San Bernardino County coroner said.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department did not release the prison counselor's name. He will not be charged, a spokeswoman said.

The break-in occurred about 2:50 a.m. Sheriff's homicide investigators said Soto opened a front window to enter the apartment in the 8400 block of Fir Street, and walked to a bedroom. The prison counselor fought with Soto and then pulled a pistol from his nightstand, sheriff's investigators said.

When Soto advanced, the prison counselor shot Soto one time, investigators said.

From the Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times-Leader of January 10, 2006

Man fatally shot after entering wrong home

An intoxicated man who was shot to death last week in an apartment mistook a neighbor's unit for his own and broke in when his key wouldn't work, authorities said.

Hector Soto, 21, had recently moved to the apartment complex and had been out celebrating his upcoming graduation from a trade school, his stepfather, Robert Ward, said Monday.

Soto was "fairly well intoxicated" when his friends drove him home early Friday, said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Sgt. Tom Bradford. All the buildings in the complex look the same, he said.

Soto got into the wrong apartment through an open front window and headed to the bathroom, where he encountered the resident, a 65-year-old state prison counselor, authorities said.

They scuffled and the resident, thinking Soto was an intruder, shot him once. The shooter will not be charged, Bradford said.

"It's tragic. A real mess," he said. "I don't believe Soto intended to hurt anybody."