Fort Worth, Texas

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of December 21, 2006

Resident shoots man on his property

The two warning signs at Abel Sisneros home should be enough for trespassers.

The sign of the front door says: “Warning. Nothing inside is worth risking your life for. Owners of this property are armed and highly skilled to protect life, liberty and property from criminal attacks.”

And consider the sign on the front window: “No trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.”

But Sisneros, 25, said Thursday he still had to shoot a man in his home early Thursday after the man broke down the front door and entered the home.

“With all those signs, he still tried to get in,” said Sisneros, an AutoZone sales manager who goes to the firing range at least once a month. “I can’t believe it.”

The man was identified as Sheldon Reece, 32, of Fort Worth, who suffered a gunshot wound to his knee, according to Fort Worth police reports.

The shooting happened about 1:22 a.m. Thursday in the 1600 block of Edgewood Terrace South.

Sisneros said he has lived at the house for the past six years without any major problems.

Early Thursday, Sisneros sat in his bedroom and surfed through channels on his television.

“I heard a light pounding on the front door,” said Sisneros, who was on his Christmas holiday break from work. He lives in the two-story home with his fiancee. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

Sisneros said he grabbed his 9 mm pistol and stood at the top of stairs when the man broke through the locked front door and fell down.

“He didn’t say anything,” Sisneros said. “I then just fired two shots.”

The man groaned, then ran to the back of the house. He stayed in a hallway until police arrived.

“He couldn’t get out of the back way and he knew I was still in the front of the house, so he was trapped,” Sisneros said. “When the officers arrived, they led him out the back door.”

Initially, Fort Worth patrol officers seized Sisneros’ handgun, but they returned it a few minutes later after sorting out the details.