Intruders shot after Texas couple wrests shotgun

Intruders shot after Texas couple wrests shotgun


BLUE MOUND, Texas (AP) -- When two gunmen smashed through the glass front door of her suburban Fort Worth home, Kellie Hoehn didn't think twice.

The 34-year-old mother of two grabbed a shotgun that had been pointed at her face early Wednesday, starting a struggle that ended with one intruder killed with his own weapon and another in the hospital.

"I wasn't going to let them get to my babies," she said, recalling the moment when she pushed up the muzzle of the shotgun, pointing it away from her children's rooms.

Although the intruders told her to keep quiet, she screamed for her husband. She told her 12-year-old son, who was awakened by the sound of the shattering glass front door, to get his 5-year-old sister and hide.

"It was like a horror movie," her husband, 32-year-old Keith Hoehn, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I thought I was a dead man. We're fighting for our lives."

With Kellie Hoehn clinging to the weapon's muzzle, her husband tackled the man who held the shotgun. She knocked the intruder in the head with a jar candle, giving her husband a chance to wrest the shotgun.

By then the tussle had spilled out onto the front lawn. Keith Hoehn shot one of the men who had a pistol, police said. Wounded, that man ran away.

Then the intruder who initially had the shotgun charged Keith Hoehn.

Kellie Hoehn told The Dallas Morning News that she screamed at her husband, "Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him."

Her husband fired the shotgun and the man fell to the ground. Then the shot man lunged a second time.

"Well, I shot him again, and I guess that was it," Keith Hoehn said.

Dakota Scott Benoit, 20, of Richland Hills, was pronounced dead at a hospital. John Garland Pierson, 25, of Haltom City, was in critical condition and in police custody at the hospital.

"I am not happy that someone is dead," Kellie Hoehn said. "But I am glad that my family is alive."

Police said Pierson was shot in the left arm and the bullet pierced his diaphragm and other organs but his condition was improving. He will face charges of burglary of habitation with intent to commit another felony, police said.

Investigators say the couple were just defending their family and probably won't be charged. source

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I thought this case would provide a nice contrast to the earlier case many of us discussed where someone shot two buglers in his neighbors yard.

Bravo to this family. Sounds like they did an awesome job protecting themselves. I would see no reason to prosecute these people.

 

Completely agree, on all counts, Brown.

I've wanted to strangle some buglers I've known - Teddy Zomer, childhood pal, webelos bugler, mangled Taps - but shoot him? Never.

(Sorry - I know - horrible taste, horrible joke....goes quietly into the night).

 

Scary. I used to live in that area back in the early 90s. My Aunt and Uncle live in Haltom City. We lived in Watauga, which is right next to Richland Hills.

Good for them. It's good to see citizens protect themselves and their families.

 

It would have been better if the burglars were both in critical condition [rather than the death] and maybe learned their lessons later. They unfortunately seem to be very young as well.

Anyway, they probably thought the family would be weak and thus they could have their way with them. They should have realized that even a cornered mouse fights back.

 

Totally agree this is a definite case from the sounds of it of force being used with total justification.

Thanks for the article, I had not heard of this one.

 

I love Texas Justice. I am glad that the folks in Texas do not coward when defending their neighborhood.

 

This was defending ones home and family not 'neighborhood'

 

The situation here seems to have different dynamics from the other one. Danger close at hand not far off & direct threat, people's lives in peril [Or more peril if you'd like], children and such.

 

A key distinction, which Browntwn specifically made, and which you are apparently now attempting to conflate, between one's own home, and one' neighborhood. One's home is not one's "neighborhood," city, state, or any other "other" one may wish to see as one's personal territory for justice.

You're free to do whatever you'd like, of course, but I'd personally appreciate it if you didn't attempt to bury this story in the agenda endemic to the other thread.

 

This case is rather heinous. I wouldn't classify it as a buglary but rather an armed home invasion.

The homeowners were unarmed until they were assalted by the instruders.

If you enter someones home with a gun then you are at your own risk in addition to commiting a criminal act.

 

Yep, I agree with pretty much every post here. Its sad that someone felt the need to put their life into risk by going itno someone elses home without warrant. But, he had what was coming to him.

 

A neighborhood is made up of homes.

B&E is dangerous for all involved.

 

Thank you for the insight. I believe, so is an entire country, made up of homes. So is the entire planet. I'll ask again. Did you wish to stick to this thread, and its scope:

Or did you wish to continue to try to muddy it with your agenda from the other thread?

 

A neighborhood is made up of homes.

B&E is dangerous for all involved.

You lost me with your reply. No agenda and I have stayed with this thread. You are trying to read more into my reply than what was stated.

 

Whatever, Homebiz, and I won't play games. They defended their home, not their neighborhood, and whatever game you would like to play in this way is a game you will have to play with yourself.

It is obvious from Browtwn's comment that this story provides a clear example of someone protecting themselves from intruders intruding in their home. He specifically contrasted with the earlier thread, which you conflated with your first post, and every post thereafter. You can do what you want, of course. But it is clear this thread is about one thing, your posts are about another agenda.

 

You are reading more into my reply than what is there. I do not have a problem with what occurred.

Cattle rustling, barn burning, some forms of stealing, rape, and murder were all punishable by death. Cattle rustling, barn burning, some forms of stealing effected a person ability to live due the scarcity of food.

I have no problem with the action and the result of the home invasion even though death occurred.

 

You're not reading at all, actually. No one has a problem with your support of the actions that are the subject of this thread. I, and Grim, have pointed out that you supplanted "their home" with "the neighborhood," which is a subtle attempt to conflate this story with the story of another thread, a subject the OP was careful to distinguish from this subject. Others have expressed the difference as well.

Again, whatever, Homebiz. The tactic is nothing new, from what I have seen, so enjoy yourself.

 

You are being paranoid. No hidden objective implied or intended.

 

Guess we're all "paranoid," brother.

 

Brown made that statement in his Message

Originally Posted by Browtwn
I thought this case would provide a nice contrast to the earlier case many of us discussed where someone shot two buglers in his neighbors yard.