Florida- Homeowner Cleared in Shooting
Cornwell arrived at his Grove Avenue home just before 7 a.m. His wife left for work, and he was alone with his 3 1/2-month-old son and 3 1/2-year-old daughter. A noise awoke him from his sleep and, armed with a semi-automatic pistol, he went to find out what was happening, Antonello wrote. Cornwell came "face-to-face" in the hallway of his home with Michael Collins who swung a crowbar at Cornwell's head. Cornwell chased Collins out the back door and fired two shots, Antonello wrote. Collins ran to his vehicle parked in the house's driveway, Antonello wrote. Cornwell ran back through his house, out the front door, and "instinctively opened fire on the vehicle (at the tires and body) in an attempt to disable it and prevent the intruder from leaving."
Cornwell arrived at his Grove Avenue home just before 7 a.m. His wife left for work, and he was alone with his 3 1/2-month-old son and 3 1/2-year-old daughter.
A noise awoke him from his sleep and, armed with a semi-automatic pistol, he went to find out what was happening, Antonello wrote.
Cornwell came "face-to-face" in the hallway of his home with Michael Collins who swung a crowbar at Cornwell's head. Cornwell chased Collins out the back door and fired two shots, Antonello wrote.
Collins ran to his vehicle parked in the house's driveway, Antonello wrote. Cornwell ran back through his house, out the front door, and "instinctively opened fire on the vehicle (at the tires and body) in an attempt to disable it and prevent the intruder from leaving."
Granted, Cornwell should have just given Collins what he wanted, which was a chance to rearrange Cornwell's dental layout and possibly his children, but that's besides the point.
I've wondered about firing at a getaway vehicle and if it's legal or not. You are trying to prevent the escape of a criminal, blowing out the tires or damaging the engine is one way of slowing them down. Since my home defense weapon of choice is an AR-15 chambered in 6.8 SPC, I've got a decent bit of hole punching power at my disposal. Plus, with the rifle, my aim is going to be considerably better (ask everyone who was with me at Blackwater – I may have sucked at pistol, but 100 yards with the Para USA TTR was nothing) so the risk of a wild shot is much less.
Once the bad guy is out of your house and on the run, he is no longer a threat (unless he is wildly firing back at you). I do not believe you have the right to use deadly force at that point. However, disabling their vehicle or doing something to prevent them from leaving, while seeming like a grey area, feels justifiable in my mind. What I wonder is if the police or legal system equates shooting at the car as 'deadly force'.
Thoughts?