An Indianapolis homeowner shot a home intruder in one of the most cut-and-dry cases of justified shooting you’ll ever come across.
James Frye, a 30-year-old would-be burglar, thought he’d make a quick buck when he kicked open the back door to a house at 1:45 a.m. last Friday. Unfortunately for the robber, the home was occupied by Wallace Turner, his wife, his five-year-old daughter, and his gun. That is what you call a lethal combination, as dangerous as a can of gasoline and a match.
When he heard the crash, Turner said he grabbed his gun and ran downstairs to investigate. You might think that waking up in the middle of the night to an obvious home invasion would terrify a lot of people, but Turner told WISHTV news that he wasn’t about to back down. “He wasn’t getting past me,” he said firmly. “My wife and daughter were behind me.”
Turner confronted the robber, and that’s when Frye made his second biggest mistake of the night: he lunged forward at Turner.
If there are any criminals out there, listen up: two stupid decisions don’t make a smart decision. If you break into a home and find a guy pointing a gun at you, that’s a good sign that you should get the f— out before your unhappy host makes you a few pints of blood lighter.
The robber learned his lesson – and quickly – when Turner shot twice, striking Frye in the leg. The burglar attempted to flee and made it into the back yard before collapsing.
Turner followed suit and held the robber at gunpoint while his wife phoned police.
Turner reported that the burglar repeatedly said “Sorry,” but Turner’s stone-cold response was “Don’t move.” Diplomacy might have worked in other situations, but you can’t expect sympathy from a guy after you threaten his wife and his little girl. If anything, Frye should thank his lucky stars that came out of the confrontation alive. A gunshot to the leg is more mercy than a lot of fathers would be willing to give.
The cops showed up and hauled the burglar off to the hospital, where he received treatment and will face charges including burglary and residential entry. Police also suspect that the burglar is responsible for a string of similar robberies throughout the neighborhood the night before.
This story is a refreshing contrast to another shooting case covered earlier today. That shooting had extenuating circumstances that left people wondering whether or not the gun owner was justified. This shooting, on the other hand, is like the perfect example of a legitimate self-defense shooting. Not only was the gun owner trying to protect his family, but he also gave the criminal a non-lethal wound to the leg. Even if this case somehow managed to make its way to a courtroom (which isn’t likely – police haven’t charged Turner), there’s no way a jury would convict him.
Good job, Wallace Turner. Not only did you save your family from an uncertain fate, but you also stopped a robber who is suspected of terrorizing your community. We don’t know about you guys, but we’d be glad to have Turner as a neighbor. In fact, we’d probably bake him a pie as thanks for making our community a little bit safer.