Global Courant 2023-05-20 17:30:00
A Tennessee man was behind bars this week after shooting at thieves who tried to steal a van outside his home.
A Shelby County man was notified by his surveillance system around 2 a.m. Saturday that several people were outside his home using burglar tools to break into a van. Fox 13 Memphis reported.
After the man walked out, the thieves shot at him as he stood under the light from his home’s porch, according to the outlet.
Security videos show the homeowner and the suspects firing at each other several times.
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A Shelby County man was notified by his surveillance system around 2 a.m. Saturday that several people were outside his home using burglary tools to break into a van, Fox 13 Memphis reported. (Raymond Boyd/Getty Images/File)
The thieves fled and the man went back to his house, but when the police arrived, the man’s wife said they started questioning him.
“When they were talking to him, it seemed like they were trying to find ways to sue him,” the homeowner’s wife told Fox 13 Memphis. “That doesn’t sound right. Why put pressure on the victim when you should put pressure on finding the suspects.”
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Deputies say the man told them he couldn’t clearly see what he was aiming at and admitted to shooting with his eyes closed because he was frightened and fired at the suspects as they fled. (Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images/File)
Deputies say the man told them he couldn’t clearly see what he was aiming at and admitted to shooting with his eyes closed because he was frightened and shot at the suspects as they fled, the outlet noted.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, was eventually arrested and charged with reckless endangerment but was later released, and his family hopes the charges will be dropped, according to Fox 13 Memphis.
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“The suspects, they’re out there,” the man’s wife told the outlet. “They were probably sleeping or partying (while) my husband was in jail trying to get released for something he was innocent of.”
News of the incident drew criticism social mediaincluding from Amy Swearer, senior fellow of the Heritage Foundation, who disagreed with the police’s explanation of why the man had been arrested.
“I am baffled that the homeowner is being charged with ‘reckless endangerment’ here,” Swearer said in a Twitter thread. “The police’s arguments seem absurd to me at first glance. The only people he endangered were… the ones who shot at him. And he has 100% right to ‘endanger’ them.”
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Andrew Mark Miller is a writer at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].
