Grand Jury Won’t Indict Shotgun Shooter

The Pasadena (Tex.) man who dialed 911 to report two burglars at his neighbor’s house last November will not be indicted by a Harris County grand jury. Joe Horn told a police dispatcher about the break-in, and then said he was armed with a shotgun, which he later used to shoot and kill both suspects where they emerged from the house and tried to flee. The incident sparked support and criticism of Horn, who disregarded the dispatcher’s repeated warnings not to go outside with the shotgun–“You’re going to get yourself shot if you go outside that house with that gun,” the dispatcher said at one point. Read an interview with Horn after the grand jury’s decision here, and also here. Not carefully how his current account differs from his remarks during the incident on the logging recorder tape of the 911 call. In particularly, note the references to “fear” and that he had no intention of shooting the two men.