# Man shoots prowler, finds out he killed his son **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 2, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453 "2012-10-02T03:42:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nazarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nazarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nazarene)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/81 "2012-10-14T17:49:45Z")
It wasn’t his home, it was his sister’s home. If someone is breaking into your house, try calling the cops instead of an untrained relative. That’s why we HAVE cops. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/82 "2012-10-14T18:29:38Z")
And cops have a response time that varies greatly. And not every home has an impentrable Safe Room that a homeowner and family can bunker down in until the cops arrive. I know my bedroom door wouldn’t stop a determined teenager, much less a grown man. The man in the story was attempting to protect another family member in an adjoining house, and there’s no telling from the facts presented what the local cops typical response time is, or if he had a realistic appreciation of what the cop’s response time would be and decided he had to act now to protect his sister The facts we are presented with says that the son, while adopted, was an okay kid; and that he was wearing a ski mask, and attempting to enter the home of his sister, at night, with a knife in his hand. And that when confronted, he didn’t drop the knife and run away, or say, “WHOA! Hey it’s me, it just a prank!” He turned and advanced with the knife on his adopted fater. And I would think that, absent mental illness or drug/alcohol altered state of mind, he would recognize his father’s voice. If the son truly was dangerous, and not just pulling a stupid prank, there’s no telling what he might have done to his aunt before the cops arrived. I do believe that typically, absent a cop coincidentally being close to the scene of a crime in progress, that cops aren’t good for much beyond writing speeding tickets, or showing up in time to put up police tape and draw chalk outlines of crime victims. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/83 "2012-10-14T18:46:03Z")
The intruder was outside the house, and therefore not a danger to his sister at that time. No reason to shoot first and call police later. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/84 "2012-10-14T19:03:50Z")
Of course there was a reason. The kid was advancing on him in a menacing manner with a knife in his hand. A cop would have shot him under the same circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Nazarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nazarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nazarene)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/85 "2012-10-14T19:28:27Z")
The shooter actually approached the kid. it wasn’t the other way around. Some kid is going to his aunt’s house and all of a sudden he sees a nut with a gun running at him. Kid had a right to stand his ground. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/86 "2012-10-14T19:41:15Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > The intruder was outside the house, and therefore not a danger to his sister at that time. No reason to shoot first and call police later. He was caught attempting to break into the house. At what point is he a danger to the occupant? When he is just inside the window he jimmied open to get it? When he’s advancing up the stairs to the bedrrom? When he’s just outside the bedroom door? After he’s forced the bedroom door open? And, as noted, the father didn’t just shoot first and ask questions later. The masked assailant advanced on him with a knife. Maybe he didn’t recognize his father’s voice. Maybe it was dark and he didn’t see the gun. The father obviously saw the knife and made an, as noted by others, realistic threat assessment. And “Stand-Your-Ground” laws don’t pertain to people getting caught attempting to break into other people’s homes. Let me repeat that for clarity: _a home intruder, or someone attempting to become a late-night home intruder, does not have any 'Stand-Your-Ground" recourse._ There’s a lot of unanswered questions that can allow Monday Morning Quarterbacks to endlessly criticise the whole situation. But again, as noted, a masked assailant advancing with a knife is not to be taken lightly. A masked assailant attempting to break into a home is a potentially deadly threat to its occupants. Police can, potentially, show up in time to either apprehend or scare off an intruder. If you are willing to trust your life, or the life of your family, to your local PD’s response time, then good for you. Live long and prosper, and may Evil become confused on the way to your home. A lot of people are _not_ willling to wait and see if someone else is coming to save them in time. Note that that doesn’t mean everyone is ready to come out guns ablaze the first time they hear a noise at 1:00 AM in the morning, even if that undoubtedly _is_ going to happen somewhere, sooner-or-later. And it did _not_ happen that way according to the admittedly sketchy news report in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/87 "2012-10-14T19:48:45Z")
And I further object to the characterization of Jeffrey Guiliano as a “nut with a gun.” Unless you have some personal, first-hand knowledge of the man and his character you wish to share with us? Taking the news report at face-value, he was a good, dedicated teacher, community member, and a loving family man who not only raised his own family, but also took in complete strangers under his roof so that they would have a home and family, rather than being thrown into state-sponsored orphanges or foster-care. “A nut with a gun” is a grossly unfair and misleading characterization of the man. ---
**Author:** ![Nazarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nazarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nazarene)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/88 "2012-10-14T19:49:26Z")
Once again, The father was the aggressor. It wasn’t his house. He never had to involve himself at all. It’s not his job to protect other houses. He’s not Batman, ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/89 "2012-10-14T19:53:54Z")
Furthermore, “Some kid going to his aunt’s house” doesn’t try to enter by breaking in a back window at 1:00 AM in the morning, wielding a knife. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/90 "2012-10-14T19:54:55Z")
> [@Jesus of Nazareth](#): > > Once again, The father was the aggressor. It wasn’t his house. He never had to involve himself at all. It’s not his job to protect other houses. He’s not Batman, Is it unreasonable for him to attempt to protect his own sister, who lived next door? Both the police and the local D.A. thought it was a justified course of action. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/91 "2012-10-14T19:57:44Z")
> [@Jesus of Nazareth](#): > > Once again, The father was the aggressor. It wasn’t his house. He never had to involve himself at all. It’s not his job to protect other houses. He’s not Batman, He wasn’t protecting a house, he was protecting a human being - his sister. Having said that, you’re not really here for the hunting, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/92 "2012-10-14T19:59:38Z")
> [@Jesus of Nazareth](#): > > Once again, The father was the aggressor. It wasn’t his house. He never had to involve himself at all. It’s not his job to protect other houses. He’s not Batman, Fuck that shit. Unless you live in next door to a police station, the cops are not going to respond quickly enough to a report of a knife wielding prowler to intervene. Also, some of us care about persons other than ourselves, particularly family. I would and have driven across town because my sister needed a wild animal removed from her property, or had a flat. if she lived in on my street and called to say _a man with a knife was lurking around her house_, I’d head right over. It’s called “love.” ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/93 "2012-10-14T20:03:06Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Is it unreasonable for him to attempt to protect his own sister, who lived next door? > > Both the police and the local D.A. thought it was a justified course of action. Correction on review: no charges have been filed at this time. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/94 "2012-10-14T20:03:06Z")
I’m sorry that it came down like this. I’m really sorry that the kid got killed, and I’m sorriest of all for the father, who has to be agonizing over this. But the kid entered a Darwin contest. He made at least two really stupid mistakes. The first mistake was dressing up like someone who was up to no good\*, the second mistake was ACTING like someone up to no good. It’s evolution in action. Maybe he would have grown out of acting like this. We’ll never know. \*My first thought upon reading about this incident was that the kid was cosplaying, that is, that he was roleplaying as a villain of some sort, and he got too caught up in his role to break out of it when he was confronted with a real life danger. My second thought was that he intended to burglarize the aunt’s place. Actually, the two thoughts were almost simultaneous. ---
**Author:** ![scratch\_llll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@scratch\_llll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch_llll)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/95 "2012-10-16T05:02:08Z")
> [@Nazarene](#): > > The shooter actually approached the kid. it wasn’t the other way around. Some kid is going to his aunt’s house and all of a sudden he sees a nut with a gun running at him. Kid had a right to stand his ground. I know this is a terrible subject but this had me gasping with laughter. Heroic ski mask avenger thwarts home invasion by bringing knife to gun fight. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/96 "2012-10-16T06:02:55Z")
> [@Nazarene](#): > > The shooter actually approached the kid. it wasn’t the other way around. Some kid is going to his aunt’s house and all of a sudden he sees a nut with a gun running at him. Kid had a right to stand his ground. Sorry, but is this a joke? Like did you read the story besides the title? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/97 "2012-10-19T03:02:33Z")
> [@Nazarene](#): > > Why didn’t either the father or the sister just call the cops? The shooter had no reason to even go outside. He wanted to be John Wayne. These are the consequences. He had a phenomenally good reason for going outside. His sister’s house was being burglarized. Somewhere, I’m certain, it is considered alright to go outside of one’s own home for any reason one wishes, even if it means to defend the house. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/98 "2012-10-19T04:11:09Z")
So I’m the kid and I know my foster father is a gun nut, so when he comes after me in the middle of the night holding a gun I’ll just mess with him a little. I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/99 "2012-10-19T21:36:28Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > So I’m the kid and I know my foster father is a gun nut, so when he comes after me in the middle of the night holding a gun I’ll just mess with him a little. > > I doubt it. Mere ownership of a gun is qualification to be a “gun nut?” Did I miss something in the OP’s article saying, “Mr. Guiliano hesitated briefly, looking over all the myriad guns in hs arsenal, before deciding in the .50 caliber Magnum ‘Fecolator Special’ to confront the intruder with?” How do _you_ know that the son knew that the father had a gun in his possession? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453/100 "2012-10-19T21:52:51Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Mere ownership of a gun is qualification to be a “gun nut?” > > Did I miss something in the OP’s article saying, “Mr. Guiliano hesitated briefly, looking over all the myriad guns in hs arsenal, before deciding in the .50 caliber Magnum ‘Fecolator Special’ to confront the intruder with?” > > How do _you_ know that the son knew that the father had a gun in his possession? Well, people are speculating the worst because the boy is adopted. I’m speculating too. What’s more likely? Gun nut dad or masked, knife-wielding ninja son? Jerry Sandusky probably cries himself to sleep every night too. Doesn’t mean he was a fine, upstanding pillar of the community just trying to help troubled young boys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-shoots-prowler-finds-out-he-killed-his-son/636453.md?page=6)