TX - Jared James, 24, autistic, shot by homeowner, Austin, 5 Jan 2015

CathyinTexas · Jan 8, 2015

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/St...fter-Autistic-Man-Fatally-Shot-287767061.html

This happened 3 days ago in Austin, Texas. I live outside of Austin. I have followed this story closely. There will be no charges brought against the shooter as this is Texas and he is protected against the Castle law. When I first heard it I thought the shooter was justified. But after getting more information, I feel that the shooter could have prevented the death of this vulnerable man. My 18 year old grandson has moderate/severe autism, so this disturbs me very much. The man who shot him is a gun instructor. He opened the door to the young man and shot him 3 times at close range. Though some stories say he forced his way into the home, initial reports said he knocked on numerous doors and those neighbors called the police. Then he knocked on this man's door, and he opened it and the autistic man crossed the threshold. Walking in is not forcing his way in. The man opened the door and when his foot crossed the threshold he shot him 3 times. His 3 children and wife were there and it is said are traumatized and supposedly the shooter is devastated now that he has the facts.

Opie · Jan 8, 2015

Thanks button was not enough. I have a 19 y.o. autistic (Asperger's) grandson. No need to say more, as I'm sure we are both thinking the same things.

blue22 · Jan 8, 2015

I have been following this, as well. He was banging on many doors and DID force his way into the home. How was the man supposed to know that he was autistic? I mean, do we have to start asking people if they have a disability now, before we protect ourselves and home? His family was inside. I don't fault him, at all. He was not knocking, but banging.

I worked at an advocacy center with children (and young adults) who had disabilities. There were many autistic children and young adults there. A few became VERY hard to control when they were agitated. When they were taken out of their norm and afraid, it was very hard for everyone. I imagine he was distressed out there at night. To anyone in their home, with someone banging and trying to get it...it could easily sound like a mentally unstable person trying to break into your home. It's very sad that this was an autistic person who was just distressed and afraid, but the homeowner did not know this. You are asking someone who is in fear for his family's safety to do what? Talk to the person? Ask him if he has a disability? Just let him break in? In that time (because it's almost always an intruder, and rarely an autistic person running away) he could be dead, injured, or his family in danger.

"When the man began banging on doors and forced his way into one house, police say the homeowner decided to shoot."

The detectives have spoken with neighbors and they've all reported that this person was banging on doors around the neighborhood," says APD Officer Veneza Bremner.

http://www.keyetv.com/news/features...ed-after-autistic-intruder-killed-23323.shtml

liljim · Jan 8, 2015

nothing i have seen gives the homeowners exact account of what happened, hard to come to any conclusions without it...

Maznblu1 · Jan 8, 2015

My biggest question here is why open the door? You're safe inside, with your gun, so call the police and let them deal with it.

liljim · Jan 8, 2015

Maznblu1 said:
My biggest question here is why open the door? You're safe inside, with your gun, so call the police and let them deal with it.

same argument that many cited in the renisha mcbride case, will be interesting to see if the same people feel the same way here.

if it turns out the man was banging on the door and the homeowner was concerned before opening the door, then armed himself and opened the door... the the key difference of course is the "crossing the threshold" issue, which right now is just a claim being made by the man that shot someone 3 times. maybe it is exactly what happened, maybe exactly what happened cannot be discerned... i dont know yet.

blue22 · Jan 8, 2015

Maznblu1 said:
My biggest question here is why open the door? You're safe inside, with your gun, so call the police and let them deal with it.

He didn't open the door. The man forced his way into the home. When he passed the threshold after breaking in, the homeowner shot. That part of the story isn't a secret, it came from the police. He went to the door AFTER the home was forced into.

"Police say James was banging on doors in the South Austin neighborhood at about 6:30 a.m. and then forced his way into one of the homes in the 10200 block of Brantley Bend. The homeowner then fired a gun and shot the man." -
http://austin.twcnews.com/content/n...by-south-austin-homeowner-as-jared-james--24/

"According to authorities James ran away from the group home where he stays after he became agitated. Police say James forced his way into a home in south Austin. The homeowner went to the door and fired shots. James died at the scene."
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/27775082/police-identify-man-shot-and-killed-by-homeowner-monday

Sassygerl · Jan 8, 2015

I live very close to where this happened. We have had a lot of crime going on in SW Austin. This man IMO was totally justified shooting him and would have certainly been shot dead had he been banging on our door. My husband would have opened the door to see if he needed help, but once he pushed his way in (as reported in many news accounts) he would have been dead. It's sad, but the homeowner had no way of knowing who this man was. JMO of course

liljim · Jan 8, 2015

"The man who shot him is a gun instructor. He opened the door to the young man and shot him 3 times at close range. Though some stories say he forced his way into the home, initial reports said he knocked on numerous doors and those neighbors called the police. Then he knocked on this man's door, and he opened it and the autistic man crossed the threshold. "

do you have a link for this?

Sassygerl · Jan 8, 2015

I know I was not asked to provide the link, however, it states here in our local news he was an instructor. http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2015/01/05/police-respond-to-shooting-in-south-austin/21278223/

We have a sticker at eye level on the window next to our door. It says we don't call 911 here and has a picture of a pistol

wfgodot · Jan 8, 2015

Smh. -- that's all I got. Smh.

liljim · Jan 8, 2015

sassy, in the video at your link they are very specific that he "broke the threshold" trying to enter, so it will be interesting to hear exactly where the body was found. im still unclear who opened the door, that story makes it sound like the home owner did, saying "he answered the door". other people are claiming he didnt open the door but i dont see any version of the story that says that explicitly.

blue22 · Jan 8, 2015

I have linked to several articles above where the police explicitly say he broke into the home.

I would think that would be immediately and obviously provable to the police. A knocked down door from the outside looks very different from a voluntarily opened one.

liljim · Jan 8, 2015

maybe you are misunderstanding what they mean by "broke the threshold"?

i read every story and watched every video linked on this page. its possible im missing something...

none of your links say that he forced the door open, or broke the door, or knocked down the door.

and one story explicitly states that the homeowner opened the door. at which time the autistic man tried to force his way in and crossed the threshold, giving the home owner the right to shoot.

liljim · Jan 8, 2015

http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2015/01/05/police-respond-to-shooting-in-south-austin/21278223/

from this video;

"the neighbor who lives at this home answered the door and police say the man tried to get inside"

liljim · Jan 8, 2015

also from that same video a police woman says "he forced his way in, so he broke the threshold"

i can see how someone would hear that and think the man broke the door but, a threshold is not something that gets physically broken when you force a door open or kick a door in...

to me what she is saying is that when the door was opened the man tried to force his way in and he broke the plane of the threshold, as in he crossed the boundary of the home and could be considered a threat no matter what he was doing. he would not then have to be wielding a weapon etc...

liljim · Jan 8, 2015

and just to be clear - i have not yet said anything about whether or not i think this man was justified to shoot, i do not know enough yet and would like to hear his entire statement to police.
it certainly sounds like there will be no charges. maybe that is exactly what should happen. idk.

blue22 · Jan 9, 2015

Whether he forced the door open, or forced his way in...It doesn't make a difference for me. I say this not to be offensive, and understand I have worked with special needs kiddos and have one myself...an autistic man out at night, distressed, confused, and frightened...could easily be mistaken for a man who has mental issues or is on drugs. I can imagine that he appeared physically erratic and sounded verbally belligerent. Of course, to us it's heartbreaking because we know some sweet, sweet autistic people and know they would never hurt a fly. To the man in the house, it probably came across and something very different. Meth and other drugs are bad in areas of Austin. I can imagine my husband opening the door just a crack, to make sure the person banging was not a child who had been kidnapped or something. But when a grown man who was acting erratic pushed his way into my home, he would assume it was someone on drugs looking to ransack the home, or worse. He would shoot. And he is one of the most caring people you'll ever meet.

I feel like with all the bad and crooked shootings that people have gotten away with recently, now people are looking for justice in every single shooting. This one clearly plays out as a really tragic and heartbreaking freak incident. I don't think the man should be charged or have his family punished for this. JMO

Lulu14 · Jan 9, 2015

Just because someone is autistic, it doesn't mean he is harmless.

liljim · Jan 9, 2015

so first he broke the door down, and now it doesnt make a difference whether he did or not...

got it.

does it matter if "breaking the threshold" and "forcing his way in" was actually making physical contact with the man and acting aggressively? what if it was just taking a step and putting his foot on the threshold?

does it matter what his demeanor was? it seems we are assuming he was acting like a raving loon, what if he wasnt?

"I can imagine that he appeared physically erratic and sounded verbally belligerent."
well you are free to imagine that... but does it matter if that was actually the case or not?

seems like those kinds of details would matter when trying to come to an informed opinion.

or you could just take a bunch of incomplete reports, interpret some if it wrong, make some false assumptions, and then stick with that no matter what else you learn.

TX - Jared James, 24, autistic, shot by homeowner, Austin, 5 Jan 2015

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