Resident shoots and kills home invader
By Robert Browman And Nicole Perez / Journal Staff Writers
A man living on Stutz Drive in Northeast Albuquerque woke up to a strange noise around 10 a.m. Thursday.
He armed himself with a gun and went to see what it was, which is when he found a man later identified as Robert Bartley crouching in his kitchen with what looked like a knife, he told police.
Bartley “came at” him, saying he was going to kill him. So the resident shot and killed Bartley, according to police.
The man who shot Bartley will not be charged and he won’t be identified by police, Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Tanner Tixier said.
“You do have a right to defend yourself in your home,” Tixier said.
Score another one for the good guys.
The article goes on to further describe the homeowner as someone that the neighbors rarely saw or had much contact with. This could have marked him as a target by anyone scoping out the area; especially considering this intrusion happened at 10am during the week.
The more homeowners begin defending themselves with lethal force against violent intruders, the more would-be criminals will think twice about charging into someone’s house to steal or do harm.
This is yet another case as to why being prepared and having a firearm in the home stopped a crime and potentially saved a life.
The intruder actually threatened to kill the homeowner once he was discovered, and came at him to to deliver on his threat. However, the homeowners ability to defend himself with a firearm saved his life and put another worthless crook in the ground.
We applaud the police for stating that the homeowner had the right to defend himself and would not be charged. Not all police, especially those in certain states, would be so quick to release the homeowner from any wrongdoing.
Far too often people defending their lives have to undergo incredible scrutiny for doing so. In this case, however, the homeowner was clearly in the right.
