The homeowner told police the two men said they were police and claimed they were at the home to serve a warrant.

[The homeowner] became suspicious, because, you know, they have a ring camera too, and the suspects were saying they had a warrant, but it was just two people and they’re masked up and no police cars, no lights or anything like that," said Lt. Khan with HPD.

At some point, police said the men shot at the homeowner through the door, prompting the homeowner to return fire.

The homeowner was not hurt in the gunfire, but the two men were both hit and pronounced dead at the scene.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 days ago

    Is anyone else finding this story a little strange? Not someone finally shooting fake-ICE people. But:

    Fake-ICE is wearing bulletproof vests and shoots at the homeowner through the door. The homeowner isn’t injured. Fine.

    The homeowner returns fire, through the door, hits and kills the two guys wearing bulletproof vests. Doesn’t that strike anyone else as odd? Both dead, neither injured, despite bulletproof vests, despite being shot through a door?

    • Rakonat@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      2 days ago

      Homeowner probably has a peep hole, in addition to the ring camera giving him locational knowledge of where the purps were outside the door. They could only guess where he was.

    • kreskin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      2 days ago

      Doesnt seem odd at all. Maybe he had a rifle or a combat shotgun and they had pistols. Or maybe he found cover and they didnt.

      • icystar@lemmy.cif.su
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 days ago

        Texas gun law requires going through a bit more effort to legally buy handguns instead of long guns, so this is very plausible.

    • Treczoks@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      2 days ago

      How many vests cover the face? You can also shrapnel their groin area, and they bleed out before any ambulance will be there.

      • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        2 days ago

        One of the reasons why I picked a shotgun and use 000 buckshot is because of the spread. I assume my aim sucks, and hope that hitting the bad guys in a unarmored limb will be enough to remove them from a fight.

        • Katana314@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          2 days ago

          The other good thing about shotguns: Low penetration. If there’s a victim visible behind your attacker, you’re likely to hit them with any kind of projectile. But, if there’s a victim behind a wall or in a house behind your attacker, at least a shotgun will stop at the drywall.

          • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            2 days ago

            If you talking shotguns, I am an amateur, so use a hefty block of salt: I have a VR80. It is a semi-auto that uses magazines, which should make it better for military situations. My guess is that if civil war breaks out, both sides will initially be recruiting troops with whatever kit they happen to have - formal outfitting by Blue States would depend on where and when you are, so it would be better to bring a gun that is fit for combat in the first place. If you live in California or other restrictive states, you remove a pin and split the gun in half, allowing the mag release to operate. Apparently a small piece of the tool can be removed to permanently enable the mag button.

            The VR80 will take a good number of rounds fired before it starts to loosen up. Jamming is an issue during the break-in, but that is fine if you are practicing. This weapon in particular prefers more powerful rounds, and is designed to be ambidextrous, along with being AR-15 style for addons. If you can, ditch the stock - it doesn’t telescope, and feels awkward to me.

            Rock Island Armory VR80 Shotgun Review

            How to: Choose the Right Shotgun Choke

            • Alaik@lemmy.zip
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              2 days ago

              I cannot agree with your point about the break in period enough. Thats a pain point for all semi auto shotguns. You’re gonna need to expect to drop some cash on rounds (Ideally 1400+ FPS) to get it reliable. But on the bright side, youll have plenty of experience clearing stove pipes by the time its broke in so in the event of a jam youll clear it quick

            • MML@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              2 days ago

              It’s alright, it’s also kind of a waste, unless you’re like clearing a small area or slinging slugs at something heavily armored you could really get everything accomplished with a traditional tube shotgun, if that doesn’t work get a keltec, as far as military situations get a semi rifle or honestly even a bolt unless for some reason you’re trying to kill everything 30yds in front of you multiple times.

              • Alaik@lemmy.zip
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                2 days ago

                They have their place. I have one for home defense. A shotgun requires less precision than a handgun and my wife does not devote a ton of time at the range. We also have children so she’s understandly apprehensive around keeping a weapon loaded. So if you have to load the bitch when you need it, slapping that 10 round mag in is gonna be a lot easier for someone like her than trying to manually tubefeed the rounds.

                • MML@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  1 day ago

                  Then have it loaded and not chambered, it’ll be much harder to load those mags then slide a shell in a regular shotgun, cause you know I also own one.

                  • Alaik@lemmy.zip
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    1 day ago

                    I think you missed part of the comment. It doesnt take much effort to rack a slug. The motion to do that is also ubiquitous and pretty much every child over the age of 4 knows how to rack a shotgun.

                    The goal was to make it safer for being around kids while not compromising ammo capacity or readying time.

              • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                2 days ago

                Incoming drones are one of my worries. If anything calls for emptying a clip, it would be that situation.

            • SupraMario@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              2 days ago

              I have a VR82 for 3 gun, tons of fun with it. Took about 300 rounds for mine to break in with no more stove pipes or FTF.

          • That Weird Vegan@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            2 days ago

            I’m staunchly antigun… most of the time. In this case, with Dumpy mcdementiapants leading the way, arm the fuck up. I have no recommendations. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

    • kuhli@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      2 days ago

      Vests cover vital organs, but there’s a lot of other places you can be shot and killed.

      Bulletproof vests are also only rated for certain calibers too, mostly of what you’d think of as a bulletproof vest will only stop pistol calibers. Sure, you can get stuff that’ll stop rifle shots, but then you’re looking at wearing multiple 5-10 lb metal plates and spending quite a bit of money to get them.

      • Nasan@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        2 days ago

        And they’ll only stop a number of rifle shots, typically intermediate caliber. Once you’re dealing with an opposing force using .338 lapua, you might be better off adopting the gecko45 school of duct taping plates together and using your spouse as a human shield as you make your way to your fighting weapon.

        • burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          2 days ago

          Oh god, I never think about that guy until he’s brought up, and then it’s a hilarious morning read to go through all the insanity again.

    • millie@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      2 days ago

      Not really. A bulletproof vest won’t protect your head. Meanwhile they’re standing directly on the other side of a door that they’re shooting through, while the home owner could have been anywhere on the other side of the door. They’re playing a guessing game, but the homeowner can just shoot the door at head-height and their bulletproof vests will mean nothing.

    • nickiwest@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      The neighbors heard 22 shots. Most of that could have been a pray-and-spray tactic by the homeowner.

    • sunbytes@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      2 days ago

      There’s different types of vest, and they’re rated to stop different types of bullet.

      If these guys are just pretending to be cops, they may well have just grabbed the cheapest vests they could find that looked convincing.

      And a rifle round could have just punched straight on through a vest only rated for pistol rounds.

      Also most vests don’t cover the neck or sides of the body. Or the big arteries in the legs.

        • Katana314@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          2 days ago

          Honestly, if their goal was to imitate the appearance of cops, that seems likely. I imagine full kevlar is pretty expensive.

          • burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            2 days ago

            I think you can get a III-a vest for about $500. That’s not terribly expensive, but a criminal planning something like this may have been a little rushed and strapped for cash. It’s been a few years since I cared to even look, so prices may have gotten higher.

            • zeroday@lemmy.blahaj.zone
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 day ago

              You can get a IIIA vest from a Chinese factory for about $50. If you’re worried about the quality, just buy two and shoot one!

    • SabinStargem@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 days ago

      A bulletproof vest reduces harm, not negate it. Also, vests come in a variety of grades. As can one expect, the heavier and more expensive ones offer more protection, but those can still fail. Vests, like most insurance, only offers so much coverage from disaster.

      Body Armor Basics

    • njm1314@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      I mean you got to remember a bulletproof vest is still you know, a vest. Plenty of places you can killed that aren’t on your chest.