Joe Horn, Burglar Killer, Receives Death Threat

Sixty-one-year old Joe Horn of Pasadena, Texas received a death threat via the Harris County District Attorney's Office over the weekend.

Horn,who allegedly shot and killed two illegal immigrants suspected of burglarizing the house next door, hasn't been charged with any crime while the Pasadena police investigate the incident.

The threat against Horn was recorded on a voice mail at the Harris County District Attorney's Office:

Pasadena Police Department spokesperson Vance Mitchell said the message was recorded on a phone in the office of the DA's Public Integrity Division at around 1:50 p.m. Sunday.

The recording was released Monday.

It features a male voice demanding prosecution against Horn and warning about the computer consultant's death if such action is not taken.

"Do not worry about my name," said the caller. "What you better do, you better indict Joe Horn. You better find him guilty. If you do not, somebody is going to kill him, and if he goes to prison, he is going to be killed on the inside. They are waiting for him in prison, and we are waiting on him in prison."

The caller proceeded on an expletive-tinged rant about race.

Pasadena police is looking into the case, said Capt. A.H. Corbett.[1]

Horn had called 911 reporting the two men had broken into his neighbor's house.

"Don't go outside the house," the 911 operator pleaded. "You're going to get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun. I don't care what you think."

"You want to make a bet?" Horn answered. "I'm going to kill them."

Horn claims the two men were "10 to 12 feet from him in his yard" and that they "lunged at him."

"Move," Horn can be heard saying on the tape. "You're dead."

Boom.

Click.

Boom.

Click.

Boom.

Horn redialed 911 and told the dispatcher what he'd done.

"I had no choice," he said, his voice shaking. "They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice. Get somebody over here quick." [2]

The shootings occurred almost a month ago in a quiet Pasadena, Texas neighborhood. So far no charges have been filed in the incident. It was reported that Horn has left the area. It was also recently reported that a Pasadena plainclothes detective witnessed the shootings and that Horn had shot each man in the back.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Corbett said the plainclothes detective, whose name has not been released, had parked in front of Horn's house in response to the 911 call. He saw the men between Horn's house and his neighbor's before they crossed into Horn's front yard.

Corbett believes neither Horn nor the men knew a police officer was present.

"It was over within seconds. The detective never had time to say anything before the shots were fired," Corbett said. "At first, the officer was assessing the situation. Then he was worried Horn might mistake him for the 'wheel man' (get-away driver). He ducked at one point."

When Horn confronted the suspects in his yard, he raised his shotgun to his shoulder, Corbett said. However the men ignored his order to freeze.

Corbett said one man ran toward Horn, but had angled away from him toward the street when he was shot in the back just before reaching the curb.

"The detective confirmed that this suspect was actually closer to Horn after he initiated his run than at the time when first confronted," said Corbett. "Horn said he felt in jeopardy."

Neither of the deceased carried a gun but one of the men had a six inch punch, considered to be a deadly weapon, in his back pocket.

Pasadena Riot Police at Joe Horn Protest [Image - KHOU]

Houston's KHOU reported on December 3rd about protests held in the neighborhood. Activist Quanell and his followers were going to meet in 7400 block of Timberline to protest at 3p.m.. They were met by a larger group of Joe Horn supporters. According to reporters the two groups broke out into pushing and shoving while the pro-Joe Horn shouted racial slurs.

“We have a right to bear arms, and we’re not afraid to use it. So criminals in Texas, watch out!” protester Jenni Foster said.

Quanell and his group returned to the neighborhood.

“From the very beginning, we said that what the two brothers did was wrong. We don’t condone breaking into somebody’s house. But we are here today because we believe that it’s not right for anyone to become judge, jury and executioner, “ Quanell said, speaking into a bullhorn over angry shouts from the crowd.

“It’s a matter of justice. It’s a matter of fairness. It’s a matter of respecting the law,” he said.

On Tuesday the Pasadena City Council unanimously passed an ordinance prohibiting protests in front of single family dwellings. The council has to vote two more times on the ordinance to make it official.

Two men are dead, shot in the back, the shooter maintaining he had the right to defend his neighbor's property with lethal force.

Sixty-one-year old Joe Horn, the Law told him to stay in his house but the Law also told him he had the right to defend his neighbor's property. Which Law will Joe have to answer to?

Source - The Pasadena Citizen - Suspected shooter receives death threat
Source - 2 - DBKP - Joe Horn: Shot Burglars in the Back

By LGB
Image [allposters.com]



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