A man is dead after trespassing in a Tucson, AZ backyard and refusing to leave.
A group of people were trespassing in a backyard on a recent Sunday evening. The people in the home saw this and confronted the group telling them to leave. When the group refused to leave, one of the trespassers brandished a firearm.
That’s when one of the people in the home shot the armed trespasser. Police arrived on the scene around 9:30 PM and attempted life-saving efforts on the wounded man, but he died on the scene. The shooter is cooperating with the police, and the incident is still under investigation.
In the State of Arizona, the use of lethal force is justified in defense of a premises and includes criminal trespassing.
13-407. Justification; use of physical force in defense of premises
A. A person or his agent in lawful possession or control of premises is justified in threatening to use deadly physical force or in threatening or using physical force against another when and to the extent that a reasonable person would believe it immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the commission or attempted commission of a criminal trespass by the other person in or upon the premises.
B. A person may use deadly physical force under subsection A only in the defense of himself or third persons as described in sections 13-405 and 13-406.
C. In this section, “premises” means any real property and any structure, movable or immovable, permanent or temporary, adapted for both human residence and lodging whether occupied or not.
I could not find any other details stating what the group was doing in the backyard and saw no mention of them trying to break into the house. That said, after looking at the area the incident took place in, I don’t think they were just taking a shortcut. It seems to be a densely populated area of Tuscon, AZ. That added to the fact that one of them was armed, it seems this will likely be deemed a justified shooting.
Won’t be a problem with catch and release here.
Just for clarification, the Arizona Revised Statute 13-407 ONLY allows to THREATEN use of deadly force, but not to use it in the case of criminal trespass. You can NOT use deadly force to stop a trespasser, deadly force is allowed to protect life. The homeowner should call the cops instead of confronting the intruders.