UA student shoots/kills home invaders

UA student shoots 2 who broke into his home

Oct. 16, 2008 09:31 AM
Associated Press

TUCSON- — A University of Arizona student fatally shot two men who forced their way into his off-campus home early Thursday, Tucson police said.

The 23-year-old student was in the small backyard guest house where he lived several blocks north of the university about 12:30 a.m. when two men in their 20s came to the door and forced their way in, police spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said. The student armed himself with a handgun and shot them both, then called police.

The men were dead when police arrived.

The student didn't know the suspects and there is no indication he was involved in any criminal activity that could have made him a target for the suspects, Pacheco said.

“It could be that they went to the wrong residence — or they went to the right residence but were looking for someone who lived there before,” Pacheco said. “The victim has only lived there for a few months.”

The student is cooperating with detectives, who are making sure his statements match up with evidence at the scene, Pacheco said. But there's nothing to indicate he did anything wrong.

“All indications are that this is a home invasion,” Pacheco said. “These individuals forced their way into his home, and he is a gun owner, felt his life was in danger and fired at these suspects.”

One of the dead men has been tentatively identified, but police haven't released the identities of either the suspects or the student.