Police fatally shot a Texas homeowner shortly after the man shot and killed an intruder Thursday night in an alley behind his home.
Neighbors said William Hall was reclusive and had recently received notices from the city about uncut grass and other code violations, reported The Dallas Morning News.
The suspected burglar, 30-year-old Jerry Hale, apparently believed the homeowner had died before he broke in Thursday night, police said.
Hall confronted the intruder, shot him and threatened to shoot him again as he stood over him in an alley behind the Far East Dallas home, investigators said.
When officers arrived, they said the 57-year-old Hall pointed a 9 mm handgun at them and witnesses.
Police said Hall disregarded orders to drop the weapon, and officers fatally shot him.
A police spokesman said responding officers didn’t realize that Hall was defending his own home, but the spokesman said Hall “had plenty of opportunities to de-escalate” the situation.
Police said they were called to the incident by a contractor working at a nearby house who told them Hall pointed a gun and at witnesses who heard the gunshots in the alley.
The caller said Hall tried to fix his jammed weapon and fire it at bystanders.
The contractor said he told Hall police were on their way, and he said Hall told him, “Good, I’ll shoot them, too.”
Police said Hall watched the responding officers from behind a privacy fence and then some bushes, so police took cover and waved off an emergency crew that had arrived to treat Hale.
They said Hall continued trying to fix his gun as he moved toward officers, saying nothing.
Three officers fired at the man, who police said attempted to reach his gun before he was shot again, this time fatally.
Hale had been arrested 14 times in Texas since 2000, police said, on a variety of theft and drug charges.
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