WA: Two Dead: Party Crashers or Home Invaders?

 After the gunfight on New Year's Eve

A saying that has become  common on the Internets is "When seconds count, police are only minutes away".   I wonder what the response time would be on New Year's Eve, when police resources are stretched especially thin.  Could you expect it to be longer for an unincorporated part of King County, Washington state, served by the Sheriff's department?  How long would it take for police to respond to a trespassing violation?

In this tragic story out of Renton, Washington, it does not appear that the homeowner had much choice.   He was 50 years old, and his daughter had a New Year's Eve party for friends.  The party was declared over about 3 am.

Accounts are mixed, but it appears that a group of people showed up who were not invited.  They were asked to leave but came back some time later.   When told that the party was over, one pulled a gun and shot the homeowner.  He was fatally wounded, but fired back.  His son was with him, and armed,  as was another in the group of invaders.  The gunfight started by the invader continued for a number of shots.  Initial reports indicate the homeowner and his attacker both died, and another person at the party was wounded.

These are tragic circumstances, but it seems unlikely that the police would have been able to do anything about it.   Should the homeowner have let this group of reportedly unknown and uninvited men into his home at 3 am?

How long would it have taken for the police to arrive at 3 am on 1 January?  If he consented to allowing them in, could he easily claim that they were trespassing?   From kirotv.com:

Family members of the 50-year-old victim say he was the father of the woman who was hosting the party. They say the trouble began with a confrontation on the front porch, when both the father and his son armed themselves when they confronted a group of party crashers outside the front door.

"He told him to leave, the party was over,” said Bob Newman, who is related to the homeowner. “One of the men he told to leave pulled a gun and shot him."

King County detectives say it appears the man fired back, and that set off a gun battle and a hail of bullets between the two groups.

Residents of the house say the party-crashers were complete strangers to them, and they came “looking for a fight.”

A person known to the family made the following remark:

"I don't know why police weren’t called right away,” said Newman. “If the police had come and told those people to leave, I don't believe this would have happened."

Most people do not call the police when answering the door.  It does not appear that the homeowner had an opportunity to do so before he was shot.  The police were called shortly after the shooting started.  I was not there, so maybe Mr. Newman knows something about the circumstances that I do not.   Given what has been reported, I do not see how the police could have defused or stopped the situation.

The homeowner had every right to prevent unwanted people from entering his home.

One of the group of attempted home invaders is still on the run.   Police have a name and description, but he has not been taken into custody at last report.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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