DALLAS, Texas — A Dallas man has been charged with murder after fatally shooting a burglar outside his home Thursday before returning to bed before calling police.
On Thursday, September 26, 2019, at 7:06 a.m., Dallas police responded to a home invasion robbery in progress call at 5409 Philip Avenue. Upon arrival, officers found the unidentified victim in the backyard face down on the ground with a gunshot wound to the back of his neck. Dallas Fire-Rescue responded and pronounced him deceased at the scene.
During the investigation, homicide detectives transported the homeowner to police headquarters for an interview. After the interview, suspect James Michael Meyer, a 72-year old white male, was charged with murder and transported to Dallas Co. Jail. The identity of the victim was not released.
The Dallas Morning News reported: Meyer told police that he had been awakened about 5 a.m. by noise outside and saw someone trying to break into his storage shed with a pickax when he looked through the window, the affidavit said.
Meyer said he grabbed his handgun and chambered a round, then came out of his home yelling at the person to stop what he was doing and not come any closer or else he’d shoot.
Instead, he told police, the person took several steps toward him, so he fired his gun, according to the affidavit.
At that point, the burglar dropped the pickax and ran toward the park.
Meyer said he fired an additional shot “into the night” in the direction of the park, even though “from the suspect’s accounts, the threat of serious bodily injury against him was over when the complainant dropped the pickax and ran off,” the affidavit said.
Meyer said he didn’t know whether he had struck the person, so he went back to bed.
Read the affidavit below.
