Shooting outside the home

[Pro2A]

Ok lets say I'm getting ready to head to the store. I'm locking up the house when out from behind a bush in the yard jumps a crazy man with a knife running towards me. I turn around, draw and shoot him... perfectly legal. Or is it?

I've always been told when you shoot in a situation like this, make sure its in the house. How do police distinguish between going outside to shoot a would be intruder and going outside to leave, getting ambushed and defending yourself? How does shooting a guy who pops out from behind a bush while your outside, taking the trash out, leaving, or planting flowers differ from going outside to investigate a noise or unusual person and shooting in self defense if that person attacks?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[glock27mark]

i beleive thats when the good ole castle doctraine should kick in.
(depending on what state you live in) don"t know about penn.

[retsupt99]

After the control of the adrenaline rush, that charging knife holder becomes a lead magnent...
Inside or outside of the house is not the question...(in FL) it's ANY place that you have a legal right to be...

Anywhere inside or outside of MY house would require REAL stealth to go unnoticed by my two canines...they see, hear, and smell everything. As soon as I pull into the drive they are out and about...one of them knows how to open the door to get out...

[Ram Rod]

I'm locking up the house when out from behind a bush in the yard jumps a crazy man with a knife running towards me. I turn around, draw and shoot him... perfectly legal. Or is it?

Would it be perfectly legal if the same situation happened at the local car wash or grocery store? I'm thinking you'd have a bit of a legal edge beings it's on your own property? I know the various laws are weird, but self defense is self defense----right?

[josh]

In this instance it wouldn't matter if he was a would be intruder, or not. He's a man wielding a knife in a threatening manner running towards you. Where you're at when this happens means nothing. You could be in a mall, walking down the street, in your front yard, or in your home...

I've always heard people say make sure you shoot an intruder once he's inside your home, but not while he's on the front steps, porch, etc. Man with a knife trying to kill you is not an intruder, and needs to be stopped immediately.

[Ivan4x4]

here in tx the castle law would make that situation a legal shooting at night, dont ask me why not during the day.

[AEA]

here in tx the castle law would make that situation a legal shooting at night, dont ask me why not during the day.

It would also be legal in the daytime....just a bit more investigation into it.

[Sticks]

Up to state law, and discretion of the arriving LEOs. Better hope it is an older seasoned one.

All this is presuming that you DO NOT have a CC or carry permit.

Either way, "Officer, I want to cooperate, but I just went through a traumatic experience, and I really need to consult with my attorney before I make a statement about what happened."

[SIXTO]

ask yourself these questions;

Did you fear for your life?

Did the bg have intentions of harming you?

Did he have the ability to harm you?

Did you cause your own troubles?

[David in FL]

ask yourself these questions;

Did you fear for your life?

Did the bg have intentions of harming you?

Did he have the ability to harm you?

Did you cause your own troubles?

If you answered yes, yes, yes, and no......then it doesn't matter where it happens. You have the right to defend yourself against deadly force, no matter where you live.

[SonofASniper]

If you answered yes, yes, yes, and no......then it doesn't matter where it happens. You have the right to defend yourself against deadly force, no matter where you live.

Also consider this, you are going to have to survive the encounter first in order to deal with the authorities afterwards. Yes, yes, yes, and no will be answered after the fact. Your sudden adrenaline dump will kick you into survival mode so fast you won't have time for much other thought as you are readying to repel a quick and violent attack.

[mrhutch]

castle doctrine or no castle doctrine, most state laws allow the use of deadly force is justified if you have reason to believe the attacker intend to kill or severely maim you.

[whyipackmy45]

castle doctrine or no castle doctrine, most state laws allow the use of deadly force is justified if you have reason to believe the attacker intend to kill or severely maim you.

Yeah, it doesn't matter where you are. If someone attacks you with a weapon, shoot them.

[Stirling XD]

How does shooting a guy who pops out from behind a bush while your outside, taking the trash out, leaving, or planting flowers differ from going outside to investigate a noise or unusual person and shooting in self defense if that person attacks?

First, I do agree with everyone else when they say that a man charging you with a knife is a deadly threat and shooting him is most likely justifiable.

But that's not the main question that I saw the OP ask. His question was how do the police decide if you walked out of your house to go about normal business or if you left your house to confront someone that you thought might be dangerous. Basically, the police are going to ask you a lot of questions and look at the evidence.

Do you know the guy that attacked you?
Did you have any indication he was there?
Was your gun drawn when you left the house?
When did you see the knife?
And many, many more. Get a lawyer.

Leaving your house, or any position of relative safety, to confront a person that you believe is dangerous is not the smart thing to do.

[whyipackmy45]

Leaving your house, or any position of relative safety, to confront a person that you believe is dangerous is not the smart thing to do.

That's exactly what I thought of when I watched the video posted in this other thread:

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulle...-gunpoint.html

The moment that she noticed that the house had been broken into, she should've left the house and let police investigate. Why would she go looking around in the house by herself?

But in this scenario we are just talking about leaving the house normally.