Homeowner Shoots Tourist by Mistake In Texas, Police Say
Published: January 08, 1994
A businessman from Aberdeen, Scotland, wandering a wealthy neighborhood in search of a telephone after a night of drinking, was shot and killed early this morning by a homeowner who took him for a burglar, the police said.
Andrew De Vries, 28, who was in Houston on a business trip, was shot twice after he pounded "in a furious manner" on the back door of a home in an exclusive neighborhood on the city's west side about 4 A.M., said Alvin Wright, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department.
"The homeowner saw two men at his back fence," Mr. Gamino said. "He then saw one of the men climb over his fence and hit the back door." The homeowner, believing that his home was being invaded, fired a pistol three times through the door. Mr. De Vries died at the scene, but Mr. Graves was not harmed.
The police said they had no plans to charge the homeowner with a crime, although the case, like all shootings in Texas, will be referred to a grand jury.
In deciding not to press charges in the case today, the Houston police appeared to regard the shooting as misguided self-defense. In the past year, there have been several incidents in Houston in which burglars have knocked down doors in the middle of the night to rob or assault residents.