Intoxicated man killed after entering wrong Apt.

[sa_butta]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/10/wrong.apartment.ap/index.html

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, California (AP) -- An intoxicated man who was shot to death last week in an apartment mistook a neighbor's unit for his own and broke in when his key wouldn't work, authorities said.
Hector Soto, 21, had recently moved to the apartment complex and had been out celebrating his upcoming graduation from a trade school, his stepfather, Robert Ward, said Monday.

Soto was "fairly well intoxicated" when his friends drove him home early Friday, said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Sgt. Tom Bradford. All the buildings in the complex look the same, he said.

Soto got into the wrong apartment through an open front window and headed to the bathroom, where he encountered the resident, a 65-year-old state prison counselor, authorities said.

They scuffled and the resident, thinking Soto was an intruder, shot him once. The shooter will not be charged, Bradford said.

"It's tragic. A real mess," he said. "I don't believe Soto intended to hurt anybody."

[velik_m]

he did get inside ok, it was after he was inside that he got shot

[Vashner]

Most citizens in that area are unarmed. Only cops and robbers have guns in that area... so he really had some bad luck.

I don't blame the shooter... I know I am not going to wait to find out if suspect is gonna kill me or not.

And he knew it was not a family member or emergency official... that's another important thing if your going to do a defense shooting at home.