Joe Horn of Pasadena, Texas, age 62, is known as grandfather to most the neighborhood kids and the neighborhood protector and helper to most of the residents.

November 14, 2007 Mid-Afternoon - Joe witnessed 2 men break into his neighbors house. Joe armed himself with a 12 Gauge Shotgun and called 911. More than 5 minutes later while still on the phone to 911 Joe used his shotgun to defend himself and his neighborhood.

On June 30th a Texas Grand Jury after reviewing all the evidence decided no charges were to be file against Joe for the deaths of the 2 burglars.
I AND MANY OTHERS WOULD HAPPILY NOMINATE JOE FOR NEIGHBOR OF THE YEAR!! - Ted Burris

I for one am sick to death of people who want to say oh the poor criminal everytime one of them gets caught and in some cases like this one suffer even greater consequences. If you are so misguided as to think you can break in and desecrate the sanctity of a persons home, destroy their sense of safety, steal and damage thier personal possesions and the most you can ever expect is a slap on the wrist and a month in jail then take a lesson from the two dummy's in this story.

If you’re Black, White, Hispanic or purple with pink spots and you live in the United States you know crime is out of control. We think about it all the time now days often without even realizing it. Fear of the acts of criminals controls us. If your thinking it doesn't control you then ask yourself this. When's the last time you left home to go to work or the store without locking the door? When's the last time you parked the car and left the keys in the ignition. When's the last time you went to bed and left the door unlocked on purpose. You wouldn't do any of those things that would be stupid right? WRONG, none of us should have to live in fear that we will be killed or raped or robbed or our houses burglarized or cars stolen etc. etc. etc. In this case the fact is 2 people chose to commit a crime. They broke in to a house armed with a crow bar, luckily, no one was home, they damaged, destroyed and stole property from the house and Joe Horn was there to stop them. Because Joe was there no one else will suffer coming home to a house burglarized by those particular criminals. Because Joe was there no one else will fear that those two criminals will enter their home and potentially harm them. If you choose to make a living out of stealing, robbing and drugs then I hope you too have a Joe Horn waiting in your future. It's not about race, if you listened to the 911call and read the articles above and thats what you got out of it then please go get some mental help because you need it. It's about right and wrong. It's about being secure in your own home. It's about being able to send your kids to the school bus or the grocery store and not worrying if they will make it home without falling prey to some thug.

Here in Wyandotte County Kansas in 18 Years I and my family have been the victim of over a half dozen car thefts and more than a half dozen burglaries my total out of pocket costs for losses, damages and security upgrades totals more than twenty five thousand dollars and thats a very modest estimate. By the way Insurance costs aren't included in that figure.  The police recovered the stolen the cars in most cases beyond repair. Nothing else was ever recovered. There were no charges because no one was ever caught. There were no trials, no criminals brought to justice, no closure and there is no way to restore the feeling of safety and security that once existed for any of us. After more than 12 seperate incidents at two seperate houses in that 18 year period we dont even bother calling the police any more. My wife and I each keep a gun next to the bed. I check the doors to the house atleast twice each night and check the driveway to make sure the cars are still there atleast every two or three hours. We don't keep money in the house and we keep things like camcorders and digital cameras locked in safes that are bolted to the floor when we are not using them. I even considered at one point after we were burglarized building an entertainment center out of steel plate and welding it closed to make it difficult to remove the tv and stereo equipment. I wish we had a Joe Horn in every house across this great country maybe then we could all sleep a little easier and worry a little less. --- Ted Burris