Dallas Man Allegedly Kills Burglar Then Heads Back To Bed

One man's shot in the dark last week turned into a fatal situation. James Michael Meyer, a 72-year-old man from Dallas, Texas, has been charged with murder after authorities said he fatally shot a suspected robber at his home and headed back to bed before reporting the incident two hours later.

According to The Associated Press, Meyer claims he woke up around 5 a.m. Thursday to the sounds of someone breaking into a storage shed in his backyard with a pickax. The arrest warrant affidavit states that Meyer went outside — shotgun in hand — and yelled at the suspected burglar to stop what he was doing or else Meyer would shoot. 

Meyer said he fired his gun when the burglar allegedly moved toward him. The burglar then ran toward a park behind the home, dropping his pickax in the process. Meyer said he then fired another shot "into the night." He claims he did not know that he shot the burglar when he returned to bed following the incident. 

Upon waking up at around 7 a.m., Meyer thought he saw a "black bag" in the park and discovered soon after that the shape was the body of the alleged robber. He and his wife called an attorney for advice before reporting what happened to 911. Police found the alleged robber face down with a gunshot wound on the back of his neck, according to CBS Dallas/Fort Worth. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Meyer was arrested Friday and is being held on $150,000 bail.

First published on September 29, 2019 / 7:00 PM

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