*Warning Shot* for Intruder brings charges to home owner and gun confiscated
Military Vet Faces Charges For Firing Warning Shot At Suspect Trying To Break Into Home
MEDFORD, Ore. — A man uses his firearm (warning Shot) to stop a wanted felon from breaking into his home has gun conficated and now facing criminal charges.
Medford police say the incident started around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. They responded to an apartment complex on the 2000 block on Table Rock Road for a disturbance call. When officers were on scene, they heard a gunshot and a man running out toward the parking lot.
Police say 40 year-old Jonathon Kinsella, a wanted felon, was running. 36 year-old Corey Thompson told NewsWatch 12, he shot a warning shot at Kinsella because he was trying to break in through his back door.
“This is the end result. You break into someone’s house, there’s consequences,” explained Thompson.
Thompson says he grabbed his AR-15 assault rifle and told Kinsella to stop near his back door.
“When I’m dealt with a stressful situation, being a veteran from Iraq and the Afghanistan war, it’s natural. I just jump into combat mode. I told him I’m going to give you a warning shot,” said Thompson.
But police say that was not the right move.
“There was nothing that the suspect was doing that was aggressive enough to justify the shooting. In fact, the suspect was walking away,” said Medford Police Lt. Mike Budreau.
Thompson was charged with Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Menacing and Reckless Endangering.
“I can see where they’re coming from, with those kinds of ordinances and stuff. I understand yes, I did discharge my weapon but I was careful not to fire it at any body’s residence. It was at the ground specifically,” explained Thompson.
Unlike bullets from handguns, police say firing bullets from assault rifles can skip.
“They just don’t hit something and absorb. Especially if it’s something with that high velocity. It could skip off of objects and wind up going into a house, through a wall, through a window,” said Lt. Budreau.
Police took Thompson’s assault rifle because they say it was used in the commission of a crime. If a judge finds Thompson not guilty, he will get his firearm back.
