Missouri Homeowner Fires Shot at Man Who Broke Through His Back Door Swinging a Shovel Over a Dispute About Urinating Off His Own Porch

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BEAUFORT, MO — A western Franklin County homeowner fired a shot at a man who forced his way through his back door swinging a shovel Thursday evening, after a confrontation that started with the homeowner relieving himself off his own porch, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were dispatched to a burglary in progress in the 800 block of Wild Rose Lane, as reported by KJLU. While they were still on the way, they learned the victim had already fired a shot near the suspect.

The homeowner told deputies a man was beating on his back door. When he opened it, the man pushed his way inside and confronted him about urinating in the yard. According to court documents cited in the report, the man was upset that the homeowner had urinated off the back porch of his own home while the man’s 13-year-old stepdaughter happened to walk by.

The homeowner shoved the man back out the door. The man grabbed a shovel. He broke through the door. He started swinging it. The homeowner grabbed a firearm and fired one shot between the man and the doorframe. The man left.

Once outside, he allegedly used the shovel to shatter the rear windshield of the homeowner’s car before leaving the property. The report does not indicate anyone was struck.

The first shove bought the homeowner nothing. The man came back through a door he had just been put out of, this time with a weapon, and a shovel swung at someone’s head inside a doorway is every bit the threat of serious bodily harm that a knife or a bat is. That is the moment that matters here, not the argument that preceded it and not the windshield that came after.

The report does not say whether the homeowner meant to miss, and I am not going to read that into it. I will say that I do not recommend warning shots. A round you fire has to land somewhere, and the only thing that justifies pulling the trigger is the threat in front of you, not a message you want to send. If a man breaking through your door with a shovel is enough to justify a shot, it is enough to justify a shot at him. If it is not, it is not enough to justify a shot at all.

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Deputies were still en route when this ended. Out on a county lane in western Franklin County, that is the reality: the fight was over before the first patrol car arrived, and the homeowner was the only one in a position to end it.

Ryan Madonna, 41, of Beaufort, is charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree property damage, and fourth-degree assault. The charges are allegations, and he has not been convicted. The homeowner was not identified, and no charges against him were reported.

Read the original story: Missouri Homeowner Fires Shot at Man Who Broke Through His Back Door Swinging a Shovel Over a Dispute About Urinating Off His Own Porch