As Houstonians return home in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, some have started erecting signs threatening to shoot looters.
Signs reading ‘Warning!! Looters will be shot dead’ and ‘U Loot we will shoot’ were seen in the suburb of Atascocita this weekend as homeowners pulled their flood-soaked possessions out onto their lawns to dry.
Some of the residents in the Houston suburb say brazen looters have been casing their neighborhoods, picking out what they want to steal later.
Some Houston homeowners have put up signs warning they will shoot looters. Above, one such sign in Humble, Texas on Friday
In Texas, it’s legal to shoot someone who trespasses on your property if you believe they are aiming to hurt you. Above, an anti-looting sign in Houston on August 31
Lois Wooley tells KHOU that the looters have been driving up and down her street ‘like a typical garage sale day’.
‘They’re looking, they’re spotting what they want,’ she said.
So Wooley, a recent cancer survivor, decided to erect a sign on her lawn reading: ‘if you loot, we will shoot’.
Chel Bailey, one of Wooley’s neighbors, put up a similar sign reading: ‘Nothing inside is worth dying for’.
That sign included a shooting range target in the shape of a human body with bullet holes through the torso.
The Stand Your Ground law in Texas does not protect homeowners just trying to protect their property. Above, an anti-looting sign in Fulton, Texas on August 30
Some Houstonians say looters have been steeling possessions that they have moved to their lawns to air dry
Atascocita resident Lois Wooley says looters have been driving up and down her street ‘like a typical garage sale day’. Above, and anti-looting sign near Orange, Texas on Friday
‘We’re having a lot of people coming by. They want to take things thinking it’s up for grabs when it’s not,’ Bailey said.
One homeowner in the neighborhood told told Fox News that he and another neighbor ‘shut down’ an attempted looter who came through the neighborhood with a trailer.
Similar signs have been seen elsewhere in Houston and its surrounding suburbs.
‘We’re in a state of disaster,’ one Portland, Texas woman told KIII-TV. ‘If I needed to shoot somebody to protect my stuff if they broke into my house, I think that’s appropriate.’
According to recent estimates, about 40 people have been arrested for looting during and after Hurricane Harvey. Above, an anti-looting sign in Houston on August 31
Texans may believe they have the right to shooter looters since police officers were given the authorization to shoot looters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005
Texas is a Stand Your Ground state, meaning that homeowners can you lethal force against anyone who trespasses on their property if they believe that person intends to hurt them. But that law does not apply to homeowners trying to protect their property. Homeowners will have to prove that they believed the person was going to hurt them, and that they didn’t just fear their possessions were going to be stolen.
Texans may believe they have the right to shooter looters since police officers were given the authorization to shoot looters in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
According to recent estimates, about 40 people have been arrested for looting during and after Hurricane Harvey.
Last Tuesday and Wednesday, looters broke into stores across Houston, stealing cigarettes, cash from registers and cell phones.
An Apple store in Houston had its door blasted open with a gun before it was looted, according to reports.
Prosecutors issued a statement promising that looters would face tougher penalties under Texas law for committing burglaries during a crisis.
‘People displaced or harmed in this storm are not going to be easy prey,’ said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. ‘Anyone who tries to take advantage of this storm and break into homes or businesses should know that they are going to feel the full weight of the law,’ she added.
‘Offenders will be processed around the clock without delay.’