Texas Preacher Fatally Shot By His Own Gun While Trying To Stop A Burglar
Deputies in Texas say that a 69-year-old homeowner died after he was shot by his own gun during a struggle with an apparent burglar. The victim was identified as Don Frazier, a preacher and writer who has made numerous TV appearances,according to KHOU.
The incident occurred on Friday around 1:15 a.m. at a home in northwest Harris County.
Image: KHOU
According to Sheriff’s deputies, the man and his wife heard a noise downstairs in their garage so the husband went down to investigate.
At that point, somehow the burglar managed to take the homeowner’s gun — shooting him dead.
Deputies said they saw the suspect later walking near the victim’s house. He was identified as 30-year-old Daniel Durham.
Durham ditched the gun in a trash can but reportedly still had blood on his clothes.
The suspect was taken into custody and according to deputies, he admitted to shooting the homeowner.
tiredoftea July 4th, 2014 at 12:39 pm
So much irony, so little time.
M D Reese July 4th, 2014 at 2:47 pm
Oh man–you took the words right out of my mouth!
Shades July 4th, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Very sad for his family, but a highly likely scenario in many cases. Having a gun does not necessarily make one safer as this tragedy shows. I understand people wanting to protect their home, but you can’t go willy nilly into the dark with a gun and a false sense of bravado. People need some sort of education on how to handle this situation so that family members are placed in the least possible amount of danger.
Billy Jackson July 4th, 2014 at 1:02 pm
Absolutely. Nothing funny at all about this story, but the irony is all too predictable and to the point, there really is no irony.
In addition to education of using the firearm, one would need lots and lots of practice in simulated adverse situations to even have a chance of being successful while under duress.
m2old4bs July 4th, 2014 at 4:21 pm
It is that last part of your posts that most gun fetish persons have a hard time with, if it’s not completely ignored.
Billy Jackson July 4th, 2014 at 5:00 pm
That’s because they self-ordain themselves as badasses that all of a sudden become a “just like a cop” tough guy, thinking they can handle everything since they’ve fondled their firearm over and over again.
Dcbos July 4th, 2014 at 4:24 pm
Use the gun in a defensive position gather all in a secure place ready the gun and if attacked shoot to kill; don’t go hunting not the time or place ; better to not have a gun if you don’t train to use it properly in all situations you bought the gun for; most people should not have a gun.
Ophelia Keith July 4th, 2014 at 11:26 pm
I have a feeling the poor guy probably thought an animal had gotten into the garage and maybe he took the gun just as an added precaution. Poor guy.
markdouglas July 4th, 2014 at 1:41 pm
Did he cal police first? Poor guy and his wife. RIP. I freak out when I hear a strange noise in my house. I can’t imagine what his wife felt.
Peter Williams July 4th, 2014 at 3:09 pm
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
bocaoma July 4th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
twisted justice?
Bob Waas July 4th, 2014 at 6:02 pm
Justice? Justice would have been if the burglar would have been shot.
Ophelia Keith July 4th, 2014 at 11:25 pm
I think that’s what makes it twisted.
Bob Waas July 4th, 2014 at 6:01 pm
My son-in-laws 80+ year old aunt and uncle living in rural Tennessee heard someone trying to break in their front door. The aunt hand her husband a rifle and she went to the back door. One of the burglars entered through the back door and was immediately met with a blast from a double barrel shot gun fired by an old lady. He ended up on his back in the back yard. Then the aunt called the police.
The burglars were caught when the one who was shot went to a nearby hospital to get the birdshot out of his chest. He was lucky she didn’t use buckshot.
Shades July 4th, 2014 at 6:21 pm
Soooo, the armed preacher dying because he was unprepared to handle a home invasion is just fine by you because something, something, something?
tiredoftea July 4th, 2014 at 10:36 pm
It’s their favorite response. Taking one “success”, real or imagined, and making it the universal solution for having guns in case of robbery. Despite the reality that this preacher is the usual case of how these things turn out.
Bob Waas July 5th, 2014 at 10:47 am
He is not the usual case of how things turn out. That is the narrative anti gun advocates like yourself peddle to advance their gun control agenda. Check this Duke study. http://people.duke.edu/~gnsmith/articles/myths.htm
betty7 July 5th, 2014 at 1:48 pm
That’s not a Duke study. It’s hosted on the Duke website, under the “people” pages, which means an employee, not the university, posted it, probably to use in a class. It clearly states at the bottom where it came from: “Copyright October 1994, NRA Institute for Legislative Action. This is the electronic version of the “10 Myths of Gun Control” brochure distributed by NRA. To obtain paper copies of this brochure, please call NRA Grassroots at 800/392-8683.”
Bob Waas July 5th, 2014 at 5:25 pm
Thanks for the heads up, I will check more closely in the future.
Wendy Wilkins Valdez July 4th, 2014 at 11:17 pm
I think his point was that the old lady was ready to use her gun, but the preacher thought just having the gun would work. If you’re going to have one, you need to be ready to use it. Not just wave it and hope for the best. Still, we don’t know what might have happened if he had no weapon. Perhaps both he AND his wife could be dead if the burglar was that willing to pull the trigger.
Mr. Reasonable July 5th, 2014 at 1:02 am
We don’t know enough from this story, but it’s just possible the gun was introduced into the conflict by the homeowner. If so there would not have been a trigger to pull on anyone had there been no gun. Many burglaries are gun less crimes committed by thieves not murderers. Guns escalate the conflict in one direction or another.
Shades July 5th, 2014 at 7:41 am
I’d venture to say the old lady was also very lucky the burglar wasn’t already in the house hiding and able to take her by surprise. Another point – how many times have we read stories about somebody shooting a burglar only to find out it was a kid or grandkid sneaking in? Oh look, here’s an example. http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/20315749/rochester-granddaughter-shot-mistaken-for-intruder
Kerri Barber July 14th, 2014 at 9:06 am
Here is my question- a burglar wants your stuff, right? It’s all insured. What do you own that is worth a life? Not a damn thing, even a criminal’s life and that is what the preacher does for a living- talks about the value of life and repentance. The only reason I see anyone leaving a secure room is to go round up kids. If you don’t have kids, maybe a lock on the bedroom door and a key pass to the alarm company. You just sit tight with your revolver, AK-47 or whatever and wait. If they try to get in, you have no choice, if the police catch them instead, well they live another day and you can pray for redemption for them….or is that no longer the christian thing to do. New religion is so confusing….
Bob Waas July 5th, 2014 at 10:37 am
Pay attention, I never said that. Bocaoma post below is the one you’re thinking of, so you may want to respond to it.
Shades July 5th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
No dearie, I’m responding to your bizarre (once-upon-a-time something else happened so ignore the fact that this man died in spite of having a gun for home protection) comment. Try to keep up.
Bob Waas July 5th, 2014 at 5:05 pm
You claimed the preacher dying with his own gun was fine with me, which is a lie. I shared a story of how another person shot first and asked questions later and from that you came to a false conclusion about my feelings for the victim.
If someone breaks into my house I will give them one “who is it?” and if they advance without an acceptable response, they get shot.
Shades July 5th, 2014 at 6:33 pm
Try actually reading my sentence. I didn’t claim anything. Please note the question mark at the end. I am asking if it’s ok with you because, without recognizing the tragic outcome of the preacher home invasion story, you post one about another couple who luckily had a positive outcome. Because you made no attempt to preface the story along the lines of “Luckily some acquaintances of mine had this happen because of such and such circumstance,” it gave the callous impression that what happened to the preacher was unimportant in the overall theme of home protection. You expressed no sadness at the poor man’s murder, even making remarks about how lucky the burglar in your story was because the woman didn’t use buckshot. That would seem pretty harsh to that poor preacher’s widow.
Bob Waas July 5th, 2014 at 8:07 pm
My story was about the old lady shooting the burglar and then dialing 911. It was in response to another post where someone asked if they called 911.
Shades July 5th, 2014 at 9:33 pm
BS, your post was not a response, it was an original thread. Sheesh, are you that lonely and desperate for attention?
Lorraine Easterling July 4th, 2014 at 6:48 pm
So sad 🙁
Bob Waas July 5th, 2014 at 10:53 am
TEN MYTHS ABOUT GUN CONTROL
http://people.duke.edu/~gnsmith/articles/myths.htm
Shades July 5th, 2014 at 9:37 pm
(Posted towards the bottom of this article 8 hours ago)
“betty7 reply to Bob Waas
8 hours ago
That’s not a Duke study. It’s hosted on the Duke website, under the
“people” pages, which means an employee, not the university, posted it,
probably to use in a class. It clearly states at the bottom where it
came from: “Copyright October 1994, NRA Institute for Legislative
Action. This is the electronic version of the “10 Myths of Gun Control”
brochure distributed by NRA. To obtain paper copies of this brochure,
please call NRA Grassroots at 800/392-8683.”
Bob Waas reply to betty7
4 hours ago
Thanks for the heads up, I will check more closely in the future.”
David Sailor July 6th, 2014 at 10:12 pm
What the hell was a priest doing with a gun?
David Sailor July 6th, 2014 at 10:25 pm
Guns and salt water don’t do well together. An american sailor, traveling through South East Asia with his wife on their sailing boat, went below to get his shotgun when he saw a small, fast skiff coming across the water on an intercepting path. He noted the occupants were wearing balaclavas. He pointed the weapon ahead of the speeding craft and pulled the trigger nothing happened. As the boat came closer (he says it was still about 200 yards away), he aimed the weapon at the boat and again pulled the trigger. Again nothing happened. He put the weapon down on the cockpit sole and went to look for an alternative form of weaponry. The skiff pulled along side and, in halting english, one of the men offered up some lobsters for sale. Sadly, the number of US citizens sailing the world and who carry guns are a constant concern for sailors from other countries, as the gun toting Americans are giving voyaging sailors a bad name. However our John Wayne of the high seas realised he could have easily murdered an innocent band of fishermen if he had been able to fire his weapon. Wisely, he consigned the shotgun to the deep. It’s just another story. Lives were saved despite foul intentions. It is important to note cultural differences. First, the world doesn’t carry guns to a party…and Asian labourers and fishermen who spend all day in the sun, wear head and face protection which looks disarmingly similar to the sort of gear westerners may mistake for a terrorist’s get-up.
Joe Hughes July 8th, 2014 at 11:11 am
And some have no idea why they hate Americans.