A 22-year-old Texas man learned a hard lesson about the limits of self-help when he shot teenagers who stole his car. There is essentially nowhere in the U.S. where shooting someone over a stolen vehicle avoids potential criminal charges.
While the frustration of having a car stolen is real, the law does not permit using deadly force to protect property in this way. The case stands as a cautionary example of how a victim can quickly become a defendant.