1 intruder killed, other shot and wounded in Carrick home invasion


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Mark Gosselin woke up early Tuesday in his Carrick apartment when he heard pounding on his neighbor's door, then shotgun blasts and screams.
 
His cat, Puff, hid under the bed, and a friend told him to duck to avoid gunfire that killed one intruder and injured another.
 
?I'm going to put more locks on my door ? way more locks,? Gosselin said. ?I'm going to put a peephole in the door so I can see who's up to the door.?
 
Police found Christopher A. Thomas, 27, of Marshall-Shadeland lying face down about 2:20 a.m. on the front steps of the Merritt Avenue apartment building with an abdominal bullet wound, said Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler. A handgun was lying nearby.
 
Thomas was in critical condition at UPMC Mercy, Uptown.
 
He is charged with aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, conspiracy and carrying a firearm without a license ? all felonies, court records show. He was also wanted on an arrest warrant from Pittsburgh police related to a rape that happened in April.
 
Police found the body of David Calhoun, 31, of Carrick inside the apartment.
 
The apartment resident, whom authorities did not identify, told police that one of the men shot into the door of his first-floor apartment, and they pushed inside, Toler said. They shoved a 19-year-old man, who lives there with his 17-year-old girlfriend, into a bedroom and asked for ?his stuff,? she said.
 
The tenant pulled out a shotgun and fired three times, hitting both men, Toler said.
 
Later Tuesday, dried blood trailed on the well-worn carpet down the hall of the apartment building, to the front stoop and down the steps.
 
The incident took place in the neighborhood where crews are filming the Hollywood movie ?Southpaw,? starring actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
 
Another neighbor who declined to give his name for fear of retaliation, said he saw Thomas, the wounded intruder, lurch down the steps before collapsing. The man said he attempted to put pressure on the wound but Thomas refused his aid.
 
Another neighbor, Clara Hicks, 66, said she could not hear the commotion because her air conditioner drowned out the noise. She was not surprised that it happened.
 
?It's a bad neighborhood ? drugs,? she said.
 
Hicks said she heard gunshots about three years ago from another house on the street.
 
Police interviewed the tenant and his girlfriend at police headquarters. They do not expect to charge the man with the shooting, Toler said. Neither resident was injured.
 
?He was within his rights to have a shotgun in his residence,? she said.

 

 
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Before the usual anti gun euros show up gotta say, good on them, one less scumbag in the world and hopefully a reformed scumbag

 

you should think before you post. Anti-gun  people (like myself) typically overwhelmingly  support this chain of events and outcome. its the hand gun carrying crazies that we don't agree with. By all means, everyone (who can safely do so) should have a defense firearm in their house that STAYS in their house. But after saying that, what if the defender shot through a wall and into a childs/adults bedroom and killed them? Happens, and pure luck of the draw for a win or lose situation. dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.

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you should think before you post. Anti-gun people (like myself) typically overwhelmingly support this chain of events and outcome. its the hand gun carrying crazies that we don't agree with. By all means, everyone (who can safely do so) should have a defense firearm in their house that STAYS in their house. But after saying that, what if the defender shot through a wall and into a childs/adults bedroom and killed them? Happens, and pure luck of the draw for a win or lose situation. dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.

Why only in the house? See that makes no sense whatsoever to not be able to defend yourself where you world's actually needed it other than home

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Why only in the house? See that makes no sense whatsoever to not be able to defend yourself where you world's actually needed it other than home

 

look up the gun control thread. both sides have explained the subject to death.

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Why only in the house? See that makes no sense whatsoever to not be able to defend yourself where you world's actually needed it other than home

Because you can outrun bullets in the open.

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look up the gun control thread. both sides have explained the subject to death.

My parents always told me that if you value somebody's friendship, don't ever talk about religion or politics. :P

 

This is one of those political issue where both sides argue til' they're blue in the face, hoping that maybe one more post, maybe if I word it this one certain way, they will see the light and come to my side of the issue.  Of course that never actually happens, we just end up arguing until we're blue in the face, taking a deep breath, and going at it again. :P

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My parents always told me that if you value somebody's friendship, don't ever talk about religion or politics. :p

 

This is one of those political issue where both sides argue til' they're blue in the face, hoping that maybe one more post, maybe if I word it this one certain way, they will see the light and come to my side of the issue.  Of course that never actually happens, we just end up arguing until we're blue in the face, taking a deep breath, and going at it again. :p

 

Then why post yet another thread about it??? For every article about someone using a gun to defend their home, I could flood Neowin with just as many stories about guns not being used in such an honorable way. But it would serve no purpose. People feel how they feel about guns. I don't need or want one, but for those who do, good for you.

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Then why post yet another thread about it??? For every article about someone using a gun to defend their home, I could find 50 that show guns not being used in such an honorable way.

Because it's interesting news on an issue that I'm passionate about.  Most of us in this thread seem to have been getting along just fine until you came along.

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My parents always told me that if you value somebody's friendship, don't ever talk about religion or politics. :p

 

This is one of those political issue where both sides argue til' they're blue in the face, hoping that maybe one more post, maybe if I word it this one certain way, they will see the light and come to my side of the issue.  Of course that never actually happens, we just end up arguing until we're blue in the face, taking a deep breath, and going at it again. :p

Why don't you and other people post these news in the Gun Control thread like they do with religion. I can understand something like a mass shooting having its own topic, but this looks like something common for the US.

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Why don't you and other people post these news in the Gun Control thread like they do with religion. I can understand something like a mass shooting having its own topic, but this looks like something common for the US.

You know what that seems like a valid suggestion, and I may just do that from now on.

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Why don't you and other people post these news in the Gun Control thread like they do with religion. I can understand something like a mass shooting having its own topic, but this looks like something common for the US.

i don't think this has anything to do with gun control though. It seems more of a news article and then someone brought up gun control.

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i don't think this has anything to do with gun control though. It seems more of a news article and then someone brought up gun control.

Like it always happens in every news piece of the sort.

 

The mods could rename that topic from Gun Control to Guns or something to fit a broader scope.

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My parents always told me that if you value somebody's friendship, don't ever talk about religion or politics. :p

 

This is one of those political issue where both sides argue til' they're blue in the face, hoping that maybe one more post, maybe if I word it this one certain way, they will see the light and come to my side of the issue.  Of course that never actually happens, we just end up arguing until we're blue in the face, taking a deep breath, and going at it again. :p

Yeah. It's one of those endless debates that the majority of us realize cannot be won. And, I think the majority of us are against murder and/or killing anyone period. It's just that we differ on what can and how to prevent or reduce these murders/killings.

 

I think the pro-gunners are afraid of having something they're passionate about stripped from them while perceiving things not to be that bad. While, I think, the anti-gunners fear that maintaining the status quo will see repeats of these murders/killings while perceiving things to be worsening. Wait. The Worsening. Wasn't that an M[arkie] Night Shymalan film? 

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3 shots from a shotgun just to stop them taking his belongings?  Bit overboard.  But hey, I wasn't there.

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3 shots from a shotgun just to stop them taking his belongings?  Bit overboard.  But hey, I wasn't there.

 

Seems about correct.  Two people,  One shot hit one,  the second hit the second,  the third could have been a miss.  It's not easy trying to hit moving targets.  

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very nice, very nice!

 

You could say (oho) his last moment... was a real blast! ohhhhhh!

It's extremely concerning that you would describe this situation as "very nice" and make a crass joke about it. Homeowners have the right to defend themselves but that doesn't mean it's appropriate to revel in the death of an intruder.

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