The Armed Citizen

Juan Rodriguez never even knew the names of the people who rented the house across the street.
He was asleep at 2 a.m. on Thursday when a single gunshot rang out in his northwest Harris County cul-de-sac. Three armed men had just robbed his neighbors. Rodriguez grabbed his handgun and ran outside.
“I have my gun!” Rodriguez yelled.
His words were answered by a barrage of bullets, said his ex-wife, Olga Contreras.
“It sounded like a machine gun,” said Contreras, who lived with Rodriguez. “I immediately threw myself on the floor. With all that gunfire, I just knew that he'd been shot.”
Rodriguez, 39, died at Ben Taub General Hospital. His neighbors disappeared before deputies arrived. Investigators said they believe the robbery he interrupted was drug-related.
(The Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, 12/4/09)