By Shawntaye Hopkins
shopkins@herald-leader.com
UPDATED AT 4:37 P.M.: Lexington police have made an arrest in a burglary that turned fatal Wednesday morning at an apartment complex near Hamburg Pavilion.
Reginald Laron Jones, 24, of Lexington has been charged with first-degree burglary.
Police say he was one of three people, including a man who was killed by a male resident in the apartment and a female, who charged into the apartment Wednesday morning.
Officers are conferring with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as they explore whether the shooting was self-defense, said Officer Ann Gutierrez, a Lexington police spokeswoman. The shooting was being treated as a homicide Wednesday morning as police canvassed an area at Gleneagles Apartments at 2920 Polo Club Boulevard and interviewed witnesses.
The victim and the shooter have not been identified.
Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said the man appears to be in his late 20s or early 30s. He had not yet checked for an ID.
Ginn said he did not know where the man was shot or how many times he was shot.
Neighbors said they heard people yelling followed by at least three gunshots. The shooting was reported to police about 8:30 a.m.
A neighbor, who heard gunshots, flagged down officers and directed them to the apartment, Gutierrez said.
Investigators were told the couple who lives in the apartment answered knocks at the door and were “rushed by several people,” Gutierrez said.
The intruders had handguns, she said. One of the occupants in the apartment got a handgun and shot one of the men. He was found dead inside the apartment when police arrived.
There were a lot of people at the scene when police arrived, Gutierrez said. And officers were interviewing them Wednesday afternoon, trying to determine whether they were involved.
Investigators also have not figured out why the intruders were at the apartment and whether they knew the residents.
Gutierrez said police are looking at whether a 2006 law, commonly called the castle doctrine, applies to this case.
Under the law, Kentucky residents can shoot an intruder without fear of being arrested. The National Rifle Association has lobbied for such laws across the country.
Jeff Haddix said his 27-year-old daughter and her boyfriend live at the apartment where the shooting took place. He did not want to give his daughter’s name, but he quietly waited for several hours at the crime scene with other relatives as the woman was interviewed by police.
Haddix said police told him that she’s OK; “just a little shaken up.” He said he was “terrified” when he arrived at the apartment complex and saw the police cruisers. He said he was not able to talk to his daughter at all.
He mouthed a few words to her as she sat in the back of a police cruiser. He asked if she wanted something to drink.
If more “home invaders” were shot on site, maybe it wouldn’t happen as often as it does!
Anyone who invades the property of someone else by breaking in or even attempting to break in to that residence has summarily disposed of any and ALL “right” to live. That freedom has been surrendered and they should expect death!
Once again the law abiding people are slowly taking back the control of those who choose to break the law. If I was someone who was going to attempt a home invasion I would probably check and see where the homeowners are that aren’t afraid of picking up a gun to defend their lives and possessions. Survival of the fittest is hard at work here and I would encourage every law abiding citizen to consider their rights to bear arms and help take these unfit people off this planet, and not in the court system where a judge and jury are more than likely to allow these people to go free.
Know the whole story before you start passing judgement. Nothing has been confirmed yet.
If you are intruding on someone’s home they have every right to defend it and by any means necessary. You come in my house at night (or anytime) without permission, the result isn’t going to be pretty for you.
I hope they look carefully at these residents as well. Law enforcement experience predicts that many of these break-ins are not random. There’s a reason the perp attempts to enter that particular household.
God Bless anyone that has to take such drastic steps to protect their loved ones and property.
I love it!!!! It should be law that if anyone shot while trying to break into a residense, is shot or shot and killed that’s just too bad for him or her. This crap of you can’t shoot until they are in your home and your life feels threatened is just unbelievable.
Sounds more like a domestic dispute gone haywire than a break-in. Maybe someone owed some money…easy way to manipulate the castle doctrine.
I am fully supportive of the right to defend one’s home with deadly force if necessary, but a previous comment is correct: most of these home invasions are not random. There is generally a pre-existing dipute, and it often involves illegal activity.
Let’s wait and see what the facts are. However, anyone breakinginto another’s home for whatever reason, must be ready to live (or die) with the consequences.
I live in the Gleneagles neighborhood and I’ve got to say that this section 8 apartment complex is a prime example of what happens when you give something to people who haven’t EARNED it. In less than 18 months we’ve had a rape, stabbing and now a murder. In the 3 years prior to these apartments the worst we had was a bunch of kids vandalizing cars. I think it is high time that the homeowners in Gleneagles consider suing the developer and apartment owners for loss of property value. At the very least they should reimburse me for the Remington 870 and ammunition I’ll be purchasing. This is ridiculous.
are these apt. section eight?
whats there to investigate?they broke in the persons house.maby if they were just beating on the door and he shot through it killing the person it would be ok.the person got what they deserved and it should send a message to everyone…
Got to agree with KH, I live in Gleneagles too and this is getting out of hand. I would of never of moved into the neighborhood if I had known that a massive section 8 apartment complex was going to be built. What do you expect??? The developer should be sued.
Classic example of section 8 housing here. I live in Gleneagles and this apartment complex is nothing but trouble. Constant break ins and robberies have been happening and its coming from there! It was a nice neighborhood until that built that problem in our backyard! No way this was just and isolated break in in the middle of the day at a section 8 housing complex.
If anyone rushed into your home after you answered the door, would not feel your life was in danger. It does not matter what happened prior. No one has the right to force their way into your home even if you answer the door. God bless the shooter! We still have the right to defend our lives and our property, oh don’t forget the three that forced their way in were armmed…..I would have shot all 3.
Yes they are Sec. 8 housing.
Just drive by and you can tell
It is Sec. 8 housing and as you drive by, take note of all of the nice cars. I would guess that 75% of the cars in the parking lot are nicer than the one I drive.
On a side note: I will not be voting for our 12th District Councilman Ed Lane again. He let this happen to us.
No vote for Ed Lane!
If I remember correctly, it was a decision made by our fair city to REQUIRE a certain portion of the development to be Section 8. I may be wrong, but it has happened before and will happen again. Not the developer’s fault but a requirement forced upon them by our fair city leaders.
I have lived with section 8 neighbors and i can tell you for sure section 8 RUINS neighborhoods. Moving people out of ghettos at the taxpayers expense merely ensures that the ghetto spreads to the rest of town. People (even nice people) who are stuck in ghettos are there because they can’t function with the rest of us and that doesn’t change just because the location changes. Shoot ALL home invaders!!!
So, Jeff, and all you “God bless the shooter” responders - will y’all feel the same way when/if we find out the shooter was a crack dealer and owed thousands of dollars and stole from the people breaking in his house?
I have no way of knowing this. I’m just saying that no one knows the facts. Generally I agree with all of you who say it is absolutely our right to defend our own property and family. But, enough isn’t known to make such “God bless the shooter” comments - yet.
It’s the red states that trust their citizens enough to allow them the right to defend themselves, the blue states prefer that you depend on 911 (dial a prayer). Think about this when the election comes around in November, some of those running would have you unarmed if they won.
McCain-Palin, 2008
Question, why would you rob someone who lives in a low income apartment unless you are after something? It can’t be money because they will not rent to you if make over a certain amount at those apartments. Sounds like there is more to this than we are hearing. I hope they searched the apartment and their vehicles if they have vehicles. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with someone using lethal force when needed, but this sounds fishy. Those apartments are killing home sales in the subdivision. Who would want to buy a house in what is turning into a high priced hood? If you own a home in Gleneagles contact Councilman Ed Lane. Something has to be done about the crime this is bringing to the subdivision.
BG I couldn’t disagree with you more, you can’t just ride by the Apartments and tell that they are section 8, but however I do agree that something needs to be done about the section 8 people in this apartment complex. I actually live in the apartments that you are speaking of and I didn’t know that they were section 8 apartments until I was already in them. I feel like I’m one of a few that actually live here and work for a living, it drives me crazy that I can go to work and then come home after a hard days work and find that every car in the parking lot is in that exact same place that it was when I left early that morning. Most of these people do trash this place and these apartments are too nice for people to live like this, the owner really does need to do something and do something soon.
They tried to send out a letter today to all of the people that live here saying that they will continue to do background checks on people and that if they find you doing something against the law that they will evict you. Whoppy DOOO!!! That isn’t doing anything at all to these thug looking people, I’ve seen them myself look at the letter and laugh. The owners have no sense for whats going on and it tells. The best thing that I’ve heard is that police will be patroling the neighborhood on a regular basis. Come on, with these people that are here, police should have been doing that a long time ago.
I think its obvious that this break in wasn’t a random deal. When I was going to work this morning I saw where the door was open and the police was going in to take people into custody, guess what. IT WAS ON THE 3RD FLOOR. If it was random and some burglers wanted to rob someone they wouldn’t go all the way to the top floor to a building thats in the middle of the complex. Of course it was someone that the tenants knew, they was probably involved with something they shouldn’t have been involved with, hince there we go with SECTION 8. Just believe I’m leaving the first chance I get if this crap don’t change.
You can not blame section 8! Some of the people who do have section 8 are hard working law abiding citizens. You should never throw stones at a glass house. The way that this economy is now anyone of you could end up on section 8.And yes anyone who comes into my section 8 home uninvited I will take the law into my own hands to protect my Family by any means.You don’t judge people because of the situation that they are in. Every one is not as fortunate as others.And yes by the way I am a RN at a major hospital and I am on section 8. Take a look at your own lives before judging others. Have a Blessed day!
I agree with you Imani.
Just because it is section 8 doesn’t imply there will be crime. I visit that area often. What you find with the apartment complex owners and others living in the neighborhood that own section 8 housing in the inner city, is that they neglect the properties. This causes outsiders to view the adequacies as those of the residents. There are some nasty residents as there are several nasty homeowners in that area.
When it comes to crime in Lexington, the majority of the crimes (domestic, rape, assaults, parental abuse, etc.)are in neighborhoods like this one. They don’t get broadcasted all over the news.
I am for gun rights. I say after we return the voting rights to people who have committed crimes and paid their debt, give them their God-given right to bear arms.
I am all for baring arms. If someone breaks into my home and is threatening me and my family you can bet that going to pop a cap in them NO questions asked. I am trained in firming a gun and have my concealed weapons license…..I will use it if necessary! These people that are breaking and entering do not understand what will happen to them unless we the people stand up for ourselves and show them hat we have guns too. I think that a lot of people would think twice to breaking and entering if they thought the other person might be carrying a gun too
Way to go, hot lead beats 911 response time any time.
I, too, have always been for baring arms.
Thank you, JS for finally getting to the real point.
The problem of America is that people see that cases like this justifies gun ownership. People who invested in guns did not see the root of the crime, which is poverty, and try to solve it.
With the culture of fear that Americans are cultivating, they see ‘potential kill or be killed situation’ in every crime and look at guns for a placebo effect. Setting up a proper healthcare and welfare system works millions of times better than bullets. Bullets don’t stop or deter crime, but welfare system reduces the cause and needs for crime and therefore reduces them. How can India, country with almost 10 times the population of America rife with warlordism, Marxists, and other terror groups see less murder rate than US?
GEE where is the SWAT when you need them? Metro SWAT should have surrounded the entire area. Guess they are still looking for the 60 year old mentally disturbed grandmother out on Kiddville Lane.
I managed to sell my house in Gleneagles last year barely for exactly what I had paid 3 years prior. I was disgusted with those apartments. I have no problem with Sec 8 housing but when you put it in the backyard of a homeowner that paid 150k it is not right. Instant 25k loss in property value. Not too mention it is the first thing you see when you drive into the neighborhood.
Don’t worry the loser home owners association will continue taking your dues every quarter and pretend there is not a problem. I remember hearing people say that realtors were telling clients that they would be luxury condominiums… Not so much huh.
Ironically enough the anti-spam word is “move”.
Regarding the apartments, I live in the area. And don’t make the judgements on the Realtors being the ones telling people they were luxury apartments. If a Realtor did say that, it was because the developer told them they were going to be luxury apartments. Ask the builders in the area, they were told by the developer luxury apartments were going in!
Thank God we still have the right to bear arms in this country. Lets make sure we vote to retain that right. McCain for President-2008!
If you want to blame someone for the location of the Section 8 housing, you need to look no further than your city government. It is not the fault of the developer or the builder. They had to apply for a permit to build, it was the local zoning officers and whatever your local government is, councilmen, selectmen, etc., that approved this development.
Some of the blame also falls on the shoulders of the surounding residents for not paying enough attention to what proposals are going before the planning and zoning boards and attending the meetings to make your feelings known to the P&Z board. They are appointed by elected officials and sometime responsive to citizens feelings. If not, speak with your vote and change your government.
I am all for armed citizens and self reliance rather than trusting the 911 dial-a-prayer to protect me.
As others have said, let’s not jump to conculsions here without all of the facts. But so far it looks like a justified shooting. Castle doctrines rule!
Obama: Even if I wanted to take [guns] away, I don’t have the votes in congress to do it.
Me: Correct. You don’t have the votes YET!!! But if you replace a couple of supreme court justices then those votes won’t matter because the Supreme court would then overturn the D.C. Vs. Heller case.
No one has the right to kill anyone
So if you live on Section 8 your a thug or a drug dealer, No! Im a woman of COLOR living on Section 8 and i work everyy single damn day Monday-Friday 8-4 just like the NONCOLOR ppl and EARN every bit of my money, I pay bills just like the rest of you out there. I have a nice car and what? You gonna pass judgement on me? What if i rode pass an all white neighborhood and said, “i bet there children are ploting to blow up the next school or kill thier parents.” It doesnt matter where you live and what you drive. If you dont give a person a chance to make a change, then how will they ever? Damn right im shooting anybody that comes into my house with guns or any type of weapon. It doesnt matter if there was a problem earlier with the person, i dont care if i know the person, i dont care man or woman, if you come into my house with the intentions of killing me, im gonna kill you first. Point blank. Oh and another thing…you shlould learn how to count your blessings becuase you clould be living Section 8, homeless, walking the streets, or anything. Dont judge a person by the way they live.
“Dont judge a person by the way they live.”
That’s about the most ignorant statement I’ve read on here. Of course I’m going to judge you by the way you live. I won’t judge you by your color, race, creed, religion, etc..but I sure will judge you by the way you keep your house/apartment, lifestyle, etc…
If you have a job and are such an upstanding citizen, get the heck of Section 8 and quit sucking of the government teat.
Lazy whining welfare losers continue to spread through Lexington and devalue property everywhere the next Section 8 unit pops up.
Oh john E you are wrong on so many levels honey you need to get it together everyone cant afford to live in a nice neighborhood in big houses your kind is always the ones killing you wife for insurance money and other things should we judge you??? Im waiting… thought so…
Furthermore so what people have section * so do white people and wanna be black but they cant so we as black people do what we can and live like the rest of ya so get yourself together and look at the bigger picture..
you are on some pure BS im done with you….