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As we noted earlier Tulsa homeowner recently shot and killed a home invader. The unusual thing about this story is that the same homeowner had shot another burglar in the same home just five years ago. That burglar, named Michael Watts, survived (remarkably…he was shot six times and released from the hospital after about a week).

In the wake of the recent shooing and after having served time for the burglary attempt, Watts has been interviewed about his experience with the homeowner, Charles Sweeney.

In the video above, Watts recalls:

“I said, hey man, my bad, I thought this place was open. My hands was up. I said I’m leaving man. I didn’t know anybody lived here. He shot me, boom, right in the heart. I said you shot me. He shot me again in the heart. I said, man, please don’t shoot me no more. I was begging. And, he shot me in the leg, then I could tell he wasn’t going to stop, so I turned to run and he shot me in the back. I still have that bullet in me, hit my lung and my liver. That one dropped me. He walked up to me and put that barrel to my face and shot me in the head.”

Watts portrays himself as a good guy fallen on hard times. He says he was married 28 years, raised five kids, and then suffered a series of losses which caused him to start looking for alternative streams of income. He says he thought Sweeney’s house was abandoned and wouldn’t have gone inside if he thought there was someone living there. He also thinks Sweeney should have warned the recently deceased burglar before shooting him.

When the interviewer says, “You know, some people are going to say, don’t matter, ain’t your home, don’t go there,” Watts says, “I know I was wrong. I wasn’t invited into that house.”

Watts offers some advice for anyone considering a life of crime: “If you see an empty house and think about going in there, you might want to think again.”

There are 18 guns per capita in the state of Oklahoma, which means there are eighteen times as many guns registered to residents as there are residents. Betting that you won’t have one used against you when you unlawfully enter a house is a bad bet, no matter how you look at it.

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80 COMMENTS

  1. Unless this guy is superman or the homeowner was using a BB gun I’m pretty sure he’s exaggerating.

      • Don’t know why anyone would be interested in what a convicted criminal, who was shot during the commission of a crime has to say.

        • Don’t know why anyone would be interested in what a convicted criminal, who was shot during the commission of a crime has to say.

          Exactly. Let me just pull out my heartstrings here and play the world’s smallest violin while this guy explains to me this horrible injustice done to him, while he committed breaking and entering, burglary, and theft. Had the gun owner not had a gun, it might have been assault and murder to go along with it.

          Oh – and his story was super credible. Super credible! I always believe a proven burglarizing meth head over his victim any day.

        • I could see giving my ear to a guy who repents and admits he was a bad guy before, saying he was wrong and shouldn’t have done it.

          That clearly isn’t the case here and the homeowner should have finished the job.

        • Even if he was in his house begging for mercy, who knows? The second the home owner’s guard was down, the man crying for mercy could be beating him into the floor taking his gun away. And if he didn’t have a gun, the burglar probably would have been doing that anyways.

          So even the burglar’s crappy story doesn’t justify mercy. If you break into someone’s home, people will inherently assume you are willing to harm them and will do so, if given the chance.

      • Just read the 2013 news article. “Next burgler gets the same treatment with a bigger gun.” Seems Mr. Sweeney is a man of is word.

    • If the statement about hands being in the air and wanting to leave is true, the shooter should be sued into oblivion and this is probably the first time I’ve ever advocated for putting the home owner on trial for attempted murder. You don’t put the gun to anyone’s head after they flee out of your house and then try to execute them. 100% bad shoot.

      Also sounds like the idiot was shooting a .22 BB or some bird plinker.

      The above comment is based on the TTAG article and quote which seems to be entirely inaccurate. If the LNS are to be believed, then the home owner is in a significantly better position. TTAG, don’t go down the fake news path.

      • Nothing about what this guy says is likely true. Guns leave burns when shot into a body from close range. Also, he says he thought the home was abandoned. He would have realized immediately after getting the door open that someone lived there. He intentionally entered a house that he knew someone occupied.

      • I wouldn’t care even if it was 100% true. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. The homeowner was just trying to save his neighbors the cost of feeding this scumbag for a few years.

      • “If the statement about hands being in the air and wanting to leave is true, the shooter should be sued into oblivion and this is probably the first time I’ve ever advocated for putting the home owner on trial for attempted murder.”

        Your naivety frightens me. The home invader was lying, no doubt about it. Do you really think a person who commits felonies is unwilling to lie?

    • Also pretty sure the homeowner would be headed to prison for shooting a fleeing criminal in the back and then trying to finish him off execution style after was down.

  2. He, (Watts) infringed on others liberty by his actions in the first place. As a result i care little what he or any other like him thinks. At least he now admits he was in the wrong but i doubt most of the rest of the stuff about having his hands up etc

    • Toni,

      Let’s be even more specific:

      Suppose the home invader surprised the homeowner, inflicted a serious and life-altering physical wound, and lingered in the home next to the home owner implying that he/she could injure even further. Only a small percentage of people would argue that the home owner does not have a right to respond with deadly force.

      Now let us look at what actually happened: the home invader surprised the homeowner, inflicted a serious and life-altering PSYCHOLOGICAL wound, and lingered in the home next to the homeowner implying that he/she could injure even further. (Yes, breaking into someone’s home while they are in their home indeed causes a life-altering psychological wound — just ask the victims and their therapists.)

      Whether or not the wound was physical or psychological does not matter in my book: the homeowner has a right to use deadly force to end the attack. Anyone who argues otherwise can no longer claim that kidnapping at gunpoint or rape is a serious crime.

      • yes i very much agree. Your home is supposed to be where you are safe and secure. When that is breached many people have trouble coping with the fact that it has happened no matter the end results.

  5. “There are 18 guns per capita in the state of Oklahoma, which means there are eighteen times as many guns registered to residents as there are residents.”

    Since when does Oklahoma require gun registration?

    • Which means “guns per capita” is a WAG (wild ass guess) as well. Remember, 78.6% of all quoted statistics are made up on the spot.

      • They say sixty-five percent of all statistics
        Are made up right there on the spot
        Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe ’em
        Whether they’re accurate statistics or not
        I don’t know what you believe
        But I do know there’s no doubt
        I need another double-shot of something ninety-proof
        I got too much to think about

        – Todd Snider

        • Too much to think about.
          Too much to figure out.
          Stuck between hope and doubt
          Too much to think about.

    • That’s so insensitive of you. And deprive him of stomping on his face first? You shoot him to soften him up then stomp the living daylights out of him, then compassionately put him out of his misery.

      • lol depends on who is doing the stomping. my partner is 6’1 and wears 4xl shirts, her dad is 6’7″ and takes 7xl shirts weighing north of 160kgs. If they were to stomp them there would not be a lot left to shoot 🙂

  7. The Bad Guy has been already warned by Society that breaking and entering, assault, rape, murder, etc. are against the law and that there are some people with guns out there that may shoot them if they continue with their criminal pastimes.

  8. Watts offers some advice for anyone considering a life of crime: “If you see an empty house and think about going in there, you might want to think again.”

    If more people are learning that lesson, then shooting burglars is working.

  9. Yeah, right. If he intended no harm by entering an abandoned house, he would have tried in the daylight and knocked first. I also doubt the house he entered looked abandoned — overgrown lawn, dusty dirty windows, no cars in the driveway, no one entering or leaving for weeks or months.

    Sorry bud, no. And your credibility isn’t increased by claiming to have been shot twice in the heart and once in the face.

    • The foolish always seem unable to realize that others might not have quite such a dim bulb upstairs as they have.
      “Only a fool knows everything. A wise man knows how little he knows.”— Unknown

    • By golly that’s scary, ” over grown lawns, dirty windows, no car in the driveway, no one seen for weeks” . You just described my place. I get a ride to town to shop maybe twice a month. The landlord came down to get the rent and wasn’t impressed with weeds and grass, ,” Oh well if that’s how you like it” but he just wants the rent . Truck I wrecked didn’t have full coverage, and the X took the car. My S.S. check , hmmmmm, no car in the future. Dirty windows are ,I don’t give a fck. It’s a country shack 8 miles to the nearest town( population 650) and I’ve found having it look abandoned out here keeps people from knocking on my door for direction’s, gas, in the ditch or what not.

      • I park in the back and I don’t care about the windows and the roof. Only the neighbors north and south know I live there. Boxes everywhere.
        I home carry.

  10. So many times these criminals refuse to accept responsibility for their actions. Like the rapist/murderer on death row that described his sexual assault on the young woman he later killed by saying “I took her and made love to her…”. They frame their roles in the best possible language to minimize the horrendous nature of their crime. I guess nobody wants to think of themselves as a monster.

  12. “He also thinks Sweeney should have warned the recently deceased burglar before shooting him.”

    I’m not a fan of capital punishment but I think that if you’re going to break into houses or generally commit crimes that have actual victims then you’re gambling with your life and sometimes when you gamble you lose. No one in their right mind would or should assume that someone who breaks in when you’re home is simply after goods. The proper assumption is that they’ve broken in “ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence”.

    Therefore I think the proper response, if one is the type to give a warning is Hey motherfucker, I’m warn-“*BANG* (Followed by more *BANG*s as necessary.)

      • @LarryinTX beat me to it. Bang, ,bang, bang, “Halt or i’ll shoot.” LOL
        OK how about this one…

        Police – “Sir, why did you shoot that man 27 times?
        Me – “Ran out of bullets.”

  15. my friends tell me 7.62 is a little stout for home defense but you won’t ever hear a criminal telling these stories after breaking into my home

      • Fired a .308 from a window without ear protection, was fine. The window screen wasn’t and needed to be replace. Now shoot houses and not having ear plugs… ears may literally be bleeding by the end.

      • 7.62x35mm with a heavy (200ish gr) bullet and suppressor is reasonably quiet. You might know it by its more popular name: subsonic .300 AAC Blackout. You can also get 7.52x51mm in subsonic loads (usually sold as .308 Win) or even subsonic 7.62x39mm.

  18. “There are 18 guns per capita in the state of Oklahoma”
    [Citation needed]

    Oklahoma has compulsory firearms registration? Whooda thunk?

    • I caught that too. Shouldn’t expect to see that kind of nonsense on this site.

      Have I ever mentioned just how bad this comment section is?

  19. well…on the other hand. If there was a viable threat like a knife or a gun or direct threat of violence, yeah shoot, but you have to give the person a chance to leave not kill him. People are thinking that hey he’s in my home, I get to shoot him if I want. Eh, no. Certain states don’t allow you to do this, you have to have direct cause to shoot someone, if he’s breaking and entering, is that a justification to take his life? Huge issue that’s totally debatable. I belive in having guns to protect youe home and body, but to have limits. You don’t have the right to just shoot at people becasue they put a toe on your land or a hand in your window or just point their finger at you threatening to beat your ass. like the gun in the alley a few weeks back the father and son argueing about a matress. Why couldn’t one or both of them walk away? now two of them are up for murder.

    • Good thing nobody cares what you think. Break into my house and I’ll shoot you… many times. No need to yell out some pansy-ass warning to the felon or felons committing a home invasion.

    • You’re asking people (who haven’t committed a crime) to make a split second decision and determine the intentions of someone who is actively breaking the law. If they’re wrong, it could cost them their life. So no …if using the “shoot first, ask questions later” method during home invasions keeps innocent, law abiding people alive but ends a criminals life who may or may not have violent intentions….idk how it’s not the best option

    • If anyone breaks into my house I have an idea that dead men tell no tales. This looser wouldn’t be doing interviews I assure you.

    • Lol, all I’m gonna do is accelerate 12 OO buckshot pellets at any unwanted/unknown parties in my abode (15 on the first shot). It’s on them to not die, but I won’t make that very easy. This wasn’t a mattress in an alley way or other stupid avoidable argument. This was a law abiding man facing a serious threat posed by the bad actor in his home. Twice at that, I hope the local degenerates listen to Mr. Sweeney’s request to be left alone.

  21. He said “don’t shoot me no more”. I assume this means he wanted to be shot again. Am I missing something here?

  22. After all of his comments, the homeowner is lucky he does not live in Miami-Dade county. All would have been used against him, and he would have had the luck here to only be serving time for attempted murder for the first shooting and would have been saved the Manslaughter plea bargain from Murder and Old Sparky by being in prison when the second break-in occurred at his home because he was not there to kill the second intruder.

  24. I think if he were shot twice in the heart, and then two more times, I don’t think he would have lived to tell the story.

    Also, as stated before, Oklahoma does not register guns..

  26. Once again the MSM lives up to its’ (non-existent) standards. “If it Bleeds, it Leads”. If you don’t belong there, don’t be in there, if it’s not yours, don’t touch it. If you fall out of somebody elses’ tree and break your legs, don’t come running to me. I guess it’s all fun and games until somebody posts another hundred thousand dollar plus medical bill for the state, (all of us taxpayers) to pay, then it’s just fun. -30-

  27. Anyone surprised that the lowlife burglar thief is also a liar?

    “My bad I thought the house was abandoned”; translation; “My bad I thought no one was home”.

  28. You didn’t think anyone was home? How about knocking/trying the doorbell first?

    Even if he was being truthful (spoiler: he wasn’t), it’s still trespassing.

    Moron.

  29. “which means there are eighteen times as many guns registered to residents ” BZZZZZZZZT!!
    Oklahoma is a free state. There is no gun registration.

  30. My heart bleeds for this poor Watts fellow. I am sure he was an aspiring rapper just about ready to turn his life around.
    Sweeney really needs some serious ordnance or better shooting skills..

  31. He also thinks Sweeney should have warned the recently deceased burglar before shooting him.

    Sorry, Pal, price of lead too high these days. I’m not a big fan of hanging drywall either, so…………no warning shots. If I pull the trigger it’s gonna count.

  32. Sorry but that “18 guns per capita” thing is horribly wrong. What it MAY mean is “18 per 1,000” people. Oklahoma has about 4 million people. There are supposedly close to an equal number of guns to citizens in the country. That would mean OK alone has about a quarter of all the guns in the country. OK doesn’t even rank in the top 10 states in the country per capita on firearms.

    Either that comment in this article is wrong, or there are a hell of alot more guns in the country than anyone has ever estimated previously.

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