The Detroit Free Press has an article today about a homeowner in the Detroit suburb of Inkster who fatally shot one of two thugs who invaded his home in the wee hours of the morning:

An Inkster homeowner fatally shot a man who had broken into his house early this morning, according to police.

Two intruders, one of them armed, confronted the 25-year-old when he got out of bed around 1:20 a.m. and he started fighting with them, Inkster Detective Anthony Delgreco said.

The homeowner then grabbed his legally registered gun and fired.

A 32-year-old Detroit man was killed, but his alleged accomplice fled, Delgreco said. The homeowner was cut over his eye.

According to investigators, nothing is missing from the home on the 29000 block of Parkwood.

To be fair, I guess some would consider the killing of the invader a tragedy. Because, just as he will never be able to invade houses again, neither will it ever be possible for him to theoretically turn his life around and become a productive member of society -- possibly even someone who would end up helping the world. In balance, though, I think that the dire harm the homeowner prevented outweighs any theoretical good that might possibly have come from a burglar who might have decided to turn over a new leaf.

So, even agreeing that it would by definition be tragic to kill a burglar who might have mended his ways, I can accept risking such a theoretical tragedy.