A winding series of events led to a Texas man sleeping in his truck and enduring a fatal encounter with an alleged thief. He was aware enough of his surroundings in the parking lot of an apartment complex to be armed, that that may have saved his life.

The Harris County man had an argument with his girlfriend and apparently decided the better course of action was to sleep in his truck. 

He couldn’t have known that trouble would find him that night, but it did.

At around 3 a.m., the truck owner awakened to the shock of the alleged thief being in the vehicle with him. This unexpected turn of events led to the deadly confrontation, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

The lawman posted on X, formerly Twitter, “The male sleeping in the truck had an AR-15 and shot the male several times. The wounded intruder was pronounced deceased on-scene.”

The man who defended himself ran to his brother’s apartment after the shooting and called 911. He stayed on the scene and is reportedly cooperating with authorities investigating the incident. 

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, three other vehicles were also broken into before the encounter. It is believed that the alleged burglar was unaware that the man was asleep in the four-door truck until he opened fire.

This theory was echoed by Harris County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Ben Beall. “They shouldn’t be out doing it in the first place. I don’t believe he realized the reportee was sleeping in this truck before it was too late.”

Investigators will continue their process, according to the sheriff’s office, and then likely present the evidence to a grand jury for possible charges. However, given the apparent circumstance of the case and being Texas, chances are remote that the man who defended himself will be indicted.