Resident Uses Handgun to Defend Himself from Home Invader

The day after Christmas, December 26, 2012, a renter in an apartment in Northwest Houston was startled by the sound of somebody kicking in his front door. Initially, there was a knock on his door while he was in bed; when he went to the front door and looked through his peephole, no one was there, prompting him to return to bed. This was likely the robber's way of determining which apartments were empty. After he heard the door kicked in, the renter grabbed his handgun and ran to the living room, where he confronted the robber and shot him in the butt. The injury was non-life threatening. The shooter will not be charged, since he was defending himself and his property.

What I find interesting here is the line of questioning used when a reporter interviewed a nearby resident who heard the gunshot.

Reporter: "So, what did you hear this morning?"
Resident: "I heard a gunshot; that's all I heard."
Reporter: "Yeah, and what did you think when you heard that?"
Resident: "I thought somebody got killed."
Reporter: "Does this worry you?"
Resident: "Yes."

What does the reporter mean by "this?" There's the problem with pronouns without antecedents. Does the idea that someone just got killed worry you? Sure, I think we all don't like the idea of someone dying. Does the idea that someone used a gun to defend himself from a robber worry you? Nope. Does the idea that your neighbor owns a gun worry you? Nope; in fact, even if that did worry him, he is now safer because of the actions of his neighbor, who just sent a message across NW Houston, which has suffered a string of robberies recently, that would-be criminals should avoid those apartments.