Again, from a mailing list to which I belong. I'll admit that it is not clear that there is a connection, but rounds fired have to come down somewhere. If you have the time and ammo to waste on a "warning", it is quite possible that you don't need to shoot. In the alternative, the victim MAY have hit the offender with a shot, and calling it a warning shot presents a potential legal problem for that reason. If one is not confident that it is legally and morally sound to put the rounds into high center mass, the face, etc. - DON'T SHOOT is the right answer.

Most likely the better answer for such a scenario is letting your land sharks out to address the problem, and a good fence is a good start, too.

Those Pesky Warning Shots: Riverhead NY] Police are investigating a reported burglary and the possible link between a “warning shot” fired by the River Road homeowner and a shooting victim who was taken to Stony Brook from a Calverton Hills condominium late last night. A River Road resident yesterday afternoon reported someone had broken into his shed and stole tools, according to Riverhead Town Police. A police report was filed documenting the incident. Then just before 10 p.m. last night, the resident called police again to report that a man was burglarizing the shed. Upon police arrival, the owner of the residence reported that he went outside with a shotgun and fired a warning shot at the burglar, according to the police report. The burglar fled and he followed the subject to the Calverton Hills area of Calverton, the homeowner told police. A short time later the Suffolk County Police Department was contacted and advised that there was a victim of a shooting in Calverton Hills, Riverhead Police said. He was transported to Stony Brook Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. There is an ongoing investigation to determine if the two incidents are linked. (This report is over a week old but seems worth sharing as a reminder not to fire “warning shots” nor to claim that an otherwise justifiable shooting was intended only as a “warning shot.”)
River Road resident reports burglary, fires shot at burglar | RiverheadLOCAL

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NHI, 10-8.