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Man Mistaken For Burglar And Fatally Shot May Have Stumbled Into The Wrong House Drunk
Authorities are investigating whether a 29-year-old man who was shot and killed by a Long Beach homeowner early Sunday morning was trying to break into the resident's home or had accidentally stumbled into the wrong house drunk following a friend's birthday party.Police were notified around 2:45 a.m. that Ryan Anderson had attempted to break into a home on the 2800 block of East Third Street, according to CBS Los Angeles. The homeowner, who was alone at home at the time, fatally shot Anderson.
"I heard three shots, which I thought were firecrackers, but they were shots," neighbor Dina Milonas said. "Then I heard the homeowner next door to me scream, 'Help me, help me.'"
Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Friends said that Anderson was celebrating a friend's birthday with them the night he was killed, and believe what happened was a "drunken mistake," according to the Long Beach Post. Anderson, whose friends said that he was "never confrontational," lived near Newport Avenue and 3rd Street, just four blocks from the home where he was shot.
"I am not mad at someone protecting themselves and their home, but [Ryan] wasn't a burglar," friend Jay Diebel told the Long Beach Post. "He was a good kid. Always funny, always a good remark. But just someone who would never break into someone's house. He didn't need that."
Authorities are planning on doing a toxicology test on Anderson to see if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Last month, another Long Beach homeowner, 80-year-old Thomas Greer, shot and killed a woman who burglarized his home in Bixby Knolls.
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