It’s a case of Home Alone gone wrong in the town of Van Buren, Maine, United States.
Although I liked Home Alone as a kid, and I also liked the booby trap part of the movies, actually setting them was something I’ve never thought about.
Because y’know, despite how harmless the traps seem and little damage the two burglars took, it’s actually really dangerous. One would also have to be really paranoid to start booby-trapping their own houses.
More than likely, you’re just going to set those traps off yourself. As someone who has the memory of a goldfish, it’s just not something I’d trust myself to do.
And in the case of Ronald Cyr, a 65-year-old American man, this seemed to be exactly what happened: setting off his own trap.
Called Police; Says He’d Been Shot
In the early evening of Thanksgiving, 28 Nov 2019, the police responded to a 911 call from the man in a residence on St. Francis Avenue, who said he had been shot.
Police were accompanied by Ambulance Service and US Border Patrol when they reached the place.
They gave him emergency medical assistance and was taken to the hospital, but his injuries proved to be fatal.
Booby-Trapped House Forces Police To Call In Bomb Squad
Officers on the scene found that the front door was altered to fire a handgun when someone tries to enter. Not only that; there were other “unknown devices” that were discovered and alarmed the investigators to contact the Maine State Police Bomb Squad.
Holy shit! What kind of intruder was this guy expecting?
We don’t have pictures from the man’s home, but here is a video of a booby-trapped abandoned house. A knife-trap can be seen at around 1:30:
From investigations, it would appear that Mr Cyr had been shot by his own device, though it is not known how.
“Following an extensive investigation that lasted into the early morning… it was determined that Mr Cyr had been shot as the result of the unintentional discharge of one of his homemade devices.”
It’s damn stupid, I know.
It’s Illegal To Install Traps
You S’poreans reading this might be thinking about how crazy America is for having people like this set. But I assure you that this isn’t common at all (even if a simple Google search can give you countless similar cases…).
In fact, it is illegal for home-owners to do so.
Legally, life is valued more than property and devices like that cannot prevent accidental harm or distinguish between targets. Although home-owners do have the right to protect their home, they do not have the right to decide punishment.
If you have 20 mins to spare, you might want to watch this:
Here’s to hoping Americans will have a safer country, and maybe in the future, we no longer need to worry about guns in homes.
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
