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Neighbor, 83, shoots burglar

Gabriel Valdez 03.OCT.07

LA VERNIA — Raymond Charles Bunte, 83, shot and killed a burglar who
broke into his neighbor’s house at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 28.

He told deputies from the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office that he heard a
loud noise from his neighbor’s house on F.M. 1346, Sheriff Joe Tackitt Jr.
said. Since he knew his neighbor was at work, Bunte drove his vehicle
around his neighbor’s home.

Bunte saw a ve-hicle he knew shouldn’t be there and blocked it in with his
own. He saw that the front door was kicked in and, with 12-gauge shotgun
in hand, shouted for the burglars to come outside, Tackitt said.

One suspect ran, but the other, 23-year-old Dustin Brandon Houston, got
into his vehicle and tried to run over Bunte.

Bunte fired once, hitting Houston in the head and killing him instantly,
Tackitt said. Bunte’s wife flagged a passerby down on the road, who
made a call to the police at 1:52 p.m.

Bexar County law-enforcement units and the Texas Rangers assisted
Wilson County deputies in the search for the other suspect, identified as
Steven Christopher Muniz, 24. Texas Rangers arrested Muniz at 10 p.m.
at his home on the south side of San Antonio. He was arrested on
outstanding San Antonio warrants for burglary of a habitation. Wilson
County has yet to charge him, Tackitt said.

Houston and Muniz had told friends earlier that day they were on their
way to commit burglaries in Wilson County, according to Tackitt.

“We think they may have been responsible for a number of burglaries
here,� Tackitt said. A number of stolen items were retrieved, but owners
have not yet been identified. - Wilson County News