Family to act over shooting of Scotsman

THE FAMILY of Andrew De Vries, who was shot dead in Texas after being mistaken for a burglar, are to press for charges to be brought against the man who killed him.

The body is expected to be flown home tomorrow to Dundee, where most of the family live. They say he died needlessly at the hands of a trigger- happy householder and are angry at the police, who they say implied his killer was justified in opening fire.

Mr De Vries, 29, from Aberdeen, was shot at about 5am local time after he knocked on the back door of a house, apparently seeking a taxi for himself and a Scottish colleague, Sydney Graves, 42.

Relatives were angered by a newspaper photograph of the scene, which they said seemed to show the door was glass-panelled. This suggested that Mr De Vries would have been visible to the man who fired several shots through the door.

Mr De Vries' sister, Lindsay, said yesterday: 'We are going to press for charges to be brought against the man, and we will be going all-out.

'We are absolutely outraged that it was a glass door, and there also seems to be an outside light, with a sensor. My brother and his companion were not acting like burglars. They were deliberately drawing attention to themselves, and they must have been completely visible.'

Houston police said it was unlikely the man would be charged. The house was in a neighbourhood known for 'kick burglaries', in which intruders battered down doors.