Student kills intruder with a samurai sword

Wow, I just read this on Gizmodo:

Detectives are still interviewing a John Hopkins University student who fatally lacerated the upper body of a man breaking into his off-campus residence overnight. The suspect also suffered a nearly-severed hand, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The house is home to four undergrads who had already had a Sony PlayStation and two laptops stolen earlier on Monday. Apparently, when one of the students heard noises at about 1am, he went to downstairs to investigate armed with a samurai sword. He saw that the side door to their garage had been pried open, and inside, was lunged at by the suspect, who turned out to have prior arrests for B & E.

While I respect the student for his original and apparently effective means of home security, I'm not sure the petty thief deserved to be sliced and diced by a samurai sword. However, was it appropriate self defense or excessive force? I'm interested to see the outcome of the case. Either way, this case adds another negative variable to the decision of criminal intrusion- imminent death by samurai weapon.

[Link: BaltimoreSun]