Every time I see one of these stories it breaks my heart.  How sad that anyone thinks that life isn’t worth living after losing a home.

Kurt Aho’s home was sold at a foreclosure auction on Tuesday.  When the new owners came by and asked him when he was going to vacate, he shot out their tires.  He had a beer with a neighbor right before the police came:

Jeffrey Hobson said he shared a final beer with Aho moments before the confrontation. He said he worried when Aho told him he wanted to die.

“He said, ‘When the cops get here either I’m gonna die by them or I’m gonna kill myself,’” said Hobson. “They gave him exactly what he wanted.”

Neighbors who witnessed the incident around 4:30 p.m. said Aho paced the cul-de-sac with gun in hand after chasing away the new owners. As officers ordered him to drop his weapon, the self-employed contractor ignored them, walking back to his home to fetch fresh beers.

Officers first shot Aho with rubber bullets, hitting him in the arm. Aho then fired twice at officers, striking the SWAT team’s armored vehicle with one shot, according to James Holmes, a Phoenix police spokesman.

Aho, who suffered from recurring bouts of cancer and was having a hard time finding work told neighbors he had nothing left to live for. 

L checked on the financing of Aho’s home and discovered that Aho refinanced in 2005 for $99,000.  In 2007 he took out a $176,000 HELOC.  L is a big advocate of people being responsible for their actions and not just blaming the lenders.  He did however have this comment:

Maybe the people who loaned him $176,000 on top of the $99,000 should be a little responsible as well as himself. What were they doing lending him that much against a house that wasn’t worth but $99,000 ?

Good question.

 

 

This sad story from the Arizona Republic grabbed the attention of both M and L this evening.  Thanks guys!