How much more detail do we need? Several ladrones gained entry to a private residence, restrained the occupants and proceeded to demand money, valuables or whatever. Subsequently shot and killed one of the residents when he put up a struggle.
It could be useful to know how the ladrones gained entry, but for now we can accept that they got in and bad things happened. We should all be conducting a periodic security audit of our domiciles and observing for a moment or two our immediate surroundings before we turn off and hop out of our car upon returning home in the dark. What are the things we do that leave us vulnerable? What are we prepared to do to make it difficult for someone to gain entry and assault us while we are at home? Will we at least know of a threat in the moments before they gain entry to our home?
Not just here in the DR, bad things do happen to nice people. People cannot assume it will never happen to them, even though it may not. You can leave your front door open at night for a cooling breeze every night for years but you have to realize this makes it easy for someone to just walk in without any advanced notice if that's what they wish to do (not saying that happened in this case).
The details of these crimes are usually used to justify our belief that "we" are not vulnerable in the same way. It was drug related and I'm not involved in that, someone owed a debt or somehow the victim did something to bring about this result. Often that's not the case other than doing something that facilitated the decision made by a criminal to choose a particular house over one further down the street. Even criminals make mistakes and hit the wrong house from time to time. If we do not know the victims(s) and know enough about the specific circumstances, it's easier to dismiss our own vulnerabilities.
These armed assaults, home invasions and general robberies occur with a relative frequency that the casual observer should not disregard them without considering whether they have taken steps to mitigate the risk to themselves. Gated communities may offer more protection over a property on the economy or they may not depending on location or whether security guards habitually take a nap at 2 am. Sometimes there is nothing you can do, it's just your turn according to the universe. Otherwise, making it readily apparent to the ladrones that another house is an easier or a more appealing target is what we should be doing and reviewing from time to time.
A high fence helps, dogs help, a well lit property helps, a fortified house with locked doors helps, watchful neighbors helps. Personal security is all about what you do to actively lower your exposure and has very little to do with rationalizing away that risk and solely playing the odds. Clearly the ladrones do come knocking with some regularity and eventually it could be at your house. Unfortunately we never know that last Thursday someone(s) sized us or our house up and decided to move along for easier greener pastures. We usually do not wish to live in a fortress or a bunker, but somewhere on the sliding scale that is real security, practicality and peace of mind meet. No guarantees, in this country or any country these days. Random can be just that, random, or not.
I'd say that anyone choosing to live in the area of La Mulata (there are others similar neighborhoods) would be well served by accepting that the area has a less than stellar reputation going back many years. Some have moved away, others stay and cope the best they can. At least I hope they are sufficiently motivated to cope and don't just plant their head in the sand waiting to see what may happen tomorrow and to whom.
The only truly important detail is that criminals killed someone in La Mulata last Wednesday night. So far these miscreants are still at large which means they could be living and ladroning in the area tonight.