Poor listening skills.

According to the Houston Chronicle, three men intent on robbing a vehicle in Houston, Texas, ignored warnings to cease and desist--much to their regret.

When Jaime Castilla Hernandez was awakened by his dog's barking at about 4:30 a.m., he investigated and saw three men breaking into his neighbor's SUV. He phoned his son, a police officer who lives across the street, and dialed 911 before arming himself with a shotgun and confronting the thieves. When he ordered the three men to stop looting the SUV, they ignored him, and so he fired a warning shot into the air.

Apparently, an armed thief then pointed what appeared to be a weapon at him, and so he shot directly at the thieves. At about this time, Hernandez' son Noe joined his father, and he told the men to freeze. Again, they ignored the directive, and one of the thieves got into the driver's seat of the getaway vehicle, a minivan, and pointed a gun at Noe. The officer fired at the man with the gun.

The driver of the vehicle then attempted to free the scene in the van, but he only made it about a half-block away before stopping to let a fellow accomplice take his place in the driver's seat, leading police to speculate that he was likely wounded. If he was indeed hit, the driver was not the only thief to be felled by gunfire. When the van left the scene, one of the thieves remained behind, wounded in the head. He is not expected to recover.

Neither of the Hernandezes was hurt. The shooting is under investigation by the internal affairs division.