Is it legal to shoot a thief?

Answer 1

(copied from another post)

In the U.S. the general answer is no. In some places, such as Texas, there are certain circumstances under which you are legally entitled to shoot someone that is stealing something, but in most of the U.S. you can only shoot another person if the person poses an imminent threat to your life or the life of an innocent third party.

Answer 2

According to Wikipedia, in West Virginia and some other states, if you, or someone else, are at risk of death or serious bodily harm while located where you have a right to be, i.e. someone coming to your car with a gun or knife and telling you to get out, it is legal to use lethal force to negate that risk.

my old neighbor was in collage and he was living in a small house with a few of his buddies. they heard someone in the garage and they grabs there replica sword. it was a robber and they didnt get charged. it was self defence. that was in nj