A Texas town can't decide if it should praise or vilify Joe Horn, a 62-year-old grandfather who shot and killed two men suspected of burglarizing his neighbour's home.

On Monday, a grand jury cleared the Pasadena man of any wrongdoing in the deaths of the two illegal immigrants.

The two suspected burglars, Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, were unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia. Police said both were shot in the back.

A series of protests and counter-protests took place in the town, as the killings exacerbated tense southern issues such as race, gun rights and immigration.

Many were surprised that Horn wasn't charged considering the evidence against him.

"That's amazing that they would no-bill him with so much evidence against him," Frank Ortiz, a member of the United Latin American Citizens told the Houston Chronicle Monday. "This was no more than a vigilante."

Last year on Nov. 11, Horn called 911 to report that he saw two men entering his neighbours window. The operator told Horn not to confront them, but he would not listen.

"You're going to get yourself shot if you go outside with that gun," the operator said.

"You wanna make a bet? I'm going to kill them," Horn responded.

A few minutes later Horn made good on his threat, killing both men with a shotgun.

After the shooting, he redialled 911.

"I had no choice," he said, voice shaking. "They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice. Get somebody over here quick."

But after listening to the evidence and Horn's testimony, the jury cleared him.

"He wasn't acting like a vigilante. He didn't want to do it," Tom Lambright, Horn's attorney, said.

He said Horn was a scared retiree who was trying to defend his neighbour's property and when the two men came onto his yard, Horn defended himself.

"He was scared. He was in fear of his life," Lambright said.

Grand jurors had two issues to consider in the case: the intentional killing of a person and whether the killing was justified by self-defence or the defence of property.

"I understand the concerns of some in the community regarding Mr. Horn's conduct," Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson told reporters. "The grand jury concluded that Mr. Horn's use of deadly force did not rise to a criminal offense."

Texas law allows a person to use deadly force in limited circumstances to defend a neighbour's property, such as when a neighbour asks another to watch over his property while out of town. But it's not clear if Horn's neighbour had done so.

Horn did not speak with reporters Monday. A large sign saying "No Trepass" blocked the path to his door, and a handwritten sign on the door said, "Please no media."

Horn does not live there anymore, after he received death threats. His lawyer says that Horn wishes he did not pull the trigger now.

The case is seen as yet another victory for gun owners as the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban. More challenges to gun laws are expected across the country.

With a report from CTV's Joy Malbon and The Associated Press