School Day Surprise
At a little after ten in the morning on a Thursday, a White Oak, Pennsylvania man was surprised to hear the sound of someone forcing entry into his kitchen via the back door. Arming himself, the homeowner headed to the kitchen to confront the intruder. He arrived to find the man had successfully forced his way into the kitchen. The homeowner shoved the intruder and told him to leave.
Instead, the intruder swung something at the homeowner, striking him and leaving scratches. The homeowner responded by firing a shot at his attacker, sending the man fleeing back out the door and into the woods behind the surrounding residential neighborhood. Two nearby schools were put on lockdown while responding officers searched for the suspect, but the K9 unit lost his trail at the road bordering the woods.
SOURCE: WPXI-TV, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2/15/18
Killed on the Streets
A Cleveland man was walking down the street at eight o’clock on a Wednesday morning in January when he was approached by one of a pair of individuals who had been loitering nearby. The other half of the duo began scanning for anyone who may have been observing the scene, clearly acting as a lookout for the first. The scenario was exactly what it looked like—the opening moves of an armed street robbery.
However, the intended target had a concealed firearm of his own and turned the tables on his pistol-wielding attacker by drawing and firing. The would-be holdup man was struck several times, and his intended victim turned and fled. The lookout dragged the shot attacker into the back seat of his car and drove until he saw an ambulance, at which point he abandoned his fatally wounded accomplice and the car. The victim later turned himself in and, at the time of this writing, was not charged with anything, while the lookout was being sought on aggravated murder charges in the death of his accomplice.
SOURCE: Cleveland.com, Cleveland, Ohio, 2/22/18
Double Team Defense
The morning quiet of the Hemet, California retirement community was disrupted one Tuesday in February when a parolee with a history of violent crimes broke out the window of a septuagenarian couple’s front door and reached through to unlatch the deadbolt. He encountered the man of the house in the hallway, and a physical struggle erupted over the pistol the homeowner was holding. Entangled, the pair fell into the bathroom and the firearm discharged in the struggle, sending a bullet into the bathroom wall.
The intruder jumped up and ran into the hall, where he encountered the homeowner’s wife and punched her in the face. She was armed as well, and started shooting at the invader, joined by her husband who had returned to the fight. Struck several times, the intruder fled the house and was apprehended at the hospital.
SOURCE: KCBS-TV, Los Angeles, California, 2/15/18
Quiet Neighborhood?
In a secluded Beaverton, Oregon neighborhood, a homeowner was surprised to hear someone rummaging around in his kitchen shortly after noon on a weekday. Investigating the sound, he found a burglar rifling through cabinets in search of valuables to steal. The homeowner yelled at the burglar to get out and snapped a photograph of the man. The exchange of words turned into a shouting match and then a full-on scuffle.
During the struggle, the burglar managed to get his hands on a large kitchen knife. The homeowner, fearing for his life, retrieved a firearm and fired a single shot at the intruder, who promptly fled the premises. Police published the photo and received a tip identifying the man as a 29-year-old parolee with an outstanding burglary warrant. He was pulled over and arrested the next day.
SOURCE: KGW-TV, Portland, Oregon, 3/3/18