Dangerous Intervention
In rural Park County, Colorado, just southwest of Denver, a teen fled an attempted carjacking, both dialing 911 and looking for someone to help. He came across a ranch hand from a nearby ranch and told his story, pointing out the direction of the incident. The ranch hand immediately set off to look for the assailant.
Discovering the would-be carjacker, the ranch hand attempted to hold him for responding officers. A struggle ensued and in the resultant melee, the ranch hand was stabbed multiple times, and resorted to pulling a pistol and firing at his attacker. Even with the gunshot wound, the carjacker fled when deputies arrived and was apprehended after a short chase. Despite attempts to staunch his bleeding, the attacker expired before the life-flight helicopter arrived. The ranch hand was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition from multiple stab wounds.
SOURCE: The Denver Post, Denver, CO, 6/4/18
“Violent and Tumultuous”
The pre-dawn silence of a June Sunday in South Salt Lake, Utah was shattered by the sound of a man battering on an apartment door and demanding entry. As the front door was forcefully battered open, the residents barricaded themselves in a bedroom. The intruder began kicking and pounding on the bedroom door as well, and it soon gave way.
Bursting into the bedroom, the intruder came face-to-face with the occupants of the apartment, a woman and her male guest. The guest produced a firearm and, fearing for their safety, fired on the intruder, striking him at least once. The wounded intruder was transported to the hospital where he was treated and released to arresting officers and charged with burglary. A police spokesman told reporters that the man had entered in a “violent and tumultuous manner” and that Utah residents generally have the right to defend themselves in their homes.
SOURCE: KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, Utah, 6/10/18
Suburban Surprise
High noon on a weekday in the suburbs is neither the time nor the place anyone thinks they’ll need a gun, and yet a woman in unincorporated Seminole, Florida found herself in exactly that situation. Home alone and hearing the sound of someone trying to force entry, she retrieved a handgun and went to investigate the noise. Sure enough, she found an intruder had gained entry into her home.
She opened fire and struck the burglar, who fled. Not long afterward, a man suffering from a gunshot wound was found behind a convenience store a short drive away. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died of his injuries. Police say the deceased man was the intruder at the home, but the light-colored Ford Taurus he’d been seen fleeing in had not been recovered, indicating the likelihood of an accomplice still on the loose.
SOURCE: News 13, Orlando, Florida, 6/12/18
Scattergun Encounter
A Kibler, Arkansas man was awakened by the sound of his home alarm system blaring, indicating an intruder in his garage. Grabbing a shotgun, he headed for the garage to investigate. When he got to the garage, he noticed that one of the firearms he stored there had been moved. At that point, he was jumped by an intruder and a physical confrontation ensued.
Breaking contact with the intruder, the man fired his shotgun, hitting the home invader in the head with the shotgun blast. The burglar ran to the woods and was found in a nearby car, where he was taken into custody and brought to a nearby hospital. After his wound was treated, he was released and transported to jail. At the time of this writing, he was being held there without bond.
SOURCE: KHBS, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 6/6/18
