He Kicked the Wrong Door
In the wee hours of a Monday morning in July, the quiet of a St. Louis, Missouri home was disturbed by the sound of someone violently trying to kick in the front door. One of the four residents, a 21-year-old male, retrieved a firearm and moved to the sound of the disturbance.
The door gave way and the intruder forced his way into the home, whereupon the resident opened fire, striking the intruder and causing him to collapse. 911 was called and responding officers found the intruder in the house with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, 7/23/18
Garage Intruder
Around one in the morning, a west Houston homeowner heard furtive sounds coming from his garage. Listening more closely, it became apparent that someone had entered the garage of his house, which was in a normally quiet subdivision, and was trying to break into his car. Arming himself with a pistol, the homeowner entered the garage to confront the thief.
But instead of running off, the intruder lunged at the homeowner, who fired in self-defense. The shot struck the burglar in the head and caused him to flee. Responding officers called in a K-9 unit and the wounded intruder was found hiding behind an air-conditioning unit a couple houses away. He was airlifted to a hospital in serious condition. The burglar turned out to be the teenage son of a neighborhood resident.
SOURCE: KIAH-TV, Houston, Texas, 7/27/18
Blocked Exit
It was two in the morning on a Thursday when a Houston, Texas man wheeled his truck back into the gated lot of the apartment complex where he lived. As he exited his vehicle and prepared to walk across the parking lot to his apartment, a trio of men approached him. One put a gun to his head and demanded the keys to his vehicle. As the carjackers roared off in his truck, they were stymied by the complex’s gated exit.
Pulling a U-turn, they whipped the truck around and tried to run the truck’s owner over in the parking lot. Fearing for his life, the victim pulled a concealed handgun and fired at his own truck in an attempt to keep from being run over. As the truck came to a halt and the carjackers bailed out, the victim ran toward his truck again, engaging the trio of carjackers in a shootout, fatally wounding one. The other two escaped and were still being sought by police at the time of this writing.
SOURCE: KTRK-TV, Houston, Texas, 7/19/18
Ramblin’ Man
It began with a carjacking in El Paso County, Colorado on a Monday afternoon. The carjacker then drove off into the Pike National Forest in adjoining Douglas County. Along the way, he took potshots at passing vehicles. Winding his way into the Devil’s Head campground, he parked and exited the vehicle with a rifle, pointing it at a camper.
But the camper was also armed and opened fire on the advancing gunman, striking him several times. Responding officers from the Manitou Springs PD and Douglas County Sheriff’s Department called for medical assistance, and the carjacker was transported to a local hospital. He faces charges in both counties when he recovers from surgery. Only the suspect was injured in the incident, according to police spokesmen.
SOURCE: Castle Rock News-Press, Castle Rock, Colorado, 7/3/18
