West Palm Beach homeowner kills burglar with the gun the criminal was attempting to steal

When does a burglary turned into an armed robbery? It happens when the thief tries to turn one of the guns he is stealing against the homeowner. It happened last week in West Palm Beach, and the homeowner came away the survivor.

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Police say a West Palm Beach man shot and killed a 16-year-old intruder after he came home for lunch, and saw the suspect attempting to rob his home.

Authorities say it all happened around 1 p.m. Wednesday when the homeowner at 733 57th Street came home for lunch.

“Went inside and noticed there’s a young male juvenile he didn’t recognize,” said Capt. Dave Bernhardt with West Palm Beach Police. “He was taking some firearms and laying them on a sheet to get ready to steal them.”

Police say the teenage intruder pointed a weapon at the homeowner, they fought, and the homeowner shot the suspect two or three times.

“He was in fear for his life with firearms, someone he doesn’t know there in his house stealing guns,” said Capt.Bernhardt.

The burglar-turned-armed robber already had a criminal record and was on probation when this incident went down.

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