I can’t imagine the terror that must have been running through the mind of the 74-year-old Southgate, Michigan homeowner just before 5:00 AM this morning as a home invader broke in.

The homeowner armed himself and stepped outside the bedroom to protect his cancer-stricken wife as she called 911.

The homeowner ran into the armed home invader. According to investigators, the home invader raised his weapon, and the homeowner was forced to fire to save his life.

Southgate police say a 16-year-old is dead after breaking into his neighbor’s home early Thursday morning and being shot by the homeowner.

The incident happened just before 5 a.m. in the 15000 block of Flanders Street, just south of Eureka Road.

Southgate Director of Public Safety Thomas Coombs said the 74-year-old homeowner got his gun when he heard the teen, who was also armed, break in.

“As he walked through the home, the home invader confronted him with the gun. He shot the home invader and the home invader died here on scene,” Coombs said.

The homeowner apparently fired just one shot. The home invader died at the scene.

The home invader has been identified as 16-year-old James “Jimmy” Clickard, who was the neighbor of the elderly couple he tried to victimize.

According to his Twitter profile Clickard was a gang member, but whether that is true or simply teen-aged braggadocio and posturing is unknown at this time.

There was no stated motive for Clickard to attack his elderly neighbors, but I’d be willing to speculate that he might have been hoping to steal narcotics from the cancer-stricken wife of the homeowner.

This was a bad decision, and one he paid for with his life.