Defensive gun uses take place every day in the United States, though they rarely garner the type of headlines or media attention that violent crimes receive. Local press outlets are more likely to cover an armed citizen story, but even when they do, it’s often a quick blurb in the paper or a 20-second story on the evening news. It’s easy to miss these stories of self-defense, so here’s a roundup of a few recent incidents that you probably haven’t heard about, starting with the naked would-be intruder in Mississippi mentioned in the headline.
On Monday night just before 9 p.m., Simpson County 911 dispatch received a call of a burglary in progress with shots fired at 135 Dan George Road. The caller stated that a naked man, later identified as Clint Jones Jr., was attempting to break into her mother’s home next door.
According to Simpson County officials, the woman’s husband then went next door and confronted the alleged suspect. The two men reportedly began fighting and shots were fired.
Jones was shot in the torso and arm, authorities said.
Jones was pronounced dead at the scene, and while authorities are continuing to investigate, at this point all indications are that this was a justifiable shooting. There are still a number of unanswered questions, however, including whether Jones knew the woman whose home he was targeting and why Jones was stark naked while trying to break in.
Police in Evansville, Indiana have also been mum on any potential relationship between a man who invaded a home in the city over the weekend and the homeowner who shot the intruder in self-defense.
Evansville police spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Gray said an armed man went into a home near the 1800 block of McConnell Avenue. The homeowner and the man reportedly fired their guns at each other, and the man who entered the house was shot.
An EPD incident report says the shooting was reported at 2:19 p.m.
The injured man was taken to the hospital for treatment and is expected to survive, said Gray, who did not provide more information on his condition.
In San Antonio, Texas, authorities are investigating a home invasion that took place on Wednesday evening on the city’s west side. Based on the early reports, it sounds like an armed homeowner may have saved multiple lives in the attack.
Police said a 17-year-old boy broke into the home armed with a rifle and a handgun. The home had four people inside. At some point, one of the people inside the home opened fire on the suspect who was trying to rob the house.
A gunfight ensued between the suspect and resident, which ended with the suspect being shot.
The suspect drove off and showed up at the Children’s Hospital with a gunshot wound. He was rushed to Santa Rosa Downtown Hospital in critical condition. He will be charged with burglary of habitation.
I can’t believe that the suspect is only facing burglary charges, given the fact that he shot at the occupants of the home. You’d think aggravated assault or attempted murder would be appropriate here, but at the moment it appears the 17-year old isn’t accused of any violent crime. The homeowner, on the other hand, isn’t facing any charges at all.
I’d love to be able to tell you that we’ll be updating these stories with more information once the investigations are complete, but honestly, I doubt any of the local news outlets bothers with any additional coverage of these incidents. We’ll keep our eyes open in case on the off chance that there’s a followup to the original reports, but we’ll also continue to highlight additional armed citizen stories every day on Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co.
