Authorities in Mesquite, Texas say an armed homeowner got the jump on a would-be burglar Monday morning, protecting herself with a firearm while sending the intruder fleeing.
It was about 10:30in the morning when the woman, who works from home, took a quick respite from her job and discovered an open window in her office when she returned. That’s when she grabbed her handgun; a wise move on her part, especially since she spotted the burglar in her back yard just a few moments later.
“I peeked out, and my plants weren’t on my window. I went into my kitchen and grabbed my handgun. And then I looked out and saw someone was in my backyard,” she recalled. “I opened the door and said, ‘What are you doing in my yard?’ And he charged towards me, and I unloaded them.”
The woman wasn’t sure if she struck the burglar but quickly called 911.
Mesquite police say the man was not hit, and the woman fired the pistol into the ground.
“He ran off apologizing. He jumped right back over the fence, and he was gone,” she said.
I’m not sure if she was aiming for the suspect or the ground, but either way a trip to the local range would probably be a good idea going forward.
The victim’s family just moved from Dallas to Mesquite last month. The mother says she grabbed her gun, ready to keep her home safe.
“I had to. I have seven kids to live for. I work hard for what I have,” she said.
The woman says she learned a lesson from the incident.
“Keep all my windows closed and all my guns loaded,” she said.
Another good idea on her part. I’m actually surprised that the temperatures were comfortable enough in Mesquite that she had her windows open to begin with, but an open window is an open invitation for trouble, even in broad daylight.
In this case the would-be thief managed to get away, but a man who broke into a home in Bakersfield, California wasn’t so lucky.
Police say Tanarri Stocker, 38, allegedly entered the garage of an occupied home and attempted to force his way into the home through a side door while armed.
Stocker allegedly entered the home and was shot by a resident, officials said in a release.
Police say the resident’s firearm was legally owned and the resident did not know the alleged intruder.
Stocker was taken to a local hospital and is in critical condition.
Police say they found 51-year-old Dustin Personette inside the home just before 1:30 a.m. with a gunshot wound.
Police say Personette was having a mental health event and broke into the home wielding a shovel. Officers say the homeowner, who is related to Personette, shot him.
Personette was taken to the hospital and is stable. Once released, police say he will be arrested and could face charges of 1st Degree Burglary.
Hopefully he’ll be getting some treatment for his mental health as well as his physical injuries going forward.
Finally, authorities in Fort Dodge, Iowa say a man who shot an intruder in May will face no charges because he was acting in self-defense.
Police say the shooter called 911 on Wednesday, May 31 and claimed a male was breaking into the garage of his home on 6th Ave South shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday. He told them he had also shot the alleged intruder.
Officers and medics on the scene pronounced the man dead. He was later identified as 44‐year‐old Fort Dodge resident Bryan W. Gambill.
“Both the Webster County Attorney’s Office and the Fort Dodge Police Department concluded that no charges would be filed in this case because the homeowner was acting in self‐defense,” Fort Dodge PD said on Monday.
Police haven’t released details of the homeowner’s encounter with Gambill, but given that they believe he was acting in defense of self and not defense of property there must have been some reason for the homeowner to believe that his life was in danger.
I’m sure that none of these armed citizens were planning on encountering intruders in their homes, but thankfully they were all prepared when a threat arrived on their doorstep. We don’t get to choose if we’re the victim of a crime, but how we respond is up to us, and in these cases each of these residents refused to be a victim and chose to fight back instead. Their actions should be commended, and their ability to quickly respond to a dangerous threat against their lives is a lesson for all of us; gun owners and non-gun owners alike. It’s easy to think that we’re safe and secure in our homes, but the truth is that our safety can be shattered as easily as the windows of our residences, and even in our own castle having a firearm at the ready can mean the difference between life and death.
