Pregnant Woman and Boyfriend Hold Armed Home Intruder at Gunpoint


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When a McMinn County, TN couple, a young pregnant woman and her boyfriend, came home to find their home had been broken into, they drew their weapons to clear the house, finally coming face-to-face with the armed home intruder who was hiding inside their closet.

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“I’m still shaken up. I don’t wanna be left alone,” Candise Webb told Eyewitness News.

Webb said she still has nightmares after what happened at her home on County Road 172 in Athens on Monday night. When she and her boyfriend, Jonathan Moore, arrived home, they noticed their windows were broken.

Someone was inside the house.

The couple went inside, going room to room with their guns drawn.

“The closet door was half, like, creaked open a little bit, with a gun sticking out,” Webb said.

They recognized the gunman, hiding in the closet, as their own neighbor. Deputies identified him as 20-year-old Johnny Locke.

Webb, who is five months pregnant, said Locke had found her pink pistol. He was holding the couple at gunpoint and threatening their lives.

“He said he was gonna shoot me in the head and kill the baby if (my boyfriend) didn’t drop his gun, or he would kill Jonathan if I didn’t drop mine,” she said.

But the couple refused to drop their guns, and called 911.

“(The dispatcher) said to stay on the phone,” Webb explained. “Just keep your gun pointed. That way, if he shoots, you fire also.”

When McMinn County deputies arrived on scene, they tried negotiating with the suspect, who was still inside the house. He called 911 before taking his own life.

“He counted down from 10. We heard “seven” then we heard a pop,” Webb recalled.

The young mother is thankful to be alive, but said she still hurts for her neighbor’s family.

“We’ve had the baby checked, and we’re doing OK,” she said. “But I do feel sorry for that family. I do.”

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