Lewis Boyd, 61, was shot and killed after breaking into a home in Corinth, MS.

“It appears the shooter was protecting his person and his property,” said Police Chief Ralph Dance. “The case will be presented to the next grand jury, which is our protocol anytime there is a death.”

At about 1 a.m. Saturday, a homeowner was watching TV when he heard glass breaking.

Realizing his home was being broken into, the homeowner yelled, “Don’t come in here, I have a gun!”.

Boyd, with his face covered by a bandana, ignored the warning and eventually “physically forced himself in through the front door,” Corinth Police Captain Dell Green said.

“A scuffle ensued,” said Dance, “and the intruder was shot three times, we believe. He then went out into the yard and fell.”

Chief Dance said Boyd had previously been arrested for burglary and robbery and had also been shot during a prior attempt a number of years earlier. That incident involved an elderly man who, after experiencing a prior break-in at his home, rigged his door with a homemade alarm system. When he heard the aluminum cans he had strung around the door rattling, he told the intruder not to come in, that he had a gun. Just like his final burglary attempt, Boyd went inside anyway.

Police found Boyd unarmed but in possession of drug paraphernalia, Green said. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The homeowner escaped the encounter with minor injuries and authorities say while he was initially taken into custody and interviewed, he was released a short time later.