Armed Citizen® Today
A homeowner in Jefferson County, Fla., defended himself, his wife and his child from a home invasion suspect early in the morning of June 30, according to a police report.
Jefferson County police responded to a call from the residence just before 5 a.m., with the caller telling dispatchers that someone had attempted to break into the house but had been shot. Police arrived to find a suspect with a gunshot wound on the ground near the front of the house. An investigation revealed that the family in the house was woken by the noise of the suspect attempting to break through the front door. The homeowner armed himself and approached the front door, where he told the suspect multiple times to leave. The suspect persisted in attempting to break into the house, and when he finally smashed a window in the front door, the homeowner opened fire, striking him once.
The homeowner rendered medical aid to the suspect until EMS arrived. The suspect is said to be in stable condition at a local hospital. (Tallahassee Democrat; Jefferson County, Fla.; 6/30/25)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives – June 1979
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Gantt were at home when a young intruder climbed through their bedroom window one night in St. Petersburg, Fla., and assaulted the elderly couple. He then began to ransack their house. Though his hip had been broken in the attack, the 73-year-old husband reached for his loaded pistol, while his wounded wife pushed a chair against the bedroom door.
When the assailant burst through the door, Mr. Gantt shot him in the neck. Police later said that the attacker had been out of prison only a short time after serving 28 months for similar crimes. (The Times; St. Petersburg, Fla.)
