Fear for his family’s safety was the reason a man in Shoreline, Wash., used a handgun to thwart an early-morning break-in at the family home. The homeowner was awakened around 3 a.m. by the sound of someone yelling and kicking at the door. The resident ushered his wife and two children to one room of the home for safety. Then he grabbed his gun, a 9 mm Luger, and his older daughter called 911. While the daughter was talking to dispatchers, the family heard the sound of shattering glass. The head of the household went to see what was going on and saw that the intruder had used a piece of lawn furniture to break a window. The suspect saw the homeowner and started moving toward him. The armed citizen shot the burglar in response. Police said no charges were expected to be filed against the resident. (komonews.com, Seattle, WA, 5/5/16)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
An 8-year-old Center Point, Ala., boy was home alone one afternoon when three suspicious-looking men knocked on the front door, prompting the child to call his father and hide under a bed. The father then rushed home to discover the three suspects inside the residence. Confronting the intruders, the homeowner fired multiple shots from his handgun. Two of the criminals fled the scene, seemingly unscathed, but one was critically wounded, and would later be pronounced dead at a local hospital. (wvtm13.com, Birmingham, AL, 1/28/16)
From the Armed Citizen® Archives
August 1959
Martin Marchello was roused from bed in the rear of his Los Angeles liquor store by the crash of a display window. Seizing a rifle, Marchello ran to the front and fired at a burglar passing bottles out to his two accomplices. The burglar dropped, critically wounded, as his partners fled. (Los Angeles Examiner, Los Angeles, CA)
