When Ronald Bracey awoke to his wife’s screams, he leapt from bed, got his handgun and stepped out of the bedroom where, to his immense terror, two men were holding guns to his wife’s head. The men wore hats that read “police,” but Bracey knew immediately that these were no officers of the law. He opened fire, expending eight rounds in succession and striking one of his wife’s attackers. The two men fled and were joined by a pair of accomplices. That evening police K-9 units found three of the four suspects. (Marco Eagle, Marco Island, Fla., 07/26/11)
The Armed Citizen Extra
(The following account did not appear in the print version of American Rifleman.)
A California man and his girlfriend were at home with their two small children when two teenagers broke into their home through a back window in search of money. When the intruders were confronted by the homeowners, they fired their guns, striking the man and his girlfriend. But the couple did not give up. Though wounded, the man wrestled the gun from one of the teens and returned fired, killing him. The other teen was charged with the murder of his accomplice under the provacative-act doctrine, which holds accomplices responsible when their crime partners act in a way that leads to death, and was also accused of two counts of attempted murder, attempted residential robbery and one count of burglary. The man and woman were hospitalized and faced no charges. (The San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA, 06/10/10)
From The Armed Citizen Archives
October 1979: When two men entered an Albuquerque, New Mex., convenience store demanding money, night clerk Reno Petrucci thought they were joking. One of the thugs, however, punched Petrucci and two companions. At that, Petrucci pulled a .38 and held the assailant until police arrived; the second man fled the scene. (The Tribune, Albuquerque, N. Mex., 7/10)
