Posted on 09/25/2009 4:03:38 PM PDT by ResistorSister
The intruder carried a silver gun when he opened the door and walked into Tabitha Billings’ home Tuesday night.
A white bandana covered the lower portion of his face. Another covered the upper portion. Only his eyes were visible.
Billings said she thinks he may have known her, and that he likely intended to rob her of her college loan money. Billings attends Brown Mackie College, and she’d recently received her tuition check.
Only a few knew.
The intruder left without it.
But not before shooting her pregnant dog in the head.
Billings said the medium-sized, mixed-breed dog she calls Jada was only shot because she was trying to protect Billings and her three-year-old son, Alexander.
She and her son had just finished dinner about 8:40 p.m. Tuesday. They were playing on the living room sofa of her home in the 1700 block of Third Street NE. The TV was on and mother and son were changing the wheels on a mini-skateboard toy she had bought him.
She was expecting her cousin for a visit and, when she heard the door open, she looked up to see, instead, “this guy in a mask” with a silver gun.
“He never said not a word, nothing. He just looked at me and my son. He pointed the gun at us, and I just turned and grabbed by son and cradled him and screamed,” Billings said.
Jada came around a corner and headed toward him.
As she held tight to her son, “I kept saying, ‘Just get him Jada. Get him, girl,’ ” Billings recalled.
The dog, which Billings had taken in off the street about six months ago as a stray, had evidently surprised the intruder.
“He went to go back out the door, and she was still trying to attack him. I don’t know if the gun got lodged between the door or what, but it went off and he shot her,” Billings said.
Still holding her son, Billings sprang forward, struggling to shut the door and lock it behind the intruder, she said. Then, carrying the boy, she ran upstairs and frantically searched for a phone.
Unable to find it — she’d left her cell phone on the sofa — Billings loudly pretended that she was already on the phone and already reporting the incident to the police.
“I just didn’t know what else to do,” Billings said. “I knew if he was still outside, he could hear me.”
Evidently, he left and she was able to retrieve a phone to dial 911.
Despite a massive amount of bloodshed, the bullet only grazed Jada’s head. It struck her above the left eye.
Billings said that Dr. Michael Nicoletti in the Magnolia area confirmed Thursday that the bullet hadn’t entered Jada’s skull. He also confirmed she was due to give birth to puppies within 24 hours, she said.
And now she has a message for the gunman and his accomplice, as she believes two men were involved: “I want them to know they didn’t get away with nothing. They didn’t kill my dog.
“She’s definitely a hero. I’m glad I had her because that could’ve been me or my son.”
Sgt. Eric Risner of the Canton Police Department’s Detective bureau asked that anyone with information about the intruder to call him at the police department at (330) 438-4413.
WATCH ON YOU TUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69Z2tRh3Kj8
The Philidelphia Eagles are also interested. They wan't to know how fast can he run the 40 yard dash.
Happy ending.
Those are the best endings.
Yep.
Happy ending. But it was naughty to use that headline and lead paragraph. Most readers would assume that the dog was killed.
I would have found it far happier if the woman had been armed and put a 9mm hole right between the perp’s eyes.
When my family and I heard about the story yesterday, we actually thought the dog had been killed. We were happy to see that the dog is doing well.
Hope to see pictures of the new puppies when/if they are available.
ping.
Yes. I would like to see the pups too. I will email the editor of the paper and ask him to publish pictures of the pups.
No, of course you should use the original headline. I was talking about the reporter. I just thought that the story was oddly written. First we’re told that the dog was shot in the head, then we learn that the dog is fine. Happy ending, but not properly written, IMHO.
You’re right! btw: If you lived in Stark County Ohio and read the Repository daily, you would know that “oddly written” stories are the M.O. of the Canton Repository! :-)
I’m so glad Jada is OK and that her puppies are OK too. Sounds like the door to the home was not locked. Lock your doors everyone. God bless Jada.
I know I did. What a relief!
Mix breed? Hmm.. looks like a pitbull variant to me.
Good story! I almost didn’t finish reading it, fearing the worst for the dog, but I’m glad I did. I love a happy ending. I hope the perp isn’t so lucky.
It’s only a pit bull if it attacks someone, not if the news it creates is positive. But I agree, I think it looks a little bit like a pit mix too. In fact, it looks strikingly like the Ken-L Ration Dog of the Year in 1993, Weela, and she was a pit bull.
What a good dog! I bet she keeps one of her pups too, I would.
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