Posted on 10/03/2002 4:45:48 PM PDT by tarawa
Woman Shoots Intruder in Self Defense
Reported by Cheryl Chodun
Web produced by Kelly Reynolds
Two terrified women felt they had run out of options. The women huddled in a closet clutching a handgun while intruders roamed through their Detroit flat. But it wasn't until one of the suspected thieves opened the closet door that the women fired.
One suspect is hospitalized. He is in serious condition. He is under arrest. Police are searching for at least one more suspect and probably more. They say what happened inside the flat on Sorento looks like a clear case of self-defense.
With guns drawn, police were back at a home that was broke into Tuesday night. They weren't sure who called them, but no one was at the home Wednesday morning. The two women who live in the flat, though, had quite an ordeal Tuesday night. When it was over, one of the women had shot one of the suspects.
"You've got to protect yourself. You have to. So to me they did the right thing. Because it could have happened and they could have got hurt," said Pauline Clark, a friend of the victims.
Police say it happened just after 11:30 when the suspects broke in through a back door that leads to a bedroom in the lower flat.
"Heard the noises. She fled from downstairs and went to the upstairs neighbor and they both hid in the closet. He approached with a weapon, opened the door, and she fired approximately two shots to defend herself. One of the suspects was struck in the neck," explained Sgt. Jonathan Parnell, Detroit Police Department.
One of the neighbors says he saw the injured suspect and others running away from the home.
"He said, 'Oh, I been shot, I been shot.' He stopped by the car and ran a little further, and told his friend again, 'I been shot.' So his friend came back and grabbed him. She didn't have no other choice but to shoot him. You know? I mean that's a shame he got shot, but he had no business breaking in there," one witness said.
While crime scene investigators went through both floors of the house, ransacked and blood stained, friends of the victims, who stayed away Wednesday, say they can't believe it happened in their neighborhood.
"I was so nervous. You seen me. I was in shock," Clark said.
They're just thankful, though the two women, who are good friends, are okay.
"I'm so glad. I'm so glad. Oh, man. I hope everything gets better," said Clark.
Police say there was a trail of blood leading out the front door, down the walk, and down the street. And some people say they heard when the suspects were trying to get away, they were actually knocking on doors to try to get help. Police say they had no knowledge of help that.
The suspect is in serious condition and they are hoping when he come comes to, they can talk to him and he will help them find the other suspects. If you know anything, please call Detroit Police.
Thousands in France , Belgeum, and the Netherlands took to the streets, upsetting motorcars and burning storefronts to protest the 'American culture of violence'......
Guardian, U.K.
..with lighter powder load, and maybe a 110 gr. JHP, so you knock the bad guy flat, but don't disturb the neighbors in the house next door (and the one next to them, and the next house, and maybe the house after that, too).
FReegards.. SFS
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.