I’ve got a gun, don’t come any farther,” shouted Toluca, Ill., homeowner Brad Burns. But the warnings went unheeded and Burns fired, killing the intruder who was later identified as Douglas Sullivan. The incident began that night at 2 a.m., when Sullivan began shouting and swearing outside the home loudly enough to wake the neighbors. Sullivan then used a playground slide to smash a window and enter the house. Burns sent his wife and child into a closet while he retrieved his gun. He tried to scare off the intruder, but to no avail. Marshall County State Attorney Paul Bauer declared the shooting justifiable, saying, “There is no doubt in my mind that they were in fear of their lives.” (Journal-Star, Toluca, IL, 10/27/04)
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Jewelry store owner Larry Dickerson was working in his Raleigh, N.C., store when he noticed that the three men who had come inside were acting suspiciously. Dickerson was making sure that his gun was handy when he noticed one man had taken a gun out of his pocket. “When he wheeled around, I hit the floor. He fired three shots at me,” said Dickerson. A retired police officer, Dickerson, who never fired a shot in more than 20 years of duty, returned fire. No one was injured in the exchange. The three men then fled the store and have not been apprehended. “You have to have a gun,” Dickerson said. “If I didn’t have it, I’d be dead.” (News-Observer, Raleigh, NC, 10/20/04)
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Nevada resident Dan Simmons was awakened early one morning by his houseguest who warned him that someone was trying to break into the house. The police were called, but no one was found. Shortly after the police left, a man approached the front door telling Simmons to come outside; he instead retrieved his gun. A moment later the glass in his front door shattered and the intruder made his way inside. Simmons fired, hitting the intruder, who in turn fled. Simmons said he believed the man may have at one time worked construction at his home. “I don’t feel safe. I am taking precautions,” Simmons later said of the incident, adding, “I advise everyone else in town to do the same.” (Pahrump Valley Times, Pahrump Valley, NV, 10/20/04)
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Eighty-year-old Lonnie Morgan was just trying to be of help when he showed a stranger to his garage to get a tool to fix his broken-down car. When they got to the garage, the intruder hit Morgan over the head with a barbell, knocking him unconscious. When Morgan regained consciousness, he returned to the house only to find the intruder attacking his wife with a lamp. Morgan offered to get money for the man, but instead retrieved his gun and shot the intruder once. Police charged the intruder with aggravated assault and battery. The Morgans were both listed in fair condition at a local hospital. (Savannah Morning News, Savannah, GA, 10/30/04)
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A Kingman, Ariz., man ended up in critical condition after a night of drunken and disorderly behavior. The night began when the man urinated in his neighbor’s back yard and refused to leave. The neighbor called the police not long after the man’s wife called them to report him for unruly and loud behavior. The third call to police came from another neighbor who said a man was trying to break down her door. He eventually forced his way into the house and, despite repeated warnings from the homeowners, refused to leave. The homeowner then shot the intruder once in the stomach. He was charged with felony first-degree criminal trespassing. (Kingman Daily Miner, Kingman, AZ, 11/07/04)
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In the dark of the night, an Eliot, Maine, homeowner was awakened to the sounds of pounding and screaming at his front door. David Oeser went to the entrance to find a 6-ft., 2-in., 330-lb. man breaking down his door. Oeser then fled to his bedroom but was followed by the intruder, who continued to scream incoherently. Oeser grabbed his gun and yelled several times, “Stop or I will shoot,” but the man kept coming. Oeser fired, hitting him once. The man was apprehended at the scene. Police later revealed that less than 24 hours earlier, the intruder had been arrested and given a psychiatric exam after an unprovoked attack on a man in a local restaurant. (Central Maine News, Eliot, ME, 11/05/04)
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A man came looking for some easy money from what he thought was an easy target, but left empty-handed. The clerk at the convenience store in Colbert Heights, Ala., recounts that he arrived for work at 5:20 a.m. and noticed someone in a car outside. Shortly thereafter, the man in the car entered the store and got a drink from the cooler. When he approached the counter, he produced a large knife and demanded all the money in the cash register. The clerk, in return, produced his gun and asked, “Do you want this or the money?” The robber fled the store, but was later apprehended and charged with first-degree robbery. (Times Daily, Florence, AL, 11/04/04)
