The Self Defense Files - Where the good guys come out on top.

Would-be robbers shot; 1 dies

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:18:50 -0400

HOLLYWOOD, FL -- A Hollywood man turned the tables on two robbers outside his home early Saturday morning, leaving one attacker dead from his own gun and the other nursing a bullet hole in his leg and a bite on his arm, authorities said.

Police say the two robbers were after new chrome rims on the homeowner's pickup truck.

Police identified the robbery suspects as Jason Robert Melendez, 23, and Ronald Magano, 22, both men with lengthy criminal histories, according to state records.

Magano died in the attack, and Hollywood police picked up a wounded Melendez a short time later. Melendez, who is on probation, will be charged with "a multitude of felonies, including felony murder," said Capt. Tony Rode, spokesman for the department.

Frayser woman takes intruder's gun, kills him

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:14:12 -0400

FRAYSER, TN -- A Frayser woman shot and killed an intruder who kicked in her apartment door and tried to rob her around midnight Sunday.

Tameca Drummer, a resident at Carriage House apartments at 1115 Frayser Blvd., told police the man, along with two others, forced their way into her home demanding money.

The people in her apartment, including her two children, were forced into the living room, while one of the intruders forced her into the bedroom looking for money, police spokesman Sgt. Vince Higgins said.

When that man struck her on the head with his handgun, she wrestled the gun away from him and shot and killed him, according to a police incident report.

Boy, 14, shoots and kills home intruder

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:11:39 -0400

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX -- Police said a 14-year-old boy was defending himself and his mother when he shot and killed an intruder Monday afternoon at their home on Ocean Drive.

Capt. John Houston said the 14-year-old boy was home from school after becoming ill and his 46-year-old mother, Rose Ann Kozlowski, had gone to the grocery store.

"She came home and was confronted by a man with a knife," Houston said.

Cmdr. Jesse Garcia confirmed police received a call at 12:55 p.m. and responded to a report that a man was inside with a knife during a news conference across the street from the house, 4221 Ocean Drive.

Man won't be charged for shooting intruder

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:49:05 -0400

CEDAR CITY, FL -- A Cape Coral, Fla., man was justified in shooting an intruder who forced his way into the man's motor home at a Wal-Mart parking lot, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett said no charges will be filed against Carl Coltellino, who was taking his wife, Tracy, and their two daughters to Grand Canyon National Park when they made an overnight stop July 25 at the Wal-Mart.

Garrett said Stephen Stubbs, 26, of Cedar City, forced his way into the motor home and during a struggle tried to take a hand gun away from Coltellino, who shot and killed the stranger.

East Side resident kills home intruder

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:47:49 -0400

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- A man was shot and killed Thursday after an East Side homeowner awoke to noise by his front door and found the man inside his house, opening the door for another person, police said.

The homeowner had just hours earlier returned to his house on the 800 block of North Pine Street after a trip to the Hill Country.

His house had been burglarized earlier that day, Sgt. Dave Berrigan said. He was with his wife in their bedroom, their 1-year-old son in another room, when around 10:30 p.m. he heard a scuffle and grabbed the shotgun lying next to his bed, Berrigan said.

Seguin homeowner guns down intruder

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:46:54 -0400

SEGUIN, TX -- A Seguin homeowner shot and killed a burglar Monday morning after the man broke through a back door and attacked him and his wife, authorities said.

Police identified the burglar as Esequiel Urias, 28, of Seguin.

Seguin Police Department spokesman Aaron Seidenberger said the homeowner and his wife were awakened at 5:20 a.m. when Urias smashed through a back door at their home in the 700 block of Renee Street.

After picking up a wooden object in the home, he used it as a club, attacking the couple, Seidenberger said.

The couple repeatedly pleaded with Urias to leave while he struggled with the husband. When he attacked them a second time, the husband fired a handgun, striking him once in the upper torso, Seidenberger said.

Man Shoots Would-Be Intruder As He Flees Scene

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:36:09 -0400

SMITHFIELD, NC -- Is it self-defense to shoot a potential intruder who's running away? That's a question investigators are trying to answer in Johnston County, where a man shot a 19-year-old who allegedly tried to rob his home.

When 62-year-old Randle Holmes heard the lock on his side door pop, he said he had every right to shoot the potential intruder. He said he was protecting himself and his wife, Patsy, who is disabled after suffering two strokes.

"Anybody come to your door at 2:30 in the morning to break in, he'll kill you," said Holmes.

Derrick Barnes, 19, is recovering from a gunshot wound to the arm. He is also in jail charged with burglary. The question for investigators is whether Holmes will face charges also.

Man kills neighbor who broke into his parents' Oakland Park townhouse

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:35:10 -0400

OAKLAND PARK, FL -- A man shot and killed an intruder who was breaking into his parents' townhouse in Oakland Park today, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

The intruder, Jeremy Goldwire, 20, lived across the street from the gated community where the shooting happened.

Richard McKinley, 26, was sleeping in his parents townhouse at 3259 NW 44th St. around 11:54 a.m. when he was awakened by a noise, according to the sheriff's office.

McKinley came face-to-face with three intruders and pulled out a gun. There was a brief struggle and then McKinley shot Goldwire, a BSO spokeswoman said.

Burglary suspect shot with own gun in critical condition

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:27:18 -0400

FORT WORTH, TX -- A suspected burglar shot several times Monday with his own gun remained in critical condition but is expected to survive his injures, police officials said Tuesday.

Avery Harris, 36, checked into Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital with gunshot wounds to the abdomen, not long after a Fort Worth man called police to report that he had shot an intruder inside his apartment and that the burglar had fled.

Lt. Gene Jones, a police spokesman, said investigators were able to collect evidence that confirmed Harris was the suspect involved in the burglary. He faces a charge of burglary of a habitation.

Home intruder shot

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:25:09 -0400

THORNTON, TX -- A Thornton man shot an intruder who tried to break into his home early Friday morning as he was on the phone with 9-1-1 waiting for sheriff’s deputies to arrive.

Vincent Llanas called the Milam County Sheriff’s Office at 12:32 a.m. Friday, saying a man was trying to open the door to his home on County Road 433, according to a statement from the department.

While Llanas spoke with the dispatcher, the suspected intruder, Joel Warren Simank, 30, of Thornton, broke a window and tried to unlock the front door, according to the statement. Llanas grabbed a .12-gauge shotgun and shot at the door.

Man chases, shoots intruder

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:22:33 -0400

ALIQUIPPA, PA - A shooting on Irwin Street in Aliquippa Sunday afternoon had an unexpected result for city police - the victim was a man they had been searching for since a May homicide on Franklin Avenue.

Michael W. Ross, 21, was shot in the leg Sunday after he entered a home at 1221 Irwin St. around 4:15 p.m. and demanded money from residents, said Sgt. Don Couch, city police detective. Ross got some cash and fled, chased by Willie Jordan Jr., a resident of the Irwin Street home, who was also armed.

Couch said gunfire erupted between the two on Irwin Street. Ross, who was struck in the leg, made it around the corner to Maratta Road, where he was found by city police.

Teen shoots, kills intruder after struggle

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:19:41 -0400

HILLSBOROUGH, NC -- Authorities will not file charges against an 18-year-old Orange County man who shot and killed an intruder at his home in the northern part of the county Sunday evening after the intruder chased the teen out of the house and began fighting with him.

The teen, identified as Danny Jones Jr., of Cedar Valley Drive, was not charged with killing the intruder, identified as Ken Powell, 20, of 7217 Gates Road, Hurdle Mills.

A third man, Greg Freshour, 24, of 720 Brice Court, Cedar Grove, who was with Powell during the alleged home break-in has been charged with breaking and entering in connection with the incident.

Midtown Rambo; Victim Fight Backs, Kills Robber

Tue, 30 May 2006 14:15:12 -0400

ATLANTA, GA -- Five robbers picked the wrong victim in Midtown Atlanta last night and one of them paid with her life.

The victim, Thomas Autry, fought back; killing one robber and wounding another. Three other suspects are in jail.

Autry was walking to his girlfriend's home after getting off work as a waiter at Jocks and Jills.

The five suspects pulled up in a car and confronted the victim in the 500 block of Penn Street just before midnight.

Autry began running down the street yelling for help. Residents who heard him called 911. While he was running, Autry pulled a pocket knife from his backpack.

Intruder shot by teen with two guns

Wed, 24 May 2006 11:06:51 -0400

HOLLYWOOD, CA -- Maxine Chandler thought she would faint in the wee hours of Saturday when she heard a knock at her door and opened it, only to have a man lunge toward her.

She slammed the door shut and watched the 6-foot-tall man banging a bicycle against the front of her house -- repeatedly hitting the window and the door.

Chandler's screaming and crying roused her 15-year-old son, Javaris Granger, who came to see what was wrong.

Javaris went to his mother's bedroom and loaded the two handguns his father keeps for protection in the home in the 700 block of South 61st Avenue. The family also called 911.

Police: Woman Shoots Would-Be Killer

Fri, 05 May 2006 10:25:12 -0400

OWENSVILLE, Ohio -- A woman shot her would-be killer after wrestling a shotgun away from him Monday morning, according to police.

Sheriff A.J. Rodenberg said Cassandra Gray found Gary L. Glass standing in her doorway and pointing a shotgun at her at about 7:30 a.m.

According to Rodenberg, Glass told Gray that she should get dressed so that they could leave her home in the 1700 block of U.S. 50. Glass apparently told the woman that he was going to kill her and then kill himself.

Gray convinced him to allow her to let her dogs outside, buying her time to call 911. When Glass saw her on the phone, he allegedly struggled with her, at which point Gray grabbed the weapon and ran into her dining room. Glass ran after her, so Gray shot him and then locked herself in a bedroom, police said.