East St. Louis, Illinois



From St. Louis’ KSDK.com of August 9, 2004



You Go, Girl!

Woman Fires Gun During Break In Attempt



Police are questioning three juveniles suspected of trying to break into an East St. Louis home. If they are the culprits, they got more than they bargained for when the homeowner used her gun.



Nina Sloan, 87, may have trouble walking because of her arthritis, but she has no problems wielding a gun. Wednesday around 10:00 p.m., intruders tried to break into Sloan's home, "They broke this down to unlatch the door, that's what they were going to do, see. I wasn't going to let them do that."



Sloan fired two shots with her .38 special but missed her target, "See if I had been right over here, I would've gotten him in the right in the belly."



East St. Louis Police Deputy Chief Rudy McIntosh happened to be in the neighborhood when he responded to the 911 call, "I got there within a minute or so and she still had the weapon in her hand ready to shoot again and I had to holler out, 'police, police.'"



The very next day, police caught three juveniles burglarizing another home just down the block. They believe those three are the same ones who tried to break into Sloan's home.



Deputy Chief McIntosh said, "I've been in law enforcement for 10 years now, I've seen scenarios where people have preyed on the elderly and burglarized their home and left them dead, so she did the right thing."



Neighbors are now trying to help fix the damage and remove the weeds surrounding the home. A neighbor told Sloan, "What we'll do is clear that out and at least it will give them less of a hiding place. I've also got to find a carpenter to come in and repair this door."



When asked if she was afraid, Sloan answered, "Uh-uh. Ain't afraid of nothing. I don't fear nobody but God." And she's not afraid of the intruders coming back. Sloan said, "I ain't looking for trouble, but when they come in here they got a lot of trouble."