Hickory, North Carolina

From Charlotte's WSOC of July 4, 2007

79-Year-Old Man Shoots Intruder During Hickory Home Invasion

An elderly man feared for his life and shot a 23-year-old man who broke into his home Tuesday night in Hickory.

The 79-year-old man woke up to find that someone had broken into his home.

His quick thinking may have saved his life and his wife’s.

The man told his wife to go the neighbor’s house and be safe. Get out while she could.

The man then grabbed his handgun that he had in the house and waited for the intruder.

When the burglar walked into his bedroom, the elderly man shot him in the head.

The elderly man said it was a split second decision and one that he doesn’t regret.

Investigators said the man had a right to defend himself and his home.

The 23-year-old intruder is in the hospital and is expected to survive.

Investigators said that he would be arrested as soon as he is discharged from the hospital.

From the Army Times of July 5, 2007

Ex-sharpshooter surprises would-be burglar

When an unexpected knock rattled the front door, 79-year-old Dwight Cook left his perch in front of the television to investigate. But no one was there.

Minutes later, he heard the sliding glass doors break, and Cook sent his wife to the neighbors’ house and grabbed his gun. The would-be robber who entered Cook’s home late Tuesday night wasn’t expecting to run into anyone — let alone a former Army sharpshooter.

Cook used his .22-caliber weapon to fire a warning shot into the ceiling, but the bullet ricocheted and part of it hit the intruder in the forehead, said Lt. Hank Guess with the Hickory Police Department.

“I wasn’t aiming for him. I’ve handled guns since I was 12,” Cook said. “If I wanted to hit him, I would have. If he’d moved, the next shot would have stopped him.”

Cook held the man at gunpoint until police arrived after he dialed 911.

The intruder, 23-year-old Derek Scott Frenceschini of Hickory, was arrested. He was hospitalized for the bullet fragment in his skull and a fractured hand he injured during the break-in, officials said.