Hessville, Indiana

From Chicago’s NBC5.com of November 14, 2007

Police: Woman Shoots Stalker To Death After Break-In

Woman Endured Many Incidents With Stalker, Police Said

An accused stalker was shot to death Monday night by the object of his obsession after he broke into her Hessville home, police told the Northwest Indiana Times.

Hammond resident Ryan Lee Bergner, 41, was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds to his abdomen shortly after 10:30 p.m. at a local hospital.

According to the Times, Bergner went on a date with the 51-year-old woman last June, and his behavior became obsessive, offensive and violent then on [sic].

On Monday night, the woman was watching television in her living room when she said she heard Bergner break a bathroom window near her back door and called 911.

A friend had given the woman a pistol for protection earlier in the day.

After the 911 operator told her to lock herself in her bedroom until police could come, she ran upstairs to do so and retrieved the gun.

This was the second time in recent days that Bergner broke into her home, breaking a back window, destroying a clock radio, and stealing several of her undergarments over the weekend.

Police records show Bergner also had tried to kick in the woman's front door a week before that, and also accosted her at her job and being ejected from the business by her co-workers.

He also was suspected of slashing her Jeep's tires on at least two occasions, police records show.

"This isn't over yet," Bergner told the woman on Nov. 3, according to police reports.

Hiding in her closet on Monday night, the woman said she heard Bergner enter the bedroom, then watched as he opened the closet door.

She said she told him to stop, but he kept coming. She fired the gun three times.

She said he then proceeded to choke her violently before collapsing to the floor.

"I was shaking so bad, I didn't think I'd hit him," the woman recalled Tuesday afternoon. "He just kept coming… I didn't want it to end this way."

Bergner had not been charged over any of the half-dozen previous complaints made against him.

"We only went out on that one date," the woman told the Times on Tuesday. "I got a look at his temper, and realized I didn't want anything to do with him. But he wouldn't take no for an answer."

From NBC5 of January 10, 2008

911 Tape Captures Horror Before Fatal Shooting

Police in Northwest Indiana have released the audio tape of an emergency call for help.

A woman was reportedly watching TV when she heard a window breaking in her home and called 911.

She then hid in a closet, armed with a gun.

The tape captures the woman struggling with a man, repeatedly saying, "Stop it. Stop it."

The woman eventually shot and killed the intruder. Police said she will not face charges, because she acted in self defense.

Click here to listen to all of the chilling 911 call