Harrison Township, Ohio

From the Dayton Daily News of December 12, 2006

Woman shot with own gun

The Harrison Twp. resident, 70, fought with intruders, who shot her during the struggle.

Montgomery County — A 70-year-old woman was shot and seriously injured by her own gun during a struggle with an intruder Sunday night.

Shirley Rose lives alone in a mobile home at 3801 South Trail Drive in Harrison Twp. She was dressed for bed and in her living room when two men in masks forced their way in about 10:40 p.m. and demanded Rose's purse, Montgomery County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Papanek said.

Rose refused and struggled with one of the intruders. The intruder fired the gun during the struggle, hitting Rose in the stomach, Papenek said.

Detectives believe the intruders took the gun when they fled. Deputies searched the area but found no suspects.

Rose had surgery at Miami Valley Hospital, Papanek said, and was in serious condition Monday.

Scottsdale, Arizona

From Phoenix’ AZCentral.com of December 11, 2006

Car burglar shot at outside bar

Police are searching for a burglary suspect who prompted a shooting outside a Scottsdale bar.

A security guard at the Club Tropicana, 7043 E. McDowell Road, fired at least one round at the man after spotting him breaking into a black Chevy Suburban at 2:20 a.m. Sunday, police said.

It was unclear if the man or the stolen vehicle were struck by the guard's gunshot. The vehicle has not been located.

Jackson, Mississippi

Armed self-defense doesn't always work as hoped. Perhaps it would have been worse if he hadn't gone for the rifle. From the December 10, 2006 Jackson Clarion-Ledger:

Curtis Addison's Gallatin Street auto body shop was burglarized. To protect it, he began to sleep there. He kept a gun in his pocket.

And now here he was on a warm summertime night, slouched and asleep in a dirty flower-print chair.

Just before midnight, a young man, tall and slim with a scarf hiding his mouth, waved a pistol in Addison's face and ordered him to remove his pants.

Addison awoke. He hesitated. He could not reach his gun. Not like this.

"Please don't shoot me, man," he begged. "I ain't done nothing. I got a daughter I'm trying to live for."

Before long, Addison went against what the experts say to do. He believed he had no choice. He stopped cooperating, and he attacked.

The gunman fired. Five shots landed. Addison bled from his leg, his arm, his hip, his chest and his belly.

But Addison was lucky. His story does not end there. Weeks later, he would be back at work, his accused attacker locked up in jail.

...

He kept a rifle under the counter, a two-shot Derringer pistol in his pants pocket. Besides that, he is a big man, a former football player with the kind of body that could easily hurt a smaller man.

So there he was two days after the scooter theft, July 6, in his shop. He fell asleep in that flower-print chair watching the news, his head cocked to the left. He remembers that clearly because that's how he was when the gunman woke him.

"Get up. Get up!" the man yelled. "Take off your pants!"

Addison knew the man wanted his pants because his wallet and keys were in there. No big deal, really, because he kept his cash in his shirt pocket.

But still, Addison did not like the look in the young man's eyes, droopy, mysterious eyes that held no shame. He believed the scarf-faced man meant to kill him.

Slowly, carefully, Addison removed his pants, the skinny young man still yelling.

The robber snatched the pants away.

The Derringer in the pocket skittered across the tile floor.

Addison attacked.

He shoved the gunman but was too far away to tackle him or to go for the big gun he held.

Bang!

A bullet ripped through a pane of glass.

Bang!

Another one tore through Addison's right leg.

The gunman took off.

Addison darted to the office, slumped into a chair, and reached for the phone.

The gunman returned.

Bang! He shot Addison again. Bang! Again.

Addison ran into the snack room and barricaded the door. There was no phone in that room.

His rifle remained under the counter, his tiny pistol in the hall, useless and sitting on the tile.

Addison bled from his leg, his hip, his arm.

He waited.

Silence.

He left the snack room and went to the office phone. He was sitting there when the gunman returned.

He shot Addison twice more. The chest. The belly.

Addison ran to the front counter. He grabbed the rifle, left the pistol.

He stormed into the office with hate in his heart, but the robber was gone.

...

He returned to work in August, and said he feels great. The robber did not get the $400 in his shirt pocket, and Addison has changed the locks on his home and his business.

The police seized his pistol and rifle to run background checks. He said he purchased both legally.

The man accused of shooting him, 23-year-old Rodney Mendenhall, is jailed with no bond on an aggravated assault charge. A trial date has not been set.

Since reopening his shop, Addison bought a new pistol, which he keeps in his pocket.

Columbus, Ohio

From Columbus’ NBC4i.com of December 9, 2006

Man Shot During Apparent Home Invasion

Bullet holes in a wall and door mark the struggle that took place during an apparent home invasion on the city's south side.

Investigators said three men with a gun forced their way inside a home on Lockbourne Road Friday night, NBC 4's Ana Jackson reported.

Resident Elaine Solomon said she was baking cookies when she heard a knock on the door.

“Me and my daughter were in the kitchen making gingerbread men when somebody knocked on the door,” Solomon said.

She said she answered the door, but didn’t recognize the man knocking.

“I see the face and I was like, ‘I don’t know you,’ ” she said

That’s when Solomon said three men with at least one gun forced their way inside, Jackson reported.

“All I remember is an arm coming over and seeing the gun,” she said. “I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I thought he was going to shoot us.”

But Solomon’s boyfriend heard the intrusion from a back bedroom and fought back.

“I just got my pistol and came around the corner,” said Red Evans. “That’s where they were pushing her through and I just started shooting.”

Evans said he shot one of the intruders and chased them from the house, Jackson reported.

Minutes later, police said they received a report from a house on nearby Ohio Avenue.

A man there had been shot, but people who lived at the home didn’t know who he was, police said.

Investigators said the same man may have been one of the suspects in the home invasion, Jackson reported.

Williamstown, Kentucky

From December 6, 2006 Grant County News (early December--no date):

It all came down to survival for Holton Smith on Saturday, Dec. 2 as he faced an intruder in his bedroom.

Two men in their mid-20s broke into Smith's home on Baton Rouge Road in Williamstown around 4 p.m. One came into the bedroom while the other stayed at the front door.

"My wife and daughter were gone so I thought I'd take nap. I left the bedroom room cracked open so our dog, Schottzie, could come in," said Smith. "He left the room, then came back in and licked my fingers, then left again.

"Then I heard the doorbell ringing," he added.

Smith said the ringing continued, followed by loud knocking on the door. Then came the unmistakable sound of his new front door being kicked in.

"I could hear someone coming when the doggie-gate fell down," said Smith. "That's when it crossed my mind that this was a life-or-death deal."

Smith grabbed a .38-special from a nearby chest of drawers.

"I couldn't get the gun out of the holster but I pointed it right at the man's face while we looked at each other," said Smith. "I knew I had to hold the gun steady."

...

"I knew that I had to get more space between me and that fellow," said Smith. "We were too close."

Then the man turned and ran toward the front door with Smith on his heels.

"The one almost ran over the other as they tried to get out," said Smith.

Both men were wearing blue jeans; one in a white shirt, the other wearing blue.

Smith fired two warning shots over their heads as they ran from his house toward Arnie Risen Boulevard.

"He could have easily shot them but he chose not to," said Williamstown Police Chief Bobby Webb.

"The only way I could've shot him was in the back and I didn't want to do that," said Smith. "I don't want to kill anybody."

Nothing was taken during the break-in.

Williamstown Officer Ron Perkins continues to investigate the incident. Deputies from the Grant County Sheriff's Office and the Kentucky State Police also assisted at the scene.

...

Smith said the event continues to play out in his mind as he weighs his decision - did he do the right thing by not shooting the men or were warning shots enough?

"This isn't about bravery. I knew I was scared but it was about survival," said Smith. "I far as I was concerned, I was facing the enemy."

Charlotte, North Carolina

From Charlotte’s WSOCtv.com of December 7, 2006

Police: Man Fatally Shot Outside North Charlotte Motel

Police are investigating a shooting at a north Charlotte motel. Officers said they went searching for the victim early Thursday, but they believe he’s the man who showed up at Presbyterian Hospital with a gunshot wound and later died.

Authorities originally headed to the InTown Suites on North Tryon Street just before 5:30 a.m. in response to a call about an attempted robbery by three men where shots were fired. When they arrived, they couldn’t find anyone injured.

Then about 5:40 a.m., officials in the Presbyterian Hospital Emergency Room called police and reported a man who had been shot had just died.

Witnesses said they heard shots fired into a motel room, then saw the man inside come out and fire back at three men, hitting one of them. Police said after investigating, they believe the three men tried to rob a woman in the parking lot when her boyfriend came out of his room and fired shots.

Investigators said when they discovered a man had died after being dropped off at the hospital, they connected the information and they believe he’s the man who was shot. That man was identified as 22-year-old Anthony Davis.

Officers have questioned several people who were involved. They said they’ve turned their evidence over to the district attorney’s office to determine if charges will be filed. They said the case may be deemed a justifiable homicide.
…

…the man who fired the deadly shot said he’s now being kicked out of the motel, so he has nowhere to stay. He said he feels he’s being punished for an action that was justified.

Fort Worth, Texas

From Fort Worth’s CBS11tv.com of December 7, 2006

Sisters Defend Store, Ward Off Would-Be Robber

Forty years worth of drive-up service at the Douglas Grocery Store in north Fort Worth came to a screeching halt on Saturday afternoon.

A man with a gun rushed inside.

53-year-old Irene Vargas was sitting in her familiar chair just inside the door. “He said, 'Give me your money or I'm going to shoot you. I'm going to kill you.' He put the gun here and hit me in the head twice,” she said.

Irene’s sister, 50-year-old Christine Vargas, was standing behind the counter. “When I saw the pistol hit her head," she said, "I knew it wasn't a joke.”

Christine wanted to protect her sister. “I pulled the tray out, which made a noise to attract his attention. Then I pulled the pistol, and knew I had to shoot because it was either him or us.”

Vargas fired two shots from her 38-Special. She missed the gunman, but did get his attention.

“I told him, 'If you can run, you'd better run fast, because if I get a chance I'm going to kill you,'" Vargas said. "He ran and that was it.”

The man got away, but the two sisters stayed at work. “She'll protect me, I'll protect her. That's how we are,” said Irene.

Saturday’s incident was the second armed robbery at the store in 10 years. Christine took the first shots during that robbery, too. “I’m not going to go without a fight. I’m going to take somebody with me,” said Christine.