Florida: Robbery Suspect Dies After Being Shot By Property Owner

Polk County, Florida

From the Central Florida News of April 28, 2009

Robbery Suspect Dies After Being Shot By Property Owner

A Polk County man shot at two robbery suspects Tuesday morning when he thought they were going to run him down.

One of the suspects was hit in the head and died, and the other is still at large.

The incident happened near a citrus grove on Rifle Range Road in the Wahneta area of Winter Haven.

Property owner Jamie Jones heard a commotion outside while working inside his shed just before dawn.

Jones told detectives a man and woman were driving away in his Land Rover. He said after they saw him, they tried to run him over.

Fearing for his life, Jones pulled the trigger.

One of the bullets hit 21-year-old Nikki McCormick in the head. While she lay bleeding in the passenger seat, the male suspect fled on foot.

McCormick was rushed to the hospital where she later died.

Detectives aren't sure if the male suspect was hit. The property owner last saw him limping down a nearby street.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office searched for him by air and ground for hours but did not locate him. The sheriff's office hasn't been able to identify him.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says Jones likely won't face charges, and he offers a warning to other would-be robbers.

"The word to the criminal is first -- quit being a criminal, quit stealing," Judd said. "But if you're breaking into someone's house, the homeowner is very likely to shoot you."

Texas: Midlothian man's fatally shot at Arlington house, police say

Midlothian, Texas

From the Star-Telegram of April 27, 2009

Midlothian man's fatally shot at Arlington house, police say

A 42-year-old Midlothian man was fatally shot in Friday night by his former father-in-law, Arlington police said.

Police said the shooting appeared to be in self-defense, and that they would turn over evidence to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office for a determination. No one has been arrested.

Rodney Kennedy was at a home in the 1400 block of Pecan Street when he was shot by his former father-in-law, 67, police said. The shooting happened at 10 p.m. during an altercation, according to reports.

The house is near the University of Texas at Arlington.

Mississippi: Son’s 2nd shot kills intruder

Passcagoula, Mississippi

From the Sun Herald of April 24, 2009

Son’s 2nd shot kills intruder

A woman, awakened by the sound of someone removing the screen from her bedroom window, got out of her bed at 1 a.m. Friday, walked to her son’s room and quietly woke him.

“She said, ‘Snigg get up,’” the son said in an interview later Friday morning.

“I got up, grabbed my gun and went to the corner there by her room,” he said, standing at the door of the apartment, on the bottom floor of the last in a row of Spanish-style buildings in the Granada Apartments on Chicot Road.

It was dark in the apartment, but the window was backlit, Snigg said. He heard the window go up and saw a man coming in.

“He stuck his hand under and pulled the blinds back, the blinds and the curtain,” he said. “And he eased in like he was attempting to come in.

“I fired two shots, then he ran off,” Snigg said.

Police say they won’t identify the woman or her son, who offered the nickname Snigg, for fear of retribution.

Javorous Darnell Tims, 20, ran about 80 feet from the window, fell to the sidewalk and died of a single gunshot wound, police said Friday.

Pascagoula police said Snigg and his mother acted appropriately, “taking the actions they felt necessary to protect themselves.” However, because a man died, the case will be presented to a grand jury for review.

Tims, who had at one time lived in apartments not far away, was a familiar face in the parking lot of the Granada Apartments, according to Dustin Clarke, 22, who handles maintenance and courtesy security at the apartments.

Not many people in the complex heard the shots, said Clarke, who was at the scene when police investigated the shooting and talked with residents and investigators.

Clarke said Tims had gotten his head through the window when Snigg fired the first shot and missed. That shot hit the wall under the window, Clarke said. By the time Snigg fired the second shot, Tims had turned. The bullet went through Tims’ upper body, he said.

“The blinds were down. And the bullet hole in the blinds supported his (Snigg’s) story,” Clarke said.

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Idaho: Kamiah man shot and killed during alleged break-in in Stites

Stites, Idaho

From KLEW of April 24, 2009

Kamiah man shot and killed during alleged break-in in Stites

The FBI and Nez Perce Tribal Police are investigating a fatal shooting at that took place at a grocery store in Stites early Thursday morning.

It happened during an apparent attempted break-in

The Idaho County Sheriff's Office confirmed that a 21-year-old Kamiah man was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity was being withheld until family was notified.

He was one of two men who were reportedly trying to break into the Stites Grocery Store. He was shot and killed during the alleged break-in. The Sheriff's Office says the other suspect ran from the scene. Witnesses say the pair came in through a fan vent in the back of the store.

The grocery store owner, who asked to not be identified, said a man was working on an upstairs computer at the store when he heard a noise. She said that's when one of the alleged would-be burglars "came at" the man who then shot the alleged burglar in the leg. She says when the alleged burglar didn't stop, the man fired a second shot into his chest.

The Idaho County Sheriff's Dispatch Center said the call came in at 3:24 a.m. from the man who had done the shooting, saying he had shot an intruder in the store.

It was unknown if either alleged intruder was armed.

Upon arrival, deputies secured the scene while the Clearwater Valley Ambulance stood by.

The FBI is leading the investigation because the man who was killed is believed to be a Nez Perce Tribal member and the shooting took place on reservation land.

California: Man wrestles gun from intruder in Pittsburg home invasion

Pittsburg, California

From the San Jose Mercury News of April 24, 2009

Man wrestles gun from intruder in Pittsburg home invasion

A Pittsburg man fought off two men who broke into his home early Friday morning, wrestled away a shotgun and shot one of the suspects with it as he fled, according to the victim and police.

The wounded suspect left the scene but was arrested after being treated at a hospital, said Sgt. Steve Albanese. Police also arrested a second suspect and are still searching for more people connected with the home invasion.

The incident happened just after midnight when two men with guns broke down the front door and entered the home on Calistoga Drive.

The male homeowner, who declined to be named, said he was awakened and came out of his bedroom to investigate the noise. He said he was confronted by one man with a sawed-off shotgun and a second man with a handgun. He wrestled the shotgun out of the suspect's hand, and the man fell on him, he said.

The second suspect then reportedly shot at the victim's wife but did not hit her. The victim, whose stepson was also in the home, said he got up, recovered the shotgun and began shooting in the direction of the suspects.

The suspects fled, and the victim fired one round as they ran across a neighbor's driveway, hitting one man in the upper torso, Albanese said.

The victim said there was nothing in his house worth stealing and guessed that the suspects may have targeted the wrong address.

"We don't have valuables or anything," he said.

Police could not release further details because they are still investigating the incident, Albanese said.

Female Carjacker Shot In Tucson

Tucson, Arizona

From the April 24, 2009 Arizona Daily Star:

A woman who tried to carjack a man at gunpoint outside a North Side Walgreens early Thursday was shot and wounded by the man, police said.

The man called police around 12:30 a.m. to report he had just shot one of two women who tried to take his car as he waited in the pharmacy drive-through near East Grant and North Swan roads, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Pacheco gave this account:

The 26-year-old man, whose name was not released, had just left Tucson Medical Center and went to fill a prescription.

When he drove back to the drugstore to check on his prescription, two women came up to his car. One was armed with a gun.

The woman tried to shoot the man, but he pulled his own gun while she was trying to pull the trigger. Her gun didn't fire for an unknown reason.

The man fired his gun twice. One shot grazed her head, and the other struck her in the shoulder.

The woman fell to the ground, and the man took her gun away.

Florida: Homeowner Cleared in Shooting

Lakeland, Florida

From The Ledger of April 23, 2009

Homeowner Cleared in Shooting

Prosecutors have concluded a Lake Wales security guard who shot a man who was breaking into his home was justified in using deadly force.

Assistant State Attorney Robert Antonello wrote a letter with his findings about the March 18, nonfatal shooting to the Lake Wales Police Department.

In the letter released Thursday, Antonello said William Cornwell, a hospital security guard, was protecting himself and his young children.

Cornwell arrived at his Grove Avenue home just before 7 a.m. His wife left for work, and he was alone with his 3 1/2-month-old son and 3 1/2-year-old daughter.

A noise awoke him from his sleep and, armed with a semi-automatic pistol, he went to find out what was happening, Antonello wrote.

Cornwell came "face-to-face" in the hallway of his home with Michael Collins who swung a crowbar at Cornwell's head. Cornwell chased Collins out the back door and fired two shots, Antonello wrote.

Collins ran to his vehicle parked in the house's driveway, Antonello wrote. Cornwell ran back through his house, out the front door, and "instinctively opened fire on the vehicle (at the tires and body) in an attempt to disable it and prevent the intruder from leaving."

Collins drove about 200 feet up the road to an orange grove where his vehicle overturned, and he was captured.

Lake Wales police say Collins, 45, was struck in the head and left arm by the gunfire, but survived.

Collins was flown to Lakeland Regional Medical Center for treatment.

He is charged with armed burglary and possession of burglary tools. He remains in the Polk County Jail and is being held without bail on the burglary charge.