Savannah, Georgia

From the Savannah Morning News of November 20, 2005
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Elderly man on oxygen chases off intruders

Suspects demanded a couple's money. Harry Carpenter brandished his trusty rifle.

A pair of knife-wielding robbers was no match for 83-year-old Harry Carpenter and his .22-caliber rifle.

Harry and his wife Jackie Carpenter were finishing supper around 7 p.m. Wednesday when they heard a knock on the side door at their tidy Broadmoor Circle home near Bacon Park Golf Course.

Harry suffers from pulmonary fibrosis and wears oxygen tubes for much of the day. The couple thought the visitor was a delivery man bringing more oxygen.

Harry Carpenter opened the door, and two young men wearing hooded sweat shirts forced their way in.

"One of them said, 'We need to talk to Ms. Jackie. It's very important,'" said Harry, a retired maintenance supervisor.

The men flashed knives, later discovered to be taken from the Carpenters' backyard shed.

One suspect forced Harry to sit down on a couch in the sun room, while the other went to find Jackie Carpenter, 80, who was washing dishes in the kitchen.

He grabbed her by the arm and said he wanted her money. She said she didn't have any. He pulled her into a bedroom and began searching through the drawers, Jackie Carpenter said. She hollered.

In the sun room, Harry Carpenter attempted to come to his wife's aid, according to a police report. The suspect kept forcing Harry back down on the couch by jabbing the knife at his chest.

"The whole time I kept thinking, 'Where can I get something to hit this guy in the head?'" Harry Carpenter said.

Suddenly, a distraction.

In the bedroom, Jackie pretended to faint. Harry's captor went to investigate.

Harry quickly shuffled over to the laundry room, where he kept hidden behind the dryer an unloaded rifle he'd owned since childhood. "I shot many a squirrel with that thing," Harry said.

He fumbled for bullets sitting on a shelf.

The suspect returned before he could load, so Harry slammed the bolt home and aimed the empty weapon at the intruder.

"He yelled out, 'Let's go, he's got a gun!'" Harry said.

The suspects rushed out the front door, pausing only to unlock the dead bolt. They dropped the knives in the front yard.

Police could not locate the men, who escaped without getting any cash. "They were gone in about two seconds," Jackie said, smiling at her husband of 57 years.

The couple says they will be more careful in the future. No more answering the door after dark, for one.

"And I am going to have the damn gun loaded from now on," Harry said.