Lexington, North Carolina

From the Lexington Dispatch of September 28, 2006

Lexington man shoots home intruders

A Jessup Street homeowner shot two men who were trying to break into his house early this morning, Lexington police said.

Investigators say they have information that the home invasion stemmed from a previous domestic violence incident.

"It wasn't random," said Lexington Police Lt. Jon Hicks. "They knew the victim."

When the two men allegedly made entry into the home, Delaise Ander Eller went for his shotgun and fired on Shedarrius Pate, 18, of Link Circle, and Kannell Leach, 21, of Greensboro, police said.

A third suspect, Cyrus Clifford Butler, 24, of Greensboro, was waiting outside in a car.

Pate and Leach, the two men who were shot, ran out of the house and jumped into the car, and all three men sped off, police said.

"They didn't make it even two miles," Hicks said. "Officers arriving on the scene observed the car fleeing from the scene."

Butler, the driver, was arrested and charged with first-degree breaking and entering and placed in the Davidson County Detention Center under a $10,000 secured bond. He is scheduled to appear in Lexington District Court Nov. 13.

Pate and Leach were in the back of the car bleeding when police stopped it. Paramedics drove them to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem where they were being treated for gunshot wounds to the arm, elbow and abdomen.

Warrants for breaking and entering were obtained for Pate and Leach, who are listed in fair condition at the hospital.

Police officials say the district attorney's office will now determine whether Eller shot the intruders in self-defense.