Cape Coral, Florida

From the Fort Myers News-Press of December 7, 2006

Shootout in Cape leads to 2 arrests

Two men were arrested after an apparent shoot-out early Wednesday morning in a Southeast Cape neighborhood.

Arthur Starling Horton, 20, and Corrye A. Powell, 19, are suspected of attempting to get inside a residence where a man was babysitting his 18-month-old niece.

The victim, who is not named in the arrest reports, reported hearing blinds moving around 5:45 a.m. and thought the dog was trying to come in.

That's when he told police he saw a man trying to get in the door, pointing a gun at him and demanding to be let in.

The victim began yelling for his girlfriend to come and get his niece and wake up others that were in the house.

The girlfriend woke up and saw two men with guns standing in the driveway. Another person at the house handed the victim a gun for protection, and the victim took off running, apparently to get the men with guns away from his house and his young niece.

"The victim states he ran from his residence into a house under construction across the street and he saw the two... men chasing after him," the report states. "He states that he hid in a closet in the dark until he saw a handgun from around the corner."

The victim told police that's when he shot the gun out of one of the intruder's hands - and they fired back. Then the two intruders fled through the woods.

One bullet struck a vehicle parked in the driveway of the residence.

No one was injured, because when police caught up with suspects Horton and Powell, they were taken to jail in apparent good health.

The report does not indicate why the two men targeted the victim's house.

Witnesses later identified Horton and Powell, who were each charged with assault with intent to commit a felony.

Horton was a senior linebacker at Cape High School in 2004, where he had 81 tackles and was selected to play in the John Carrigan Rotary South All-Star Classic.

While both he and Powell denied being anywhere near the scene, their hands tested positive for gun powder residue.