Sonoma County, California

From the San Jose Mercury News of December 17, 2006

Sonoma County resident shoots and kills intruder

A Sonoma County man shot an intruder who smashed a window and entered his house early this morning in unincorporated Sonoma County near Cloverdale, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department reported today.

The victims, 53-year-old Gerald Steckmyer and 48-year-old Carla Steckmyer, told deputies that they were awakened by a man jumping up and down on the hood of their car shortly before 3 a.m.

Gerald Steckmyer opened a window and told the man to stop jumping on the car. The suspect then got off the car and walked toward the house.

The Steckmyers called 911 and remained on the phone as the suspect tried to open the front door.

When he failed to open the door, the suspect broke out a front window of the home with a five-gallon water bottle and entered the home carrying the bottle, the sheriff's department reported.

The suspect was walking through the house toward the Steckmyers, who were in the master bedroom, when Gerald Steckmyer grabbed a handgun and fired at the suspect, stopping him just outside the bedroom door, the sheriff's department reported.

The suspect, whose name is being withheld pending identification and notification of his family, was described as a man in his 20s. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sonoma County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Satterwhite said the shooting appears to be a ``justifiable homicide.''