Hamilton, Ohio

From Hamilton's WCPO of March 23, 2007

Hamilton Man Kills Intruder

Police say a Hamilton man shot and killed an intruder early Friday morning.

It happened in the 900 block of Bishop Avenue around 1:30 a.m.

Police say when they got to the scene, the resident said someone he had just shot someone who broke into his home.

Officers found the alleged intruder dead on the floor.

The next step is for prosecutors to announce if the resident, whose name has not been released, will be charged.

Earlier this week, a Covington man was not charged after he shot and killed a man who broke into his home along Delmar Place.

From The Oxford Press of March 24, 2007

Man shoots, kills burglar during home invasion

A Hamilton man was shot five times early Friday morning after striking a resident with a sledgehammer during a home invasion in Lindenwald, according to Hamilton police.

Officers responded to a home on the 900 block of Bishop Avenue just after 1:30 a.m. Friday to the report of a shooting. On arrival, Jamie R. Buck, 33, told them a man demanding money and jewelry broke through his kitchen door with a sledgehammer, according to a Hamilton police report that chronicles an aggravated burglary, but does not mention the shooting.

Buck said he shot the man, later identified as Millard Brandenburg, in self defense.

"He's laying dead in my kitchen," Buck said on the 911 tape. "He tried to kill me."

Buck returned home just after 9 a.m. Friday from The Fort Hamilton Hospital with a bandage wrapped around his head.

"Everything's OK," he told reporters. "I'm fine."

Results of an autopsy performed Friday at the Butler County morgue indicate Brandenburg was shot once in the head, three times in the torso and once in the flank, said county Coroner Dr. Richard Burkhardt, who added that "(Brandenburg) was intoxicated."

An exterior door at Buck's residence was broken, Burkhardt said, and the resident was not only hit with a sledgehammer, but also with a framed picture off his wall.

"He (Brandenburg) grabbed a picture and hit him (Buck) in the head," the coroner said.

Lee North, a friend of the resident seen leaving the home Friday morning, said the intruder hit Buck in the head with the hammer and that Buck retreated back to his bedroom to get his gun.

North, who had been inside talking with the resident's relatives, said there was a trail of blood between the kitchen and the bedroom.

Buck also called for police early Monday morning during an incident at Bob's Cafe on Hooven Avenue. According to a police report, Buck said he attempted to stop an unidentified man from beating a woman and when he called for police he was attacked, forced to the ground and stomped. Buck suffered an injured eye, jaw, mouth and head, according to the report. Hamilton police did not know whether the bar fight was connected to the break-in at Buck's home.

Brandenburg has a lengthy criminal record that includes arrests for ethnic intimidation, aggravated menacing, drug abuse, forgery, fleeing and eluding and assault. Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper said Brandenburg recently had been released from prison.

Piper said he was consulted about the case just hours after the shooting occurred. Detectives and prosecutors are still looking at the physical evidence, but Piper said he hasn't seen any evidence inconsistent with Buck's self-defense version of the incident.

"In a case like this, it is not unlikely that a grand jury would review it," Piper said. "But I don't see anything right now that doesn't point to self defense."

Click to listen to 911 call