Portland, Oregon

From the The Oregoniann of June 30, 2007

Portland man, 71, wounds intruder

A Northeast Portland homeowner who came face to face with an intruder in the early morning darkness Friday shot him once in the head, leaving him seriously injured, family members and authorities said.

About 4:50 a.m., Leroy Hudson, 71, and his wife, Janice, 62, awakened to the sound of a break-in, said Walter Hudson, 49, the second of the couple's nine children. Walter Hudson relayed his parents' account of events:

Leroy Hudson was asleep upstairs and Janice Hudson was asleep downstairs in their home near Northeast 107th Avenue and Glisan Street. When they heard suspicious noises from their enclosed back porch, they met in a hall and got out a gun.

Janice Hudson called 9-1-1 to report an intruder. Leroy Hudson opened the back door of the house and found a man standing in front of him. He demanded to know what the man was doing, hoping to scare him off.

But the man said nothing. Instead, he walked toward Leroy Hudson, and Hudson raised the gun and shot him. Police arrived soon after.

Police have not released the intruder's identity but think he's about 26 years old, said Officer Brian Schmautz, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.

The man's gunshot wound was life-threatening and he had surgery at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center, Schmautz said. No condition report was available.

Janice Hudson had stayed on the line and told 9-1-1 operators that a gun had been fired and someone was down, Schmautz said. When police reached the home, they stood outside and called for the homeowners to step out. Police then found the man lying on the back porch amid signs of forced entry. The intruder was not armed.

The Hudsons' home was busy Friday with the couple's children and grandchildren stopping by to offer support and help clean up.

Walter Hudson said he was grateful no one in his family was hurt but his thoughts also were with the intruder's family.

"It's so terrible on both sides," he said.

Walter Hudson said his father served in the military about 50 years ago, but he didn't know the details. He didn't believe his father had used a gun on a person outside the military.

His parents and his aunt, who turns 84 today, moved into the house a year and half ago, he said. His father hasn't told him how the incident affected the couple emotionally, but it was a surprise to encounter such a threatening situation in the peaceful neighborhood.

Schmautz cautioned residents about keeping guns at home. An intruder could turn a weapon against a resident in such a confrontation, he said.

Also, Schmautz said residents should weigh the risk of personal danger against the loss of belongings.

No charges have been pressed in the incident. The Multnomah County district attorney's office will consider what action is warranted, Schmautz said.

From the KATU of July 9, 2007

Police: No charges for homeowner who shot intruder

An elderly man who shot a suspected intruder in the head at his northeast Portland home late last month will not face criminal charges, officials announced Monday.

The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office completed its review of the June 29 incident and determined the case would not go before a grand jury, police said.

According to police, 71-year-old Leroy Hudson awoke in the early morning hours to the sound of breaking glass and someone moving around in an enclosed porch area of his home in the 10700 block of Northeast Glisan Street.

Police have not elaborated on what happened next but at some point Hudson shot at the suspected intruder.

The injured suspect, 26-year-old Brent Alexander Sweet, was treated at Legacy Emanuel Hospital and released over the past weekend.

Police have charged Sweet with first-degree criminal trespass, and he was scheduled to be arraigned Monday.