Lehigh Acres, Florida

From Fort Myers’ WINKNews.com of August 8, 2007

Lehigh Acres man shoots would-be robber

"I thought he was trying to get a weapon. I fired at him", said resident Justin Marcoux.

Justin Marcoux says he didn't hesitate. The 21-year-old walked outside his home in Lehigh Acres Wednesday morning after he heard a noise. He thought it was his ride to work.

"I came outside, a guy was running across the lawn with my dad's generator, he dropped it," says Marcoux.

At that moment, he thought the robber might hurt him.

"I had mine in my pocket - I fired in his direction andI guess I hit him." He did, in the arm. 43-year-old Victor Howren went to the hospital and now faces burglary and grand theft charges.

"I was shakin'," says Marcoux.

Under the Stand Your Ground Law, it's Marcoux's right to protect himself.

"The defend yourself law is there so people can defend themselves in situations where there is no where to go," says Lee Sheriff's Firearms Instructor Matt Chitwood.

Chitwood says pulling the trigger should be a last resort. "If you're going to go toward something to defend your property or an object, that's what would concern me about any situation like that. If somebody's life is in danger that's a completely different situation."

Chitwood says people who own guns need to know the law and think out how they react in a dangerous situation.

In Marcoux's case he does have a concealed weapons permit and he wasn't hurt.

Marcoux says if it happened again, he would act in the same way. "We have the right to protect our own property."

From the Fort Myers News-Press of August 10, 2007

Man shot in Lehigh attempted robbery, police say

When a Lehigh Acres man woke up this morning for work and heard his dog barking, he discovered someone trying to steal his generator from the front porch.

At 4:05 this morning, the Lee County Sheriff's Office received a call about a robbery and shooting from the home at 1012 Richmond Ave. N., said sheriff's spokesman, Sgt. Larry King.

The man had walked outside because he thought the barking signaled that his ride to work had arrived, King said.

But that's when he saw the man dragging the generator to his driveway.

The resident thought that the man was armed, so he retrieved his own firearm and shot the robber in the arm, King said.

The resident has a concealed weapon permit.

The suspect then left the generator and drove about a mile away to a wooded area, where deputies used a helicopter and a K-9 unit to find him.

The man has been taken to Lee Memorial Hospital, where King said he was in good condition.

Detectives will interview both men. No charges have yet been filed.

There were other residents home at the time, but they were asleep throughout the incident, King said.

The neighborhood is sparsely populated, and the home is a single-family house, he said.

Richmond Avenue is blocked between E. 10th and E. 11th streets while authorities continue to investigate.

Robert T. and Amy Marcoux are the homeowners, according to Lee County property records. The 2,688 square-foot home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

The resident's shooting could possibly be justified because of the "Stand Your Ground" law, which went into effect in October 2006, which gives citizens the right to use deadly force to defend themselves against a feared threat against themselves or someone else.