Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

From February 4, 2006 NewsOK.com:

"What's up, fool?" David Anderson said as he opened fire with a .45-caliber pistol.

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The startled intruder scrambled through the broken door of Anderson's northeast Oklahoma City business and hit the streets -- but not before taking a bullet.

Friday's shooting still is under investigation, but so far, police said, Anderson is thought to have acted in self-defense, firing his weapon to protect his business from at least one would-be burglar.

Shannon Johnson, 17, was struck once in the leg, police Lt. Stan Van Nort said. He was treated at a city hospital, then arrested on a complaint of second-degree burglary.

About 1:20 a.m., someone broke into the Clean As A Whistle clothing store in the 1800 block of NE 23, police Sgt. Gary Knight said. Police found a broken glass door and searched with a police dog, but didn't turn up any suspects.

Anderson, 44, said the broken door prevented him from securing his store, so he decided to spend the night inside with his "buddy," the .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

About 7:30 a.m., a pounding noise awakened him. Someone was outside.

"I'm like, 'I know these fools aren't this stupid,'" Anderson said. "But by the time I got up and got my 'buddy' and started making it to the door, the door came flying open and he came running in."

Anderson said he ducked behind a clothes rack and watched the intruder approach a pair of white-and-gold Air Jordan basketball shoes.

Gwinnett, Georgia

From the February 4, 2006 Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Gwinnett detectives are searching for a Hispanic man that they know only as "John" who may have shot and killed a would-be armed robber in Norcross last week.

Police think "John" acted in self-defense, and if he comes forward to talk to detectives, he most likely will not be charged with a crime.

"We just want him to come forward and tell his side of the story," Gwinnett police Detective Steve Shaw said. "I believe that he is scared and is probably in hiding, but we will search for him until we find him."

Homicide detectives found the body of 18-year-old William D'Juan Jones of Decatur Jan. 25 in the breezeway of an apartment at 3229 Sunrise Village Lane. Jones was carrying a loaded gun and had a red bandana covering the lower part of his face .

Investigators have learned that Jones was part of a robbery crew that had driven to the apartment complex that day, Shaw said. The robbery crew had randomly picked "John" to rob and followed his dark-colored or burgundy Intrepid or Stratus, police said. Police learned about "John" in interviews with members of the robbery crew.

I wonder if "John" is hiding because he is an illegal alien, and is afraid of deportation.

Muskogee, Oklahoma

From the February 4, 2006 Muskogee Phoenix:

A Porum woman shot during a struggle with a burglar Thursday told authorities she believes she hit the intruder with at least one shot.

Muskogee County Deputy Jeff Smith said investigators interviewed Tammy Brown, 33, Friday at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, where she was recovering from a gun-shot injury to her chest. Smith said Brown’s condition is critical, but stable, and improving.

“She (Brown) told medics from the Porum Fire Department she thinks she hit the suspect at least once,” Smith said. “Investigators found blood on the couch, but right now we have no confirmation regarding the source of that blood.”

Smith said Brown is expected to improve.

Meanwhile, Muskogee County investigators continued their search for evidence inside Brown’s home. Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson said Thursday the intruder had left a trail of evidence throughout Brown’s home during his apparent search for weapons.

Smith said investigators have a few subjects of interest but have made no arrests in the case.

Memphis, Tennessee

From February 2, 2006 WREG-TV channel 3:

MEMPHIS - Crime tape straddles Castalia Supermarket in South Memphis. Police say three armed gunmen wearing masks walked in and tried to rob the place. "All I saw was somebody running out the store," says witness Benny Burnett. But not before the owner fought back and pulled out a gun of his own. "There was a shootout between them and the store owner, the store owner was hit," according to Lt. Mickey Williams.

Witnesses say the whole thing was down right bloody. "He was bleeding like a hawk where ever they shot him at it was blood all in front of the store," Burnett says. Police would only say there were numerous people in the store when it happened and they're trying to figure out if the other person shot was an employee or customer.

From February 1, 2006 WPTY channel 24:

Memphis Police are looking for three armed robbers.

The three were wearing maskes when they robbed the Castalia Supermarket at 1717 Castalia, near Frisco Avenue in South Memphis on Wednesday night.

During the robbery, police say the store’s owner and a customer were shot. Both were taken to local hospitals to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The three robbers got away, but police believe at least one of them may have been hurt in the gunfight.

East St. Louis, Illinois

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of February 7, 2006

87-year-old woman fatally shoots man in her home

An 87-year-old East St. Louis woman fatally shot a man early this morning as he was trying to break into her house.

Police said they found the man, Larry D. Tillman, 49, of East St. Louis on the enclosed front porch of the woman’s house in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue. He had pulled the telephone wires from the side of the house, then removed security bars from a porch window.

As the man was breaking through a storm door that leads into the house itself, the woman fired several shots through her front door, striking Tillman once in the chest.

Police said the shots were fired from a pistol, most likely a gun that her daughter had given her after a man broke into the elderly woman’s house in December, battered her and stole some items.

The man may have been dead for as long as four hours before police arrived. Police said that the woman was not sure that she had hit Tillman when she fired the shots about 2 a.m. However, she was too afraid to go outside to check and could not call for help because the telephone lines were dead.

When the woman’s daughter arrived about 6 a.m. to bring her mother breakfast, she found the dead man on the porch, police said.

Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Jim Morrisey said evidence taken from the December home invasion would be compared to the break-in today to see if Tillman was responsible for both crimes.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of February 8, 2006

Police will check 87-year-old woman's story in shooting

Illinois State Police investigators said Wednesday that they have every reason to believe that Jacksie Mae King, 87, was justified in firing a shot through her front door that struck and killed an intruder early Tuesday.

Even so, Master Sgt. James Morrisey said that investigators would spend two weeks or so examining ballistic evidence before presenting the case to Robert B. Haida, the St. Clair County state's attorney, who would determine if criminal charges are warranted.

"Based on the evidence that we saw yesterday and the interview with (King), it would appear that she was justified in defending herself," Morrisey said.

Police said that King awoke about 2 a.m. Tuesday to the sound of someone trying to break into her house in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue. Two months earlier, King's daughter had given her a pistol after a man broke into her house, beat her and stole some items. King told police that she grabbed the pistol and fired several shots through the front door at a man who had removed security bars to get on to her enclosed porch.

One of the bullets fatally wounded Larry D. Tillman, 49, who lived nearby.

King couldn't call for help because her telephone line had been cut. Her daughter, Pamela Paulette-Clark, discovered Tillman's body when she came by at 6 a.m. to bring her mother breakfast.

Morrisey said that investigators were examining evidence from the earlier home invasion at King's residence to see if Tillman was involved. Tillman had a long criminal history, including two convictions for residential burglary.

"We'll take any evidence that was collected from the home invasion and we'll compare that with what was collected yesterday to see if Mr. Tillman was involved" in both incidents, Morrisey said.

Neither King nor Clark could be reached on Wednesday.

Haida said that a homicide can be considered justified under Illinois law if a person believes "that they are in imminent threat of harm" or if an attacker uses "some sort of weapon or object to cause great bodily harm or death."

Haida said he would take the matter under advisement after the State Police sends the case to him for his review.

"I don't want to prejudge anything," he said. "We have an obligation to judge the facts carefully."

He added: "If Jim Morrisey and his office suggest that there should be no charges, that won't dictate the outcome but certainly we won't overlook their opinion."

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of May 23, 2006

No firearms charges against woman, 87

An 87-year-old woman who fatally shot a would-be intruder will not be charged with a crime, even though she did not legally own the gun, authorities said Monday.

On Feb. 7, Jacksie Mae King fired several shots through the front door of her house after she woke up about 2 a.m. to the sounds of someone trying to break in.

One bullet hit Larry Tillman, 49, who was on the other side of the door, standing on King's enclosed porch.

He lay dead on the porch in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue for four hours before he was found by King's daughter, who came to bring breakfast about 6 a.m. Meanwhile, King stayed inside clutching the pistol.

"She was justified in using deadly force to defend herself against the threat of deadly force," said Robert B. Haida, the St. Clair County state's attorney.

King's daughter gave her the .32-caliber Colt revolver two months earlier after a man broke into King's house in December. That intruder beat her and stole some of her things. In both incidents, the telephone lines to King's house were cut, and security bars were removed from a side window.

Manchester, New Hampshire

From Manchester’s TheWMURChannel.com of February 7, 2006

Shooting Death In Manchester Ruled Self-Defense

Man Shot, Killed While Trying To Rob Apartment

The state Attorney General's Office and city police say a Manchester man was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed a Massachusetts man trying to rob him last fall.

Francisco Cruz, 20, of Lawrence, Mass., died on Oct. 16, 2005. Authorities said Tuesday that the shooter, Greg Stroman, had not committed a crime because Cruz and an accomplice entered Stroman's apartment armed with deadly weapons and threatened several people inside.

Cruz had a handgun and Raphael Pamphile had brass knuckles when they entered the apartment that night, police said.

Stroman answered the door, and Cruz first pointed the gun at him, then pointed it at Stroman's uncle and 14-year-old cousin when they tried to leave the room, authorities said.

"While Cruz's attention was diverted, Stroman retrieved his own handgun from another room and shot Cruz," authorities said.

Cruz also fired, hitting Stroman in the hand. Stroman retrieved his gun and a bag of marijuana before fleeing the building without calling police, authorities said. He then got rid of the gun and the drugs and drove to Springfield, Mass., where he was treated at a hospital.

Police responding to a 911 call about a burglary in progress found Cruz dead of a single gunshot wound to his chest.

On the way to the hospital, Stroman called police and told them he had been injured. Eventually, he provided a complete statement that was corroborated by the other witnesses and physical evidence, authorities said.

State law says deadly force in self-defense is justified when someone believes another person is about to use deadly force or hurt someone while committing a crime at his home.

South Bend, Indiana

From South Bend’s WNDU.com of February 5, 2006

House robbery ends with death of suspect

A South Bend man is recovering after he was robbed and stabbed in his own home early Sunday morning.

Police say the man apparently turned the tables on the suspect and shot him to death.

Neighbors were shocked to find out there was robbery and shooting and were even more surprised to find out that it could be the victim's next door neighbor who did it.

The sign on the door clearly marks the home on 1234 Brookfield Street as a crime scene. The same goes for the leftover pieces of yellow tape on the house next door.

Police say early Sunday morning a neighbor broke into the house to rob the homeowner.

Neighbor Mildred Franklin says, “My thoughts are not just concerned just the neighborhood. It’s more than the neighborhood it reaches farther than the neighborhood. I hate that it goes on in the neighborhood in which I live but this is more than the neighborhood; this is all over.”

Neighbors say the alleged robber, 29 year old Phoenix Coalmon, lived next door.

Police say Coalmon broke into the house and stabbed the homeowner who then in turn shot him to death.

The St. Joseph County jail says Coalmon was just released Saturday after habitual traffic violations.

Neighbors say they're hopeful the violence won't continue.

Says Franklin, “I keep praying and keep trust in God that the people that doing the killing will develop a thirst for righteous.”

The homeowner was taken to the hospital Sunday morning.

Police say he was in serious condition at the time

From South Bend’s WNDU.com of February 7, 2006

Criminal charges will not be filed against Donald Van Dusen

Criminal charges will not be filed against a South Bend man who shot and killed an intruder during a botched robbery.

NewsCenter 16 has told you about a shooting inside a home on Brookfield Street, Sunday.

The homeowner, 79-year-old Donald Van Dusen, shot Phoenix Coalmon.

Coalmon later died at the hospital.

Police say Coalmon planned on robbing Van Dusen's home. However, during a struggle between the two men, Van Dusen was stabbed.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Prosecutor Mike Dvorak said he felt there was no need to file charges.

"All indications are we will not be charging Mr. Van Dusen. (However), the investigation is not complete," said Dvorak Tuesday.

Investigators have not had an opportunity to interview Van Dusen, but family members say his health is improving.

He remains in the hospital recovering from his stab wounds.

From South Bend’s WNDU.com of March 1, 2006

South Bend man who shot intruder, will not face criminal charges

Criminal charges will not be filed against a South Bend man who shot and killed an intruder.

Back on February 5th, 29-year-old Phoenix Coalman attempted to rob 79-year-old Donald VanDusen in his home on North Brookfield.

VanDusen managed to shoot his attacker, but not before being stabbed several times.

St. Joseph County Police say their investigation is complete, and that VanDusen clearly acted in self-defense.