Alabama: Homeowner Kills Suspect In Home Invasion

Birmingham, Alabama

From WSBTV of March 3, 2008

Homeowner Kills Suspect In Home Invasion

Authorities say a homeowner who apparently was targeted in a home invasion Sunday night exchanged gunfire with a suspect who was killed.

Randy Christian, a Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman, said the shooting death of 23-year-old Eric Moore of Birmingham appeared to be justified. Moore died a short time later at a Birmingham hospital.

Christian said the investigation determined Moore was the masked gunman who kicked in the door of a residence in Forestdale and fired shots at the occupant. The homeowner was not hit.

Christian said the homeowner broke up a fight Saturday night at the Platinum Club in Birmingham that Moore had been involved in. He said Moore had inquired about the homeowner's address before the home was invaded.

Tennessee: Police identify teenager slain in home-invasion shootout

Knoxville, Tennessee

From the News Sentinel of March 3, 2008

Police identify teenager slain in home-invasion shootout

Authorities this morning said a 16-year-old Knoxville boy was killed during a weekend home break-in that prompted a gun battle inside the residence.

Jamodd Mack died in the 2:24 a.m. Saturday break-in at 1304 Iredell Ave., said Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk.

Mack and another person allegedly forced their way into the home through a back door, DeBusk said. Inside the home, Mack, who was armed with a handgun, was fired upon by a man who was visiting the woman who lives in the house, DeBusk.

After the gun battle between the two people armed with handguns, Mack died in the house of multiple bullet wounds, DeBusk said. No one else in the home was injured during the gunfight, he said.

The second male fled and has not been identified, DeBusk said.

No charges have been filed in connection with the slaying. DeBusk said police planned to take their probe to the Knox County District Attorney General's office for a decision on bringing any charges.

Alabama: Bullets don't deter suspect

Huntsville, Alabama

From the Huntsville Times of March 1, 2008

Bullets don't deter suspect

Shots to buttocks fail to stop two more break-ins

A six-foot fence, three dogs, 385 pounds worth of teenage boys and three gunshot wounds to the buttocks didn't stop one alleged burglar from bursting into two other homes before police detained him Thursday night.

Huntsville police were still trying to verify the suspect's identity Friday but believe he is 36-year-old Marvin Horton, police spokesman Wendell Johnson said.

Horton allegedly jumped a 6-foot chain-link fence at 2702 Ninth Ave. and dodged Brenda Glover's pit bull puppy, Rottweiler and German shepherd before forcing open her front door at about 11:15 p.m.

Glover said she went to bed early, but her two sons, 17-year-old David and 18-year-old Jerry, were up playing video games and heard the dogs bark seconds before the burglar crashed into their home.

Glover woke up and heard the man fighting with her sons, who managed to wrestle the man into a headlock. She grabbed an umbrella before entering the scuffle.

"I told him to leave, and he said, 'No I'm coming in the house,'" she said. "He still kept coming, and I told him, 'I'm going to go get my gun if you don't leave.'"

The three tried to push the man back out the front door, but he wouldn't budge, Glover said.

When the burglar didn't heed her warning, Glover retrieved her .38-caliber pistol and gave him a final chance to leave before firing a shot into his backside.

The first shot didn't register with the man, so Glover fired two more shots before he finally turned and ran back out the door. Glover's husband called police.

...

Johnson said it's unlikely any charges will be filed against any of the homeowners who struggled with Horton, including Glover.

"Usually, if there's any question regarding self defense, our investigators present it to the district attorney's office and consult with them," he said. "I don't think that will happen, though."

...

The incident wrapped up a difficult day for Glover, whose grandmother died Wednesday. But Glover said it's just another day on Ninth Avenue, where she often has had to ask homeless people to move out of her driveway when she comes home.

Glover said she bought the gun for protection, although she's never used it. Her car stereo has been stolen, and a thief snatched her husband's boots from the front porch, but she's never come face-to-face with someone determined to get in.

"I got the gun for protection when my kids were little," she said. "I always thought I would have to use it out and about, not in my own house. I never expected that."

More

Note for the Huntsville Times headline writer - when you shoot a burglar in the butt and he runs away, that's deterrence!

Maryland: Armed Man Fatally Shot by Security Guard

Prince George's County, Maryland

From the The Washington Post of March 1, 2008

Armed Man Fatally Shot by Security Guard

A private security guard shot and killed a 26-year-old man at an apartment complex near Glassmanor Elementary School in Oxon Hill yesterday morning, Prince George's County police said.

About 9 a.m., the guard approached two men in the 1000 block of Marcy Avenue, said Cpl. Arvel Lewis, a police spokesman. One of the men produced a handgun, and the guard opened fire, striking him, Lewis said. The other man fled the complex on foot.

The wounded man, later identified as Dominique Emanuel McFadden, of the 800 block of Marcy Avenue, died at a hospital. Police found a gun in his possession, Lewis said.

Lewis said police are looking for the other man, described as black, 18 to 20 years old, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and a baseball cap.

Police have not identified the security guard.

Glassmanor Elementary School was locked down briefly after the shooting, but it had reopened by midday.

Lewis said it was unclear what caused the confrontation or whether the two men shot at the security guard. Lewis said that it appears that the security guard's action was justifiable but that an investigation of the shooting had to be completed.

"It appears that he was doing his job, which is to check on people within the apartment complex," Lewis said. McFadden "pulled a gun on the guard. . . . You've got to defend yourself, definitely."

California: Police: Boy, 13, shot man in self-defense

Visalia, California

From the Visalia Times Delta of February 29, 2008

Police: Boy, 13, shot man in self-defense

A Visalia woman whose common-law husband was shot and killed Wednesday was moving out of the couple's south Visalia home when the incident occurred, neighbors and police said.

Witnesses said Joe Ray Martinez, 38, tried to stop the woman from doing so and got into an altercation with another man.

"That's when [Martinez] drew a gun and threatened to shoot everyone, including kids," said Terry Anderson, a neighbor in the quiet cul-de-sac on South Thomas Street near Paradise Avenue.

One of the "kids" at the home was a 13-year-old boy.

The boy emerged from the home and shot Martinez in "a clear case of self-defense," Visalia Police Department Sgt. Ernie Villa said.

"There will be no arrests," Villa said.

History of violence, abuse

Martinez had a long history of violent behavior, with felony convictions in 2000 and 2001 for assault with a nonfirearm deadly weapon, according to court records.

Violence was common in the South Thomas Street home, Anderson said.

"The abuse was terrible for the other people living there," said Anderson, who said the family had moved into the house about four months ago.

Martinez also had 23 vehicle-code violations since 1993 and twice was convicted of misdemeanor witness-threatening, records show.

In 2001, he was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He had a gun Wednesday, too.

"[Martinez] waved the gun at everyone there," Villa said.

"All the stories from all the witnesses we talked to were consistent."

The case is now being handed over to the Tulare County District Attorney's Office.

Villa said he expects officials there to agree that the shooting was a matter of self-defense.

Further links:
13-Year-Old Shoots and Kills Man In Self Defense

Alabama: Albertville homeowner shoots backyard prowler

Albertville, Alabama

From the The Huntsville Times of February 29, 2008

Albertville homeowner shoots backyard prowler

A homeowner on Valley View Drive who found two men in his backyard early today shot one of them with a shotgun, according to Albertville police.

The resident woke up before 1:30 a.m. because of a noise in the backyard and saw two people with flashlights, said police Sgt. Jamie Smith.

The homeowner got a shotgun, confronted the pair from inside the house, Smith said, and fired.

Officers found a man in the backyard with a gunshot wound to his upper torso, but he was conscious and talking before he was flown to Huntsville Hospital, Smith said.

The shooting is still under investigation, said Smith, and it appears that no charges will be filed against the homeowner. Police are still looking for the other prowler.

North Carolina: Wounded man shoots intruder

Gaston, North Carolina

From the Daily Herald of March 1, 2008

Wounded man shoots intruder

A Gaston man shot and killed one of two intruders he discovered in his house Thursday night, Northampton County Sheriff Wardie Vincent said this morning.

Sheriff's office investigators are still looking into the shooting, in which 20-year-old Walter Daniels of Gaston died.

Vincent declined to discuss whether investigators are looking into the possibility of self-defense on the part of Monte Arrington, 21, who fired the shot during a struggle with Daniels.

Vincent said the fatal shooting occurred around 10 p.m., at Arrington's residence at 544 N.C. Highway 48, which is just inside the town limits of Gaston.

Arrington and his girlfriend were returning to the residence and were confronted by two men as they went in the home.

The best information investigators have thus far is that Daniels was armed and drew the weapon. That's when a struggle between Arrington and Daniels began. During the struggle, Arrington was stabbed but managed to grab the gun and shoot Daniels in the upper chest. It is believed Daniels died immediately, the sheriff said.

Arrington was transported to Halifax Regional Medical Center in Roanoke Rapids and then airlifted to Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville. His condition was not known.

Vincent said authorities continue to look for the other man in the house, who fled. The sheriff declined to disclose the man's name.

“The best we can understand is they broke in to burglarize the residence,” he said.

The State Bureau of Investigation was called in for assistance and the Gaston and Garysburg police departments helped with processing the crime scene.