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Woman, 72, fires gun to thwart home invasion
YOUNGSTOWN
A 26-year-old Youngstown man got a surprise when he broke into a South Side home, police said.
An elderly woman pulled out a gun when the man kicked in her window Wednesday and told him, “You broke into the wrong house,” she said. “I will kill you.”
Police took the man into custody, but city prosecutors had not filed any formal charges against him as of Thursday. Police continue their investigation. The man could be charged with aggravated burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The man purportedly kicked in the window of the elderly woman’s Ferndale Avenue home about 8 p.m.
The 72-year-old homeowner was armed with a handgun and fired a shot at the intruder.
When police arrived, they found the man face down on the woman’s kitchen floor bleeding and asking for assistance with the woman standing above him with pistol in hand. He was not shot, but did receive treatment for wounds suffered from the broken window.
Police said the man had a used crack pipe in his pocket.
The woman told police she heard her front door rattle and saw a shadow walk past the front window on her porch. She said she then heard the rattle of the front door and glass breaking in the window.
The woman told police she immediately went to her bedroom where she keeps a loaded handgun. After retrieving the firearm, the woman went back to the front of the house and told the intruder to leave her alone and leave her property.
The homeowner watched as the man pushed through a second window pane with his shoulder and fell through the window landing on the couch in her living room.
The intruder lay there for a moment and said someone was chasing him. He then got up and began to walk toward the woman in a threatening manner, police said.
Police reports also say she pulled the trigger once, but the gun misfired. She fired a second time discharging a bullet and making the intruder lie on the floor until police arrived.
Police said the woman was shaken up badly and too upset to deactivate her home burglar-alarm system. She calmed down after police arrived and reassured her that her actions were justified.