Police: Elderly Southgate Man Shoots, Kills Armed Home Invader
SOUTHGATE (WWJ) - A man who police say broke into an elderly couple's home was fatally shot Thursday morning.
Southgate Police Director Thomas Coombs said the situation unfolded shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday in the 15000-block of Flanders, in the area of Eureka and Allen roads.
"It appears they came in through a window," Coombs told WWJ's Sandra McNeill. "The homeowner heard a noise...startled awake, discovered that the home had been broken into. The husband grabbed the gun."
Coombs said, when confronted by the homeowner, the alleged intruder pointed a gun before he was shot dead.
"The homeowner was in possession of their legal firearm and shot and killed the defendant who had broken into their home," Coombs said.
The wife, Coombs said, then called 911. She and her husband were not hurt.
Dewey Thompson, who lives across the street, said he's known the couple for over a decade. The wife, he said, was recently diagnosed with cancer.
As for the shooting: "You know, this was good! He won't break into anybody else's house. That's the way I feel about it; I don't care," Thompson said.
Another neighbor, Dawn Barros, said things like this just don't happen on her street, and it's shocking.
Does she have a gun?
"No...thought of getting one, though; just for protection. Especially when it hits this close to home," she said.
The deceased suspect was not immediately identified, police said, and the homeowner told investigators he didn't recognize the intruder.
An investigation is ongoing.