Grandpa Gets His Gun To Scare Away South Sac Robbers
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - An 81-year-old grandfather grabbed a rifle and scared away some robbers from his south Sacramento home months ago, and he told CBS13 he's been sleeping with his gun ever since.
We learned in the last three months, he's one of more than two dozen victims in the vicinity of his home on Hollyhurst Way. It's a neighborhood under siege.
Howard Buckner is a Korean War veteran. He's used to guns, but not one pointed directly at his head.
"He had a pistol right in my head and we couldn't find my wallet," he said. "He was really getting mad because we couldn't find that wallet."
Trying to be a good neighbor, he became the victim of a home-invasion robbery instead.
Mr. Buckner tells CBS13 it all started when a couple of guys came to his house saying their car broke down and they needed to use his phone. But once inside, he says that's when the gun came out.
They threatened to kill him if he didn't give up his wallet.
"No, you don't want to shoot me," he said he told the men. "If you shoot me, hey, they'll really be looking for you."
They were rough, ransacking his home and demanding his cash.
He was pushed into the bedroom.
"They didn't know I had a rifle," he said.
Tucked away was his .257 Roberts hunting rifle, normally used for hunting elk and deer. But this time, he locked and loaded, ready to protect himself.
"I'm in my bedroom alone and the rifle was right on the corner, and I just put some shells in," he said.
He started shooting through the door. No one was hit but "boy, they left in a hurry," he said.
Some of his neighbors have been victimized too.
"Three times and a fourth time when somebody kicked in my front door," one neighbor said.
CBS13 has learned there have been multiple burglaries, thefts and robberies within a two-mile radius of Buckner's home.
His family spends more time with him now.
"Obviously, the siblings, we're all angry," his daughter Heather Buckner said.
Howard said the two suspects, who made off with his hearing aids, have not been arrested.
