The Armed Citizen® April 2010

*NRA member Robert Cole and his wife, Pam, had just started to doze off one evening when they heard breaking glass and their motion detector alarm as it went off. Then Cole heard someone in the living room. “I woke my wife up and told her we had someone in the house, and she told me to grab the shotgun,” he remembered. Police said he peered out the bedroom door and saw a man in the living room holding a fire extinguisher. “I was worried he was going to hurt me or my wife so I [fired] one round of No. 6 shot,” Cole said. Police arrested the wounded suspect and an alleged accomplice nearby. This wasn’t Cole’s first act of armed citizenry. He was involved in an incident that appeared in this column in December 2004. (North Channel Sentinel, Pasadena, Texas, 01/07/10)

*Police said that shortly after midnight three men broke into a home seeking money and drugs. There were no drugs in the home, but there was a .22 cal rifle-and an 11-year-old boy trained in its use. The boy leapt to the defense of his mother and sister. One of the intruders shot the boy, slightly injuring him. The boy returned fire, seriously wounding a suspect and causing the men to flee the home. Police found all three intruders nearby. That wounded man was airlifted to a hospital and will be charged after his release. (San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, Texas, 01/20/10)

Armed Citizen Extra

(The following account did not appear in the print version of American Rifleman.)

Early in the evening, a 74-year-old homeowner arrived at home to find his front door kicked in and side door open. After entering the home, he found two male suspects who threatened him with landscaping tools. The homeowner grabbed a machete-like weapon and swung it at the men, striking one of them several times but the suspects continued to approach the homeowner. So, the man produced a .25 caliber handgun and fired twice at the intruders. Both men fled the residence and were later arrested. Both are facing numerous charges. (WVI Local News, Lewes, Delaware, 09/11/2009)

From the Armed Citizen Archive

April 1978: Paul Tornabene, of Buffalo N.Y., was driving home when he saw a woman being mugged at knifepoint. Tornabene responded to the woman’s cry for help, stopped his car, and held a gun on her assailant until police arrived. The man was arrested on a first degree robbery charge. Of Tornabene, one officer said, “I think the guy should get a merit badge. People are so reluctant to get involved these days, and this guy really went out of his way to help the woman and police…” (The Courier Express, Buffalo, New York)