The Armed Citizen® July 28, 2011

“You’re not supposed to knock old people down...I’m too old to be going through all that!” said 83-year-old James Brooks after a hair-raising burglary incident. It began when a man knocked on the door, claimed to have lost his cell phone and inquired whether Brooks had seen it. Soon after, a second man knocked on the door. “He told me to go sit on the couch because he didn’t want to kill me,” Brooks recalled. At first he thought the suspect was joking, but his intent to do harm quickly became clear. As the suspect attempted to lift Brooks’ television, Brooks saw his opportunity to retrieve a firearm. He fired a shot, wounding the suspect, who fled the scene with the assistance of two accomplices. Brooks said he’s lived in the neighborhood for more than 25 years and never had anything like this happen. “These young people have got their whole lives to live, why spoil it?” Brooks asked rhetorically. “I’m thinking [the suspect] got the message.” (Dayton Daily News, Dayton, OH, 04/30/11)

The Armed Citizen Extra

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

Three armed men entered the Okay Auto Tire Service in Miami, Fla., and brandished their guns and held four employees at gunpoint, demanding their wallets and cash. The men then fired several shots at the owner of the store. Uninjured, the owner retrieved his own pistol and returned fire, hitting two of the suspects. The third man escaped on foot and was still being apprehended by the police when this article went to press. The other two suspects were treated and charged at a local hospital. (The Miami Herald, Miami, FL, 04/24/10)

From The Armed Citizen Archive

July 1961: In Como, Tex., proprietor Fred Brooks, Jr., fired a cal .32 pistol at a prowler in his cafe and killed him with 2 shots. The dead man was a felon on probation. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)