Though Rocco Bombara's legs were amputated due to a medical condition, he is far from helpless. "He's not someone to mess with," said his daughter Nicco. "He's pretty tough. He does everything on his own." Rocco also understands that sometimes evil men perceive the physically challenged as easy prey. One such individual attempted to break into Bombara's apartment while his son, daughter and several of their friends were watching television. The intruder crawled halfway inside the window and randomly fired two shots from a rifle. Bombara drew a handgun from his wheelchair and returned a more precise shot, killing the intruder. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh, PA, 01/03/11)
Armed Citizen Extra
(The following account did not appear in the print version of American Rifleman.)
When three teenagers entered a St. Louis grocery store one afternoon and tried to steal some snacks, the store owner approached them, demanding that they pay for the snacks or leave the store. Two of the teens returned what they had taken, but the third pulled out a gun and pointed it at the owner. The owner then grabbed her own gun and fired two shots at the teen, hitting him in the buttocks. The teen was found on a nearby corner and was taken to the hospital. He now faces robbery charges. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, 11/24/10)
From The Armed Citizen Archive
May 1980: Cleveland housewife Mrs. Lenwood Layton returned from a shopping trip to find her home ransacked by a burglar. Mrs. Layton got her husband's hidden revolver and headed for a bedroom where she had heard the burglar at work. When sounds of the intruder came from the closet, Mrs. Layton threw open the door, fired one shot in warning, and a youthful burglar stepped out and surrendered. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
