Debi Keeney, 55, was at home with her sister, Donna Carlyle, 47, when she stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. As she closed the door behind her, a man approached and pushed his way inside the apartment. The man threw Keeney to the floor and put Carlyle in a choke hold. He demanded money as Carlyle gasped for air. Keeney was quickly able to get to a .22-cal. derringer she kept hidden in a side-table drawer. She warned the man to release her sister or she would shoot. When he continued to demand money, Keeney fired. The 33-year-old intruder was later taken to a local hospital to be treated for two gunshot wounds and was listed in critical condition. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Highland, MO, 2/11/13)
The Armed Citizen Extra
A 72-year-old South Side woman on oxygen held a man at gunpoint in her home Wednesday evening after he crashed through her porch window and onto her couch. Phibbie Underwood told the intruder, 26, that "you broke into the wrong house" and "I'll kill you" after he came through the window about 8 p.m. Wednesday police reports state. She fired one shot in his direction. Police said they arrived to find the intruder lying on the floor and Underwood pointing a .22-caliber revolver at him. Underwood put on a clinic on how to defend your home with a gun, according to the police chief. "She's a brave lady," he said. "She did exactly what she's supposed to do with a home defense firearm. Good for her." "She didn't use the gun until she felt threatened." (Tribune Chronicle, Youngstown, OH, 3/29/2013)
From The Armed Citizen Archives
October 1973: Vaughn Elliot picked up his muzzle-loading rifle and hurried from his Highgrove, Calif., apartment to aid his brother, who was being attacked by burglars next door. Elliot shot one of the attackers in the chest, killing him. The second suspect and two other accomplices were caught by police. (The Evening Telegram, San Bernardino, Calif.)
