An elderly Miami-area man refused to be a victim, even though the bad guys outnumbered him two to one. Miami-Dade police said two burglars entered a house in Redland one afternoon, and shots were fired soon thereafter. One intruder died at the scene, and the other was taken to a hospital. The homeowner, 77, is cooperating with investigators, who are treating this as a “stand your ground” case. People in the neighborhood had reported several burglaries and attempted burglaries in the area prior to this one. (NBC News 6, Miami, FL, 5/18/15)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
When a 70-year-old Anderson, S.C., man used his handgun to foil the theft of his pickup truck, he also took the opportunity to display some compassion. After being alerted by his wife to the fact that someone was trying to steal his truck from their front yard, the gentleman retrieved his revolver and confronted the culprit. The suspect, who had crashed his own vehicle before fleeing the scene and attempting to steal the truck, had successfully hot-wired the automobile and was pulling out of the driveway when he encountered the armed citizen. Frantic at the sight of the firearm aimed at him, the 25-year-old criminal exited the vehicle and got down on his knees. While waiting for the authorities to arrive, the resident took the chance to speak to the would-be thief about “the direction his life was going,” and his wife even brought the suspect a glass of water. (WNCN, Raleigh, NC, 8/8/15)
The Armed Citizen® Extra
August 1959
Josephine Morreale shouted to husband Domenick, who was in the back room of their Irwindale, Calif., liquor store when two bandits entered and demanded their money. One gunman ran to the back, pistol-whipped the proprietor, fired one wild shot and fled with his companion. Morreale, knocked to the floor, produced his own handgun and fired three times. The sheriff’s deputies located one critically injured suspect bleeding in a clump of bushes outside the store and arrested his accomplice shortly thereafter near the crime scene. (Los Angeles Herald Express, Los Angeles, CA)
