Columns – March 8, 2002
True stories from files of ‘The Armed Citizen’

BOBBY WOLFE WAS locking the front door of his Moon Lake, Miss., store
one night when a man came around the icebox near the door, pointed a gun
and demanded money. “He had a gun in his hand, and the other hand was
over his face,” Wolfe recalled. The storekeeper dropped and pulled a .38
caliber revolver from his pocket. “We think the robbers shot first and
Mr. Wolfe returned fire” stated Cuohoma County Sheriff Andrew Thompson
of the exchange that followed. When Wolfe took off running for his
nearby home, he encountered a second gunman who began firing at him. “He
shot two or three times, and I shot one more time,” said Wolfe. Within
five minutes of the robbery, one gunman was dead, Wolfe was wounded, and
police picked up three suspects – one of whom was mortally wounded -
making a getaway. Wolfe later said of the men, whom he recognized, ” . .
. I’m sure they intended to kill me because they know I’d recognize
them.” (The Clarksdale Press Register, Clarksdale, Miss.)

A 32-year-old man was shot and killed in North Hollywood when he slashed
through a door screen with a knife and threatened to kill everyone
inside. The man, identified as Tony Saucedo, allegedly had assaulted his
ex-girlfriend in her home. She then ran to a neighbor’s home. A witness
said Saucedo, knife in hand, began searching for her. He approached the
wrong house and was shot once in the chest as he cut through the screen
and attempted to force his way inside. (The Los Angeles Times, Los
Angeles, Calif.)

An Allentown, Pa., man shot two men after they broke into his home. The
resident, Joshua Johnston, was upstairs when he heard noises. Johnston
went downstairs with a shotgun, and the intruders – wearing ski masks
- approached him. He thought one intruder was reaching for a gun so he
shot them. The pair apparently were acquaintances of Johnston; it was
reported that one of the men had threatened to break into Johnston’s
home to collect a debt. “He didn’t realize he knew the two men until he
shot them,” said South Side police Sgt. Dan Bonenburger. (Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pa.

A 78-year-old Franklin, Ind., woman was rudely awakened at one o’clock
one morning by a loud banging sound at the back of her house. When she
discovered a man kicking in the wall next to her back door, she picked
up her .25 caliber handgun and dialed 9-1-1. While she was on the phone
with police, the would-be intruder kicked a large hole in her wall and
tried to push his way into the house. The resident ordered him to stop
and, when he did not cooperate, she fired a shot at him. The man backed
out of the hole and was met by police, reported Officer John Moore.
(Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Ind.)

When a Leesville, Ohio, store owner discovered an unwelcome after-hours
visitor in his bait and tackle shop, he pulled out a .22 caliber
revolver and held the burglary suspect for police. Lt. Shane Steele of
the Carroll County Sheriffs Dept., said there were no struggles or
injuries involved in the capture. The owner “detained the suspect until
we got down there,” said Steele, (The Times-Reporter, New Philadelphia,
Ohio.)

The manager of a Citgo gas station/mini-mart shot and killed a robbery
suspect when the man appeared to be reaching for his gun. The manager
had observed a female clerk being robbed at gunpoint on the store’s
video monitor. When the manager confronted the suspect at the front of
the store, he said the robber appeared to be reaching into his
waistband, so the manager shot him. According to Angelique Cook-Hayes, a
police spokeswoman, the would-be robber was carrying a BB gun that
resembled a semi-automatic handgun. (The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Md.)

An elderly man shot an intruder after the man forced his way into a
house and assaulted the homeowner and his wife. The couple had heard
noises from the back of their house, then they saw a stranger walking
from the back yard to the front yard. When they went to their front door
to see what was going on, the stranger forced his way into the home and
a brief struggle ensued, with the intruder pushing and grabbing at the
homeowners. When the interloper then bolted toward the back of the
house, the homeowner grabbed his gun from a bedroom and shot his
attacker when he again tried to assault him. (The Post and Courier,
Charleston, S.C.)

A 77-year-old woman shot one of two men as they tried to break into her
home early one morning. The woman told deputies she had been awakened
about 1:30 in the morning when she heard someone banging loudly on her
back door. The homeowner, who lives alone, grabbed her .38 caliber
handgun and fired four shots, striking one intruder as he attempted to
climb through a bedroom window. The suspects fled in a car and then
crashed into a guardrail on a nearby highway. (Lexington Herald-Leader,
Lexington, Ky.)

- Reprinted with permission from the American Rifleman magazine, the
official journal of the National Rifle Association.