MD) Woman kills armed intruder
MD) Woman kills armed intruder
Woman kills armed intruder
Second man sought in home invasion; Resident had gun in dresser; Front
door was unlocked; pair demanded valuables
——————————————————————————–
By Julie Bykowicz
Sun Staff
Originally published January 29, 2003
Anne Arundel County police were investigating yesterday a late-night
incident in which a woman fatally shot one of two intruders who she said came in
through her unlocked front door on Fox Court in Pasadena.
The 26-year-old woman, who is not being identified because police fear for
her safety, told police that the pair confronted her just after midnight
yesterday in her bedroom and demanded cash and jewelry. Both were armed, she
told police.
“Detectives do not believe this is a random incident,” police spokesman
Officer Charles Ravenell said of the incident.
When the intruders demanded her valuables, the woman grabbed a .45-caliber
semiautomatic handgun from her dresser and shot one of the men several
times in the chest, police said.
That man, who is not being identified pending an autopsy, died at the
scene, police said. The second man fled. Police were searching for him
yesterday evening.
Neighbors said a police helicopter hovered above their homes in the early
morning hours. Detectives recovered a second handgun from the house, police
said.
The woman was not injured, police said, and has not been charged with any
crime. The state’s attorney’s office will decide whether to file charges
against her, Ravenell said.
“Preliminarily, it does appear that her life was in jeopardy and that she
was defending it,” he said, adding that police advise residents to avoid
inflaming a criminal situation if possible.
Police said the 26-year-old was alone at the time of the incident, but
neighbors said they believe as many as five people, including her husband,
have been living there.
Ravenell would not say why the woman’s house was targeted.
Police have been called to the address four times – twice for false
burglar alarms and twice for abandoned vehicles – in the three months her family
has lived there, police said.
A green Chevrolet Camaro parked in front of the house has Tennessee
license tags – neighbors said that’s where the family last lived – and a silver
Camaro in the driveway is partially covered by a blue tarp and has no rear
license plate.
Robin and Tom Lang, who live across the street, said they have seen an
increase in vehicle traffic – day and night – on the cul-de-sac of eight
duplexes since the woman’s family arrived.
“Ever since they moved in, the curtains have been drawn,” said Robin Lang,
36, who has lived in the neighborhood since she was a teen-ager. “It seems
weird that they do everything all closed up in there.”
The Langs also said that the family owns a Shar-Pei dog that occasionally
runs unleashed through the neighborhood.
Several neighbors on Fox Court own guns, Robin Lang said, but until
yesterday, the most serious crime in the area recently had been teen-agers
stealing cans from a soda machine the Langs own.
“It’s like this all the time,” she said, gesturing to eight young children
chasing each other at the end of the cul-de-sac. “We just don’t have to
worry about safety.”
Knowing that police believe the burglary was not random has given the
neighbors some comfort, but some said they now are more fearful.
“I called today to get deadbolts for the front door,” Tom Lang, 38, said
yesterday afternoon, standing in his front yard. “And tonight I’m going to
sleep a little closer to my gun.”
