NH: Man credits gun in foiling intruder

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Man credits gun in foiling intruder

By ANDREW WOLFE, Telegraph Staff
[email protected]
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005

HOLLIS – Donald Narkis said he?s glad he had a gun handy to
confront an intoxicated intruder who was smashing furniture
in his house.

He?s equally glad he didn?t need to shoot the intruder.

?I think it?s important that people realize that the first
line of protection is themselves. By the time the police
arrived, there could have been three bodies here,? Narkis
said of the incident at his home early Monday morning.

?This could have been a tragedy, and fortunately for all of
us, it wasn?t,? Narkis said. ?I was told specifically from
police, ?It?s a good thing you have a gun, because it could
have been very bad for you.? ?Peter Camplin, 38, of 22 Maple
Knoll Drive, posted $10,000 cash bail and was released after
his arraignment Tuesday in Nashua District Court. He faces
a felony burglary charge, punishable by up to 7? to 15 years
in prison, and a probable cause hearing set for Jan. 27.

Camplin received cuts from breaking glass in both his and
Narkis? house, police reported, but otherwise no one was
hurt in the incident.

Camplin refused to speak with police after his arrest, Sgt.
Richard Mello wrote in a report filed in court.

Police Chief Richard Darling said Camplin had been drinking
and using cocaine, and smashed up furniture and items in his
own house before jumping out a window and heading across the
street to his neighbor?s house.

Narkis declined to discuss details of the incident, saying
he would have preferred that it not be publicized. The
incident traumatized his wife and adult daughter, both of
whom were home at the time, he said.

?It was a nightmare that we were actually living,? Narkis
said. ?This is a terrible, terrible ordeal to go through.?

Narkis, 69, and his wife and daughter woke up to hear a man
in their yard, swearing and yelling about President Bush,
Mello reported. Narkis armed himself, and went downstairs
to check it out, he told police.

Camplin, who is branch manager for a local mortgage company,
donated $1,000 to the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2003, federal
election records show.

?They (Narkis family) were awakened in the middle of the
night,? Darling said. ?He (Camplin) was in the backyard,
screaming and yelling and making a general disturbance.?

Narkis had reached the living room when he heard someone
breaking into the kitchen, he told police. Narkis fired his
.45-caliber Smith & Wesson twice by accident, while trying
to cock it and chamber a round. The first shot hit a lamp
in the living room, and the second hit a grandfather clock
near the front door, police reported.

Meanwhile, Camplin kept on yelling and swearing, picked up
an end table in the sitting room, and smashed it on the
floor, police reported. Narkis confronted Camplin at
gunpoint, holding the .45-caliber, and ordered him to lie
down on the floor, he told police.

Camplin complied, and Narkis called police. At some point,
Narkis? daughter, Karen Narkis, 39, came downstairs and also
stood by, armed with a .357 Ruger revolver.

Narkis told Camplin not to move, and kept his gun pointed
toward Camplin while he spoke with a police dispatcher on
the phone, Darling and Narkis said. He never aimed at
Camplin?s head, Narkis said.

Camplin began to get up while Narkis was on the phone with
police, however, and Narkis fired a round toward his legs,
thinking that at worst, he would wound him, he said. Police
found the shot lodged in the floor, near Camplin?s legs,
Mello reported.

Camplin was still on the floor when Mello and officers
Christopher Bonin and Kevin Irwin arrived, Mello reported.
While police cuffed him, Camplin yelled something to the
effect that ?psycho tried to shoot me,? Mello reported.

Narkis broke no law, Darling said, and police have no plans
to charge him. State law gives people the right to use
deadly force against intruders who threaten them in their
own homes.

Police had to keep Narkis? pistol and the three spent
cartridges as evidence, but they returned his revolver,
Mello reported.

Camplin had moved into the neighborhood in October, and
Narkis had met him only once, briefly, he said. The two had
never had any conflict, Narkis said. Camplin filed for
divorce from his wife in November, and he lived with a
girlfriend, who told police he?d been drinking at Boston
Billiards earlier that night, and was acting ?paranoid,?
police reported. Camplin?s girlfriend wasn?t home at the
time of the incident, Mello reported.

Narkis has lived in Hollis for 40 years, he said. While
there is very little crime in town, he said, he has long
believed that a loaded gun is the best defense.