Armed Citizen

It was a terrifying night that refused to end. Edith and William Stevens, both in their 80s, had already scared away an intruder. According to the sheriff’s department, deputies completed an investigation and left, but two hours later the couple heard gunshots outside their home and glass breaking. William got his handgun and investigated. Finding an intruder in the hallway, he opened fire and the intruder returned it. “Had Mr. Stevens not had that handgun, I don’t know what could have happened,” said Maury County, Tenn., Chief Deputy Ashley Brown. The couple locked themselves in the bedroom and tried to phone police, but the lines were cut. The intruder, who police believe was after money for drugs, fired once more through a window. After discovering the intruder had fled, the couple phoned police from a neighbor’s house. (The Daily Herald, Columbia, TN, 02/10/08)

Suddenly awakened by the sound of someone rapping on a window, Matthew Kovschak called 9-1-1 and grabbed his .357 caliber handgun. According to police, Kovschak warned the prowler that he had a gun and police were on the way. The noise stopped, but only momentarily. Kovschak heard a commotion and then he saw a hand reaching through a broken window pane trying to unlock the back door. After one more warning, Kovschak fired four shots, twice striking the female intruder. Police believe a second suspect fled the scene.
(The Ledger, Lakeland, FL, 01/22/08)

When Eric MacFarlane saw three teenagers kick in his neighbor’s door, he got his pistol and told a neighbor to call police. Fearing his neighbor’s small children were endangered, he ran to the scene. Police say two of the teens immediately fled, but MacFarlane found one in the doorway. “I told him to step back and lay down if he wanted to live,” MacFarlane recalls. “Then I talked to him about what direction his life was going in.” The teen said he broke in for money. MacFarlane told him he’s lucky the decision didn’t get him shot. “I just hope this young man has learned a lesson,” MacFarlane explained, adding that he doesn’t believe in violence. “[MacFarlane] did a really great job,” said Midwest City, Okla., police Capt. Sid Porter. “We’re probably going to issue him a commendation.” (The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, OK, 02/21/08)

Upon witnessing a man yelling at a woman and pushing her into a van, a passerby tried to be a Good Samaritan. Police say he asked the woman if she was okay and told her she didn’t have to get into the man’s vehicle. While stopped at a traffic light moments later, the van’s driver confronted the man. Both men exited their vehicles, and the van’s driver knocked the Good Samaritan to the ground. Two women, including the woman the victim tried to help, exited the van and began stomping on him. A passing motorist witnessed the scene and quickly stopped. He drew a firearm and ordered the three suspects to halt the beating. Police received reports of a man holding people at gunpoint, but quickly determined he had a concealed carry permit and arrested the three suspects. (Ann Arbor News, Ann Arbor, MI, 02/14/08)

Elwood Pickett just wanted to be a good neighbor, so when two young men asked to use the phone, he handed it out the door. Then he grew suspicious. “They used the phone and left, but when they came back the second time, I was ready for them in case there was trouble,” the 80-year-old Pickett explained. He handed the phone out a second time, but he says one of the men “pushed through like an elephant and pounded me with a knife. He... stabbed me half to death, and I thought it was time.” But it wasn’t. Police say Pickett, a World War II vet and lifelong hunter, drew his .38 caliber pistol and fired three shots, striking one of the men and causing both to flee. One suspect went to the hospital; the other to jail. Pickett was badly injured but is recuperating. (Hood County News, Granbury, TX, 02/13/08)