Two home invasion stories from earlier this month demonstrate once again how access to firearms allows the less powerful to defend themselves from those who seek to do them harm.
In the first incident, a 12-year-old boy in North Carolina shot and killed a home intruder who had shot a 73-year-old woman during an attempted robbery.
Two masked men broke into the apartment of 73-year-old Linda Ellis and demanded money, according to WRAL. During the altercation, one of the suspects, 19-year-old Khalil Herring, shot Ellis in the leg.
That’s when a 12-year-old boy who was also at the residence shot Herring and forced him and his accomplice to flee.
“A 12-year-old juvenile occupant of the residence shot at the suspects with a firearm in self-defense, causing them to flee the area,” wrote officials in a statement.
SEE ALSO: Texas Homeowner Uses Rifle to Defend Kids from Three Home Intruders
Police later found Herring at a nearby intersection, and he eventually succumbed to his injuries. Ellis was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
In the second incident, an 82-year-old Vietnam veteran defended himself and his wife from a knife-wielding attacker who broke into their home.
Lois Parrish, 79, answered the door of their home to 61-year-old Harold Runnels, who said he was looking for his dog. When Lois said she didn’t know where the dog was, Runnels forced his way inside while the woman was trying to close the door, according to WACH.
Runnels took out a large knife and began attacking Lois, knocking her to the ground and slicing her in the forehead.
“I felt, we’re gone. He’s going to kill us and take what he can take,” said Herbert Parrish, Lois’s husband.
But Herbert, an 82-year-old Vietnam veteran, wasn’t going down without a fight.
SEE ALSO: Texas Fiancée, 65, Shoots & Kills 19-Year-Old Home Intruder
“He was not going to go out that door and leave us alive. That’s the way I felt. That’s why I said, I’ve got to do something quick and get the edge on him. Get the advantage on him,” Herbert said.
He grabbed a shotgun that was hanging on a wall display and began striking the 6-foot 4-inch Runnels on the head.
“I started hitting him in the head with the barrel and I know I must have hit him at least ten times right in the face, just as hard as I could hit him,” Herbert said.
Herbert continued to strike Runnels until he was unconscious. When police arrived, they found both the Parrish’s responsive but Runnels was on the ground covered in blood, according to the Aiken Standard.
Runnels later died of his injuries.
Neither the Parrish’s nor the 12-year-old boy are expected to face charges, though the investigations are still ongoing.
I remember a couple of decades ago in South Bend, IN. an elderly retired gentleman was targeted by a bad guy for harassment and picking on. I don’t recall how it happened but the bad guy went to jail for it and got word to the elderly fella that when he got out of jail he was going to finish the old guy off. Sure enough he got out of jail and wasted no time making a go for the old fella whom saw him making his way up the street towards him and went inside of his home and locked and bolted the door. The bad guy made it to the door and started kicking and pounding on it as the elderly home owner kept shouting from inside that he was armed and to stop. Witnesses saw the bad guy break through the door and make his way to the home owner whom shot and killed the intruder inside his living room. The police showed up, witnesses backed up the account of the home owner and no charges were filed. Officers within the South Bend police department took up a collection to buy materials to repair the door and then off duty officers went over and replaced and fixed the door for the seasoned man. I remember reading about that at the time in the local newspaper.
‘ Guess it might not be such a swell idea to ” screw ” with an
older ‘Nam vet that still recalls the ” horizontal butt stroke & hold “,
Eh ? I’d call that damned fine use of ” C.C.B.” , even sixty years later .
don’t you just love happy endings!
That’s how it should be. You do bad stuff, you die. Period. That way, the prisons can empty out and bad men might get the idea. I like that the fellow beat the guy to death (with a gun) but didn’t shoot him. Anti-gunners take note.
Good work by both. Good result.