Thursday, February 16, 2012

HAPPY ENDING JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE'S DAY

Bob Walsh asks: “Don’t you just love happy endings?”

ANTIOCH MAN WRESTLES AWAY GUN, KILLS HOME INVADER
By Henry K. Lee

San Francisco Chronicle
February 15, 2012

An Antioch man at home with his young son disarmed an 18-year-old man who kicked in his front door and shot him dead with his own gun, the second time in three months that a resident in the city has fought back with deadly results, police said Tuesday.

The latest incident happened about 8:20 p.m. Monday, when a resident on the 4800 block of Wexler Peak Way heard his doorbell ring, said acting police Lt. Diane Aguinaga.

The resident, who was home with his 7-year-old son, did not answer the doorbell right away and then peered out a window, only to see his front door being kicked in "pretty aggressively," Aguinaga said.

"He just jumps the guy and realizes the guy has a gun," Aguinaga said. "He somehow (got) it away from him" and shot the intruder three times in the torso, then called police, she said.

The intruder died at the scene, and his semiautomatic handgun was recovered. He was identified as 18-year-old Jeremiah Stovall of Antioch, who police say had a criminal history that included weapons violations.

The resident and his son were not hurt. Their names were not released. Police said the man would not be arrested.

Investigators believe Stovall and at least two accomplices chose the home at random, intending to steal items. "That's our theory right now," Aguinaga said. "It's just unusual that it happened at night."

Officers arrested a 19-year-old woman who ran from the scene and was found hiding in bushes. She was booked on suspicion of murder and could face charges related to Stovall's death, authorities said. Her name was not released.

Police had arrested the woman and Stovall last month on suspicion of possessing an assault rifle, Aguinaga said.

A third suspect remains at large, police said.

The shooting was the second time in recent months that a home intruder has been shot to death in Antioch.

On Nov. 5, the owner of a vacant home on the 200 block of West 17th Street shot and killed a burglar after catching the man stealing copper wire.

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