A hulking murder suspect from Ohio ended up in the home of a small-town, Georgia family in mid-September, but, thanks to quick-thinking and a firearm, the homeowner was able to defend himself and his family from the alleged home invader.
Such was recently announced by Georgia’s Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the incident and investigated the situation, which ended in a shooting that left the murder suspect wounded and the homeowner’s family safe.
The FCSO posted an announcement on the matter on Facebook, beginning it by saying, “The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) is providing an update on the recent incident involving a home invasion in north Fayette County.”
Continuing, the sheriff’s office noted that “On September 14, 2023, FCSO responded to a burglary in progress call. Deputies were dispatched to a Fayette County home regarding an active alarm and potential intruder. The homeowner was forced to defend his family by discharging a firearm, which resulted in injuries to the intruder. The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office believes that the suspect acted alone, and this is an isolated incident.”
Fayette County Sheriff Barry Babb described things similarly, saying, “There, he took his stand as the subject made his way up to the second floor. [He] made the comment, something to the effect of, ‘You’re going to have to kill me.’ When the resident fired a second shot. That was about the time the deputies got there. From we can tell, he was coming down the stairway with a second gunshot wound. At that point, they actually still struggled with him [as they] took him into custody.”
Describing what happened leading up to the alleged home invasion and shooting, the sheriff’s office noted, “A red Ford truck, believed to be the suspect’s mode of transportation, was located outside the residence. The truck was reported stolen out of Ohio and displayed a different state’s license plate. The homeowners confirmed that they did not know the male suspect. Additionally, it was discovered that the suspect had approached multiple houses in the neighborhood before targeting the residence in question.”
That’s when the FCSO got to the terrifying part of the story, which is that the alleged home invader is a wanted criminal from Ohio who is alleged to have murdered someone else in a different home invasion, meaning that things could have gone quite differently had the Georgia family been unarmed or unprepared.
Describing that aspect of the incident, the office said, “Further investigation revealed that the suspect is Michael James Brooks II, age 28, of Columbus, Ohio. Brooks has an extensive criminal history. He is wanted in connection to the home invasion and fatal stabbing of Emily Foster, which occurred on September 9, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. Brooks is also wanted in connection to the hijacking of a red Ford F-150 in Kettering, Ohio, which later linked him to the FCSO home invasion case.”
The sheriff’s office then described what charges the alleged home invader with an already extensive criminal record will receive, saying, “Michael Brooks II is currently hospitalized for injuries sustained in the Fayette County home invasion and faces charges of home invasion, burglary, and theft by receiving in Georgia. Brooks has an arrest warrant, out of Ohio, for murder, which will be served on the 28-year-old once he is released from medical care.”
Featured image credit: Fayette County Sheriff’s Department Facebook
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