A homeowner in Coffee County, Tennessee, used a personal firearm to fight off an alleged intruder on Monday, October 30th, sending the alleged home invader to the hospital with a gunshot wound instead of potentially becoming a victim of the alleged home invader.
The incident reportedly occurred at about 4:00 in the morning, with few other details having been provided. Presumably, as is generally the case in these situations, the homeowner woke up to the sounds of forced entry, accessed a personal firearm, searched the house, confronted the alleged intruder, and opened fire.
Regardless of how it happened, that gunfire was at least somewhat accurate, as the attacker was sent to a Nashville hospital with gunshot wounds to the chest. That suspect was identified as 24-year-old Carlos Daniel Antonio Rivera.
Providing a small dose of detail about the incident on its Facebook page, the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office said, “Our office has responded to a home invasion in the Beechgrove area. One subject has been shot as this person is a possible suspect. There is possibly 1 to 2 more hispanic males on foot in the Beechgrove/McBride‘s branch, Murfreesboro Highway, Oscar Crowell Rd area. We want to provide as much information as we can to the Beechgrove citizens to be cautious as the sun comes up. If you see anybody suspicious walking, please call 911.”
The sheriff’s office later clarified that there was only one suspect in the case, the one wounded by the homeowner’s gunfire, and not the one to two additional suspects it initially claimed might exist and be egressing the area on foot.
Fortunately for the homeowner, Tennessee has a “castle doctrine” law that is broadly permissive of the use of deadly force in situations such as this one. Under the law, residents are presumed to have had a reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when they use force in a home, business, or vehicle.
In a later post on Facebook, the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department noted that it had been made aware of criminal activity by videos posted to social media, and then asked for the help of locals in promptly bringing such incidents to its attention.
“It has come to our attention lately that we are having suspicious activity within the county posted through social media platforms. We have seen some Facebook posts and videos from people who may be trespassing and also committing thefts. We ask that you contact and report this activity to us so that we can investigate. Many times the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t know about these incidents. These things are happening everyday and put on social media before we are ever called. Most of the time it’s hours or days before we get notified. Please call our dispatch at 931-728-9555, or if it’s an emergency call 911. We want to respond. It could possibly solve a case we may be investigating currently,” it wrote.
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