A sleepy neighborhood in DeKalb County, Georgia, turned into Ramadi for a brief moment on Thursday morning. Then, at about 5:30 am, an alleged intruder tried breaking into a man’s home and was stopped dead in his tracks by “about 10 rounds” fired by the homeowner.
News on that comes from Atlanta First News, which reports that the police responded to a call about a person being shot after a man broke into another’s home, saying:
A man is dead after police say he broke into a home and was shot by its owner.
DeKalb Police officers responded to a person shot call around 5:30 a.m. on the 1300 block of Peachcrest Road in Decatur.
A nearby neighbor said, “I’m getting ready for work and all of a sudden I hear two shots and I looked out and, at first, I didn’t see anything and when I got ready to walk out the door, that’s when I seen all the cops and ambulance and stuff like that.”
Additionally, a neighbor described the shooting as a good thing, saying, “I mean, it’s always good to protect your home and family and stuff like that.”
Similarly, the homeowner’s next-door neighbor said, “We knew he had a firearm. I’m glad nothing bad happened to him.” That neighbor added that a shooting wasn’t really all that surprising given the constant shootings in the area, saying, “We didn’t hear the shots, but around here there’s shootings going on all the time.”
Another neighbor, one who was getting ready for work at the time of the shooting, said, “It was that close, it was that loud.” Adding to that, the neighbor said, “it’s kind of hard to believe. I’ve been living here my whole life, never had a break-in, never had anything like that.”
WSB-TV added that another neighbor of the shooter were not sure whether he was targeted or if it was just a random robbery, but that one neighbor thought the incident reflected poorly on the country and well for firearm ownership. In that outlet’s words:
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Neighbor Gary Casten had no idea what brought all the police to his neighborhood and was speechless when he heard what had happened.
“Wow, I didn’t know,” Casten said. “You don’t have stuff like that happen around here.”
Neighbors said the homeowner lives in the home with his girlfriend but aren’t sure if there was a reason they would be targeted, or if it was just a random crime.
Gehlbach said it appears the homeowner will not face any charges because he was defending himself and his property.
“I just think it’s a sad state of affairs for the country,” one neighbor said. “In this case, somebody having a gun was a good thing.”
Fortunately for the homeowner, Georgia recognizes the Castle Doctrine, which gives wide lassitude to homeowners under attack, as a Georgia law office noted, saying:
A person is justified in threatening or using force against another when they reasonably believe that such threat or force is necessary to prevent or terminate such other’s unlawful entry into or attack upon a habitation. However, such person is justified in the use of force, which is intended to or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if:
- The entry is made or attempted in a violent and tumultuous manner and he or she reasonably believes that the entry is attempted or made for the purpose of assault or offering personal violence to any person dwelling or being therein and that such force is necessary to prevent the assault or offer of personal violence;
- That force is used against another person who is not a member of the family or household and who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence and the person using such force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred; or
- The person using such force reasonably believes that the entry is made or attempted for the purpose of committing a felony therein and that such force is necessary to prevent the commission of the felony.