STATESVILLE, NC — When a man found a complete stranger in his sunroom trying to force his way into the rest of his home where his soon-to-be wife and two children were located, he knew he had to take action.
He picked up one of the less commonly-reached-for tools for defense, a bolt-action .22-caliber rifle.
But what the heck — it worked.
As the Statesville Record & Landmark reports:
What (Owen) Turman didn’t expect was a strange man in his outdoor sunroom, trying to get into the house. Turman, who lives on Culpepper Road off Wilkesboro Highway, quickly snatched his .22-caliber bolt-action rifle and went around back to confront the stranger.
“I saw him turn the handle on my door and twist real hard trying to get in,” said Turman, recounting the events of April 8. “When I saw that, I instantly put my rifle up at him.”
He asked the man what he was doing, told him to get away from the door and to lie on the ground. The stranger followed orders, but didn’t answer questions, like who he was or what he was doing. Turman, still in his underwear, called police. And he waited. His fiancé and two daughters, one 6 years old and the other an infant, remained inside, unaware of what had unfolded outside.
“My main concern was I have to protect my home and my family,” Turman said. “The only thing I was thinking (was) keeping my family safe.”…
Turman said that while the suspect lay on the ground, he began rummaging through his pockets. He kept trying to take needles out of his pockets and throw them under Turman’s vehicle, Turman recalled.
“Look, man, you’re making me nervous,” Turman recalled telling the man before ordering him to stop. But the man continued to dig in his pockets. An Iredell County deputy ran up seconds later.
Turman said the intruder struggled with the deputy but eventually was taken into custody.
The man was arrested and charged with a slew of offenses including breaking and entering, possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting a police officer.
Home defense with a .22 without a single shot fired isn’t half-bad. A huge thank-you is in order for Turman not only for being a responsibly-armed citizen but making all of us look good with a seamless, bloodless win for armed Americans.
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