FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA — Domestic disputes can turn ugly in a hurry, but it seems to be a good thing that in this particular case, the one being abused went to someone else’s house to talk about it.
She was followed, however, by the abuser, and that added another person into the mix.
“A lady and her boyfriend that rent a trailer that I own in Hope Mills, she said they had a fight and she stopped by here to talk about it,” landlord Darrell Ellison said.
The boyfriend was in hot pursuit and determined to finish what was started. It wasn’t looking good, and it turned into a nightmarish ordeal for everyone involved.
“I had (the door) locked, and he kicked the lock out,” Ellison said. “He came in the house, grabbed a hold of her and started dragging her through the kitchen, knocking all of my stuff over.”
Ellison told reporters that he usually has his firearm close at hand but in this moment, his firearm was inside his truck. Knowing that this woman’s life was in danger, the 74-year-old quickly went to his truck to retrieve his firearm.
He went back into the house to find the boyfriend continuing his assault on the woman.
Once Ellison was spotted back inside the house, the man turned towards him. Ellison warned him to let him go or he was going to shoot, but the warning went unheard.
“If i didn’t shoot him, he would’ve killed her”. Homeowner shoots man who broke into his home and started beating a woman. The story all new at 4&5. #abc11 pic.twitter.com/A1aLn7DjOz
— Morgan Norwood (@MorganABC11) September 28, 2018
Fearing for his own life at this point, Ellison fired a single shot at the man, which immediately ended the potentially deadly assault on both himself and the woman.
“Like I said, if I hadn’t been able to stop him, he would have killed her – and me probably, too,” Ellison said.
The boyfriend got away with his life, but will face numerous charges once he is released from the hospital. Let’s hope that this woman can get to a safe place if he’s released, and maybe even get herself familiarized with firearms and how to safely defend herself.
