‘I Was Afraid He Was Gonna Kill Us;’ Elderly Man Shoots Home Invader With A Blast Of Birdshot

STAFFORD, NEW YORK — An elderly couple in Upstate NY survived a potential lethal home invasion thanks to some quick thinking, courage, and a bit of luck. The armed home invader wasn’t as lucky.

It was around 9 p.m. Tuesday in a rural part of Genesee County when the man and his bride of 50 years sat alone in their home, watching television, until there was a knock at the door.

“So I answered the door, which normally I will, because you never know when somebody needs help. As soon as I cracked the door, he pushed me and the door back with a gun in my face, and he says, ‘This is a robbery. Get me your money or I’m gonna kill you!”

After they scraped up what they had, the armed man ordered them to a downstairs laundry room.

“Well, then I got worried because, you know, why would you want me to go down in the back room? He came in the front door. If he was gonna leave, he’d go out that door. And I thought, ‘He’s gonna shoot us when we go down there.”

Via WGRZ

I can certainly understand why the elderly man thought he was about to be executed. They gave the robber everything of value that they had, and once he collected it all he wanted them to go downstairs to the laundry room. At this point, there was almost nothing they could do to stop him.

This is where the plot twist and a bit of luck comes into play. The wife was confined to a wheelchair, and she needed to use the auto chair to get her up and down the stairs. The husband went down first, and the home invader stayed upstairs behind the wife as she slowly descended.

This gave the homeowner a few seconds to be alone, and by the grace of God he remembered there was a loaded shotgun that he kept down there but hadn’t used or picked up in years. He had no idea if it was even going to fire. It was loaded with two rounds of birdshot.

He drew the shotgun and waited for the home invader to come down the stairs, and when he was in sight, the homeowner squeezed the trigger and the shotgun fired, blasting the bad guy with a full spray of birdshot.

As the home invader withered and cried in pain, the homeowner told him to lie still because he still had one more shot left! He immediately called 911 for police an and an ambulance. The home invader was then mercy flighted to a nearby hospital.

Great job from the homeowner for quick thinking and for having the courage to squeeze that trigger, not knowing if it was going to fire. That could have led to a real deadly situation even if the home invader had originally intended not to kill them.

One tip I would offer though, next time when the doorbell rings check the peephole first and see who it is. If they look suspicious and need help, tell them you will call 911 and help is on the way!