Home Intruder Gets Free Helicopter Ride, Courtesy of Armed Homeowner

WAPELLO COUNTY, IOWA – A man who broke into a home Thursday evening was fatally shot by the homeowner.  The Wapello County Sheriff’s Office received a call at around 9:19 p.m. from a homeowner who said that a man was attempting to break into their house.  Officers responded to the location on 97th Avenue between the towns of Ottumwa and Agency in rural Wapello County.

After deputies arrived, they located the suspect suffering from at least one gunshot wound. He was airlifted approximately 60 miles to Iowa City, where he succumbed to his injuries at the University of Iowa Hospitals. The WPCO’s initial investigation indicated that the man did forcibly enter the home and was shot by the homeowner inside the house.

Officials are not currently releasing the identity of the suspect or the homeowner, and the investigation is ongoing. Iowa is one of twenty-three states that has laws commonly referred to as “castle doctrine”, which allows an occupant of a dwelling to use lethal force against an unlawful intruder without the duty to retreat.

This may or may not have been the first helicopter ride for this guy…but it was definitely his last and he probably didn’t get to enjoy it.