Mother Protects Children, Shoots Armed Man Who Broke Into Home

CARROLL COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI — An armed mother defended her three children from an intruder, Steve Lamar Goss Jr., 44, who attempted to break into her home with a knife. The incident began when the mother’s husband, at work in Greenwood, alerted deputies that a man was trying to force entry into their Gravel Hill residence while his family hid in a closet.

Despite failing to kick down the front door, Goss crashed his GMC pickup truck into the dining room. During this tense situation, the mother and her children prayed and recited scripture in their closet. As Goss, still armed with a knife, found and entered the closet, the mother shot him in the arm.

Meanwhile, deputies, informed by the husband, located a vehicle matching Goss’s description at Acy’s Store. Following a brief chase, they apprehended Goss inside the store and transported him to Greenwood Leflore Hospital for treatment of his gunshot wound. Subsequently, Goss was incarcerated in Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility on charges of attempted murder and burglary. Notably, he was already on felony bond for illegal weapon possession at the time of the incident.