Homeowner Rushes Home, Shoots Intruder After Alarm Goes Off

NORTH ST. LOUIS, MO — An armed burglar was given a free ride to the hospital after being shot by the very man he was trying to rob, according to Fox 6 Now.

Resident Willie Thornton said he received a call one night informing that his home security alarm went off.

“I jumped out the car, walked up to the front door, and I hear somebody jumping out of the window,” he said.

That somebody was armed. Thornton shot him first.

“I was just trying to make sure he didn’t shoot me first,” he said.

Another thief ran away.

Although this situation went as well as it could have for this armed homeowner, there is a question here: should he have waited for police to arrive, or did he make the smart move?

Now, I, like of many of you, have been faced with a house where the security was far from certain. I was my parents In Case of Emergency contact for their home security system, and I got the call one day that they had detected a break-in.

Neither of my parents had answered the phone, and the last I had heard, my sister was at home alone, so off I went.

I went in because my sister was in there.

Turns out, a tree branch had smashed a window in. Go figure. But there is a question here — would it have been a better idea to hang back than to go in, if there were not a family member potentially involved?

It’s hard to not want to get in there, and I’m not talking about a sense of bravado. I’m talking about the inherent instinct for people to defend their property. Who wants someone else to do that for them?

Still, having police on the scene is certainly a safer route for you.

What are your thoughts?