A Tennessee father shot an alleged intruder multiple times after the suspect broke into his two-year-old son’s bedroom on Tuesday.
According to WKRN, police responded to reports of a shooting at an apartment on 3501 Andrew Jackson Way in Hermitage around 7:50 a.m. on April 12.
Officials said the father and his young son were inside the apartment at the time of the intrusion, and the father allegedly fired at least nine shots, striking the suspect multiple times.
The intruder was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition.
Investigators reported the home had a broken sliding glass door and a broken window that led to the room where the 2-year-old sleeps, but the toddler was not in the room at the time of the invasion.
Officials said the suspect has no connection to the family. The intruder’s motive remains unclear.
The father’s neighbor, Peter Olson, told WSMV that he heard gunshots on the morning of the incident.
“I hope he does not do an hour of jail time because he was defending his house,” Olson said.
“It’s very scary because my children sleep right there. All it would’ve taken was for a stray bullet and you know, I don’t like that at all. I moved out of Miami Florida with my family to escape that. So, it’s like what do we do now,” he added. “You hear about it all the time, a stray bullet hitting someone and I mean that’s my world my children.”
Earlier this month, another father shot and killed a man who broke into his home and threatened his adult daughter, Minnesota police said, according to the Sun Herald. The suspect and woman reportedly had “some kind of relationship.”
Police responded to a report of a man who was shot while attempting to break into a home around 1:40 a.m. on April 1. The father, 56, told police that the suspect had kicked in his front door and threatened his daughter.
“Once officers secured the resident of the home, they went inside the dwelling and found a man in his 30s who’d been shot multiple times. Saint Paul Fire medics were called in, and they pronounced the man dead without transporting him to a hospital,” the Saint Paul Police Department said in a statement.
“The resident of the home was brought to Saint Paul police headquarters, questioned and released. Members of the department’s homicide and forensic services units continue to investigate the shooting, and the Ramsey County Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy.
Once the investigation is complete, the case will be submitted to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office for charging considerations. At this time, no arrests have been made.”
