Hunter shoots grizzly in 'self defense'

A hunter says he was defending himself when he shot a grizzly bear in Western Montana.

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said an adult female grizzly charged Shawn Damschen of Coram on Monday near Marias Pass.

FWP said Damschen reported the adult bear and two younger ones approached him. He said he yelled and the younger bears ran off, but the sow charged.

Damschen fired two shots from his rifle at a distance of about 10 feet, and hit the bear.

Later a wildlife warden, Damschen and a companion returned to the area and found the wounded bear.

The warden killed it.

Dog bites man; man shoots at dog

A Labrador mix had its tail nicked by a bullet after the dog attacked a man in a Plantation neighborhood on Wednesday, according to Plantation police.

The man had a concealed weapons permit, said police spokesman Detective Robert Rettig.

The confrontation happened shortly after 3 p.m. in the 10100 block of Southwest Third Street.

The man was walking down a driveway to the street when the dog attacked him, Rettig said.

So the man fired a shot at the dog, nicking its tail.

The man suffered a minor dog bite. The dog had an injured tail. Both are expected to recover.

Homeowner Shoots Break-in Suspect in Head, Deputies Say

Taking the law into your own hands. That's what a local homeowner did when he caught a thief breaking into his storage shed. Armed with his shotgun, one shot was all it took and the burglary came to an abrupt end.

“I woke up and heard the alarm and came out at 3:30 in the morning,” Ivan Hurt said.

Hurt lives alone in rural northern Gallia County. He has a shed full of equipment he values and fiercely protects it. That's why when two men broke into the building early Friday morning, Ivan was ready.

“I saw him come, and he turned like this and he had a flashlight in one hand and something else in the other, so I shot,” Hurt said.

Mr. Hurt wasted no time, he was barely out of his house when he pulled the trigger from more than 30 yards away.

“You see this spray pattern. That’s what happens when you shoot from so far away. I didn’t want to kill anyone, and it still makes me sick that I even had to wound someone. I’ve been robbed before and that’s when I installed an alarm so I could be ready,” Hurt said.

“There are a lot of thefts because people are stealing to get their drugs,” said Gallia County Sheriff David Martin.

Martin said thefts are up nationally and that includes Gallia County. He said residents are tired of it and they're not going to take it anymore.

“The law protects you if you feel there is imminent danger to you or family members,” said Gallia County Prosecutor Jeff Adkins.

And if there's any doubt about what the man was up to, Hurt said he left an incriminating piece of evidence behind.

“This is a mask he was wearing, and you can even see the blood from where he was hit,” said Hurt.

Ronald J. Johnson was the suspect and shooting victim. He was in fair condition Friday evening at St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington. The second suspect got away. Police are still searching for him. Both men will face charges.

There was no word on whether Hurt will be charged with anything. Prosecutors will decide whether he acted negligently or in self defense.

Liquor Store Clerk Holds Shoplifter at Gunpoint

A store clerk is earning praise from some in the community for holding a would-be shoplifter at gunpoint until police arrived.

CJ said she became suspicious when two men in their 20's came into the store shortly before 7p.m. Tuesday, and headed straight for a corner of the store and talked about not having much money.

"They realized I was watching them the entire time they were in here," said CJ, who did not want to give her last name. "They went and picked up a half gallon of Kentucky Deluxe."

CJ said the two brought the bottle up to the counter and she rang it up. One of the men took off his shoe, looking for money. "His buddy was standing by him and grabbed the bottle and bolted out the door," CJ said.

CJ said she had another customer in line lock the door. She grabbed the phone and her gun and called police. CJ said the man seemed surprised when she held him at gunpoint. "He looked dumbfounded. I don't think he realized I would be carrying a gun."

CJ said the two men had a vehicle on the west side of the store, which is where the first ran after taking the bottle. She said the man she held inside the store was cooperative with police.

"One got away; I wasn't gonna let the other get away. He went to jail instead."

Officials say CJ did nothing illegal. "The supervisor that worked the scene out there felt that she was justified and within the confines of the law," said Capt. Jerry Stanley, Topeka Police Department.

Stanley said it's important for people with conceal and carry permits like CJ, know when to expose the weapon.

"In this case we're looking at under $20 worth of merchandise and a loaded firearm pointed at a person," said Stanley. "Want to make sure they're properly trained and have proper judgment."

CJ said a gun may not be for everyone, but people with jobs like her's should take precautions to protect themselves. "Take self-defense classes. Go through the training. Go through conceal and carry classes if you choose to carry a gun. Learn how to use it. Learn when to use it," CJ advises. "Just be safe."

CJ received her conceal and carry license in July 2007 and says she carries it with her at all times. "We have to protect what's ours and not let them walk all over the top of us. Next time they might not be so lucky to walk out."

Police and CJ agree the situation had a positive outcome. "This situation definitely worked its way out and came to a positive conclusion," said Capt. Stanley.

"If it happens again, hopefully, it turns out like it did last night and the guy goes to jail instead of going to the morgue," said CJ. "The police officers can't be everywhere at the same time and it's up to the community to help them do their job, and that's putting the bad guys in jail."

Cape Girardeau woman shoots, kills would-be rapist at her home

A Cape Girardeau woman shot and fatally wounded Ronnie W. Preyer, 47, a registered sex offender who had broken into her home early this morning with the intention of raping her a second time, Cape Girardeau Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said today.

Swingle said he will not be charging the victim, an older woman who positively identified Preyer this morning as the man who raped her on Saturday.

"It is clear that under Missouri's self-defense law the woman was justified in using deadly force upon the intruder in her home because he was in the process of burglarizing her home when she shot him," Swingle wrote in a letter to police chief Carl Kinnison.

Cape Girardeau police had been keeping a close eye on the woman's home, in the southwest part of Cape Girardeau, since she reported the rape nearly a week ago.

In that instance, she'd heard the glass break in a basement window around midnight on Saturday, and decided to make a run for it through her front door, according to police reports of the incident. When she opened the door, Preyer attacked her.

He punched her in the face and forced her into the bedroom, where he raped her.

She reported the rape that night, and described her rapist.

Police were actively working the unsolved rape case, Swingle said, and had been frequently driving past the woman's home in case her attacker returned.

This morning, the woman called 911 after hearing a car door close near her residence. An officer responded, checked the doors and windows, including the one that had been broken during the first attack.

Her landlord had recently repaired the window for her, Swingle said.

Once the officer determined that no one had entered the home, he left.

About two hours later, the woman was at home watching television, when Preyer broke the same basement window and came in, getting the still-wet calking on his clothing as he did so, police reports said.

He found a main fuse panel in the basement and shut off the electricity. The victim immediately tried to call 911, but the phone would not work because there was no electric.

Having recently purchased a shotgun, she grabbed the weapon and when Preyer began banging on the basement door, she was ready for him. When he crashed through the basement door into her kitchen, she shot him once in the chest and ran, heading for a neighbor's house, where she called the police.

It only took officers 45 seconds to respond to the 911 call, Swingle said.

When they arrived, they saw Preyer stumbling away from the home, and an officer ordered him to stop. When he didn't, a female officer drew her own weapon and they forced him to the ground.

He was transported to Saint Francis Medical Center where he died several hours later.

Early Friday morning, the victim identified Preyer out of a photo line-up as both the man who raped her on Saturday and the man who broke into her house today.

Preyer's criminal history is speckled with home invasions and assaults, and he has been convicted of failing to inform the county of his change of address in compliance with registered sex offender laws. Swingle was getting ready to charge him with rape, attempted rape, burglary and attempted burglary this morning, armed with the positive eyewitness identification, when he learned around 9:30 a.m. that Preyer was dead.

Preyer was convicted in 1989 of raping and robbing a woman in New Madrid County and he served 15 years in prison on both charges.

He was also arrested last December and charged with attempted rape and second degree felony assault, but Swingle's office dismissed the charges because he did not think he could get a conviction, he said.

The victim in that case, a woman in her early 30s, allegedly went for a drive with Preyer, knowing of his sex offender status, and he attacked her while in the car.

After talking with the victim in that case, Swingle decided to dismiss the charges because the woman did not use a nearby phone to call for help, and because she went with Preyer because she was "bored," even though he was a sex offender, he said.

"We know in at least one case, he did a good job of picking his victim, this time, he didn't do such a good job," Swingle said.

Watauga homeowner stabbed, shot with own gun during robbery

A Watauga homeowner was stabbed several times and shot once with his own gun during a robbery early this morning, police said.

The incident occurred in the 6000 block of Sundown Drive in Watauga about 10 miles northeast of Fort Worth.

According to Watauga police, a man heard someone trying to break into a trailer parked in his driveway around 3:30 a.m.

Armed with a shotgun, the man confronted the intruder who stabbed him several times. The gun went off during the scuffle, and the homeowner was shot in the arm.

A neighbor who came to the help the homeowner was also stabbed multiple times, police said.

The homeowner, who police did not identify, was taken to Harris Methodist Medical Center in critical condition. Police said the neighbor drove himself to the hospital.

Police have no suspects or a detailed description of the intruder.

Sledge Hammer Wielding Man Shot in Northwest Side Bar

A scary guy with a sledge hammer sounds like a Halloween prop, but it was the real deal this morning for a northwest side bar employee, 1200 WOAI's Michael Main reports.

A maintenance man at the I Don't Know Yet lounge in the 100 block of Babcock stationed himself in a back room at the bar, following a series of bar break-ins in the area around Babcock and Hillcrest.

About four this morning, the maintenance man heard glass breaking and a smashing sound. He emerged to find a man pounding the juke box with a sledge hammer.

When the maintenance man told the intruder to stop, he instead turned toward the maintenance man with the sledge hammer.

The maintenance man responded by firing four shots, and at least two of them struck the intruder, who stumbled to a waiting car and sped off. About fifteen minutes later, a man was dumped in the parking lot oft he emergency room of Northeast Baptist Hospital suffering from gunshot wounds. The car that delivered him sped away. The guy was airlifted to BAMC with life threatening wounds.

Police say they don't expect to file charges against the maintenance man.

The suspect is a suspect in at last four similar bar burglaries in which cash was taken from jukeboxes, including one earlier this morning.

Police: Two men shot in robbery attempt

A Mobile man shot at two would-be robbers, killing one of them, when "he was accosted" tonight in his driveway, a police spokesman said.

Sgt. Marcus Young said the injured man was taken by ambulance to the University of South Alabama Medical Center, while the other man was pronounced dead at the scene, at 1050 W. Belvedere Circle off Halls Mill Road.

A man living at the residence was pulling into his driveway when he was approached by the two men, one of whom had a handgun, Young said. The men demanded money from the resident, who retrieved a handgun and shot both robbers, Young said.

The man taken to the hospital was critically wounded, said Sgt. William Reed, who responded to the scene. He said it did not appear that the alleged robbers returned fire, and the shooter was not injured.

The incident occurred about 6:10 p.m. in the neighborhood just east of Hank Aaron Stadium.

"On the face of it, under Alabama law, you have a right to defend yourself and ... if the investigation reveals that is what happened here, then no charges would be brought," said Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson Jr. "But we have to be very careful and say this is still a preliminary investigation and more must be done before a decision is made."

LR Store Clerk Shoots Would-be Robber

A would-be robber was shot in the leg Thursday morning in Little Rock after a store clerk turned the tables on him.

The suspect walked into the Pic-Pac Liquor store at 12th & Peyton around 7:00.

After pulling a gun on the clerk, the clerk pulled his own weapon, fired at the man, then chased the suspect outside the store, and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

Police say the store was "ready for a robbery," and that this was not the first time the store had been held up.

"We have recovered both weapons, the robber's weapon plus the owner's weapon and we'll continue the investigation. Any charges that may be filed, we'll put that up to the prosecutor's office once we get the file complete," said Lt. Terry Hastings, spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department.

"We don't recommend that anyone use violence against a person, but businesses do have that right, and he does have the right to defend himself. When this individual came into the store, pulled a gun, it's a robbery, he does have that right," Hastings said.

Police have not yet released the names of the clerk or the suspect as their investigation into the incident continues.

The suspect's gunshot wound is not believed to be life-threatening.

Arlington man who shot intruder was defending himself, police say

The south Arlington resident who shot and killed one of two intruders in his home late Monday night was defending himself, according to police.

The resident, who was in an upstairs bedroom when the suspects barged into the house, met one of the intruders on the stairs when a shootout ensued, said Lt. Blake Miller, an Arlington police spokesman.

The intruder was killed instantly, police said. The second suspect fled during the shooting and is still at large.

"With the information we have now, it appears that the resident was justified in defending himself and his family," Miller said.

The identity of the dead suspect is being withheld pending family notification, Miller said. Neighbors who called 911 Monday night said that they heard up to eight or nine gunshots. Police also are withholding the identity of the residents because of fear of retaliation.

No one answered the door late Tuesday morning at the two-story brick home in the 900 block of Carthage Way.

According to police, three of the home occupants were outside the residence when two men wearing masks approached them with a gun about 10 p.m. Monday.

The men then forced the occupants inside the home and at some point, struck one of the victims in the head. One of the intruders shot several rounds into the floor of the home.

After hearing the gunfire, a fourth resident, who was in an upstairs bedroom, grabbed his gun and confronted the gunman on the stairs. The two exchanged fire and the intruder was killed, police said.

This is the second shooting this year at the home just south of Harold Patterson Sports Complex.

Last summer a bondsman looking for a cousin fired shots after someone at the home tried to run him over, Miller said. It was unclear whether Monday night’s shooting involved anyone who was involved in that incident. That case has been sent to Tarrant County district attorney’s office.

Meanwhile, police continued to search late Tuesday for the dead man’s accomplice. That suspect was last seen wearing bluejeans, purple gloves and a white sweater with crowns.