73-Year-Old San Francisco Vietnam Veteran Shoots Masked Intruder in the Buttocks After He Drilled Through His Door
A 73-year-old Army Vietnam War veteran shot a masked intruder inside his Sunset District home early Saturday after the man grabbed him and knocked him to his hands and knees on the second floor, the homeowner said.
The break-in happened shortly after 5 a.m. on 22nd Avenue near Lincoln Way, along the edge of Golden Gate Park, as reported by CBS News Bay Area. A neighbor’s surveillance footage showed the suspect walking back and forth on the block about 40 minutes before the break-in, which the station described as appearing to case the area. The homeowner, who withheld his name out of concern for his safety, said the man drilled a hole into the wooden first-floor door to unlock it and force his way inside.
“A professional burglar cut his way into my home,” he said, pointing at the hole.
He was asleep on the third floor when strange noises from the floor below woke him. He grabbed his handgun and went downstairs to investigate. On the second floor he came face to face with a man dressed in all black, wearing a hoodie and a face mask. The man was not alone. He had a large dog with him, a husky the veteran estimated at 60 pounds.
Most trainers will tell you to hold a defensible position and let the noise come to you rather than going down to meet it. He went down anyway. The reason he is here to describe it is that he did not go down empty-handed. The gun was where he slept, and it was in his hand before he ever saw the intruder.
The man grabbed him. The veteran fell to his hands and knees. He fired one round.
“I shot him because physically I felt really threatened. He had already made a deep intrusion into my home,” he said.
A 73-year-old man on the floor, a masked stranger standing over him, a 60-pound dog in the room. That is the threat, and it was already on top of him when he pulled the trigger. He did not fire at a shape in the dark or at a man carrying a television out the door. He fired at the man who had just put him on the ground.
He believes the round struck the intruder in the buttocks. The man ran. He left the dog behind. Blood-stained shoe prints outside the home led toward Golden Gate Park, and the abandoned husky can be heard barking in a neighbor’s security video. The homeowner said he believes Animal Control has the dog now. He came away with minor scrapes to his hands and knees.
A short time later, San Francisco police detained an injured man three miles away near Geary Boulevard and 47th Avenue in the Outer Richmond. Paramedics took him to San Francisco General Hospital, where police said he is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries. Police said they were working to confirm that the man at the hospital is the burglary suspect. No name has been released and no charges have been announced. The account of what happened inside the house is the homeowner’s own, and no charging decision on the shooting has been announced.
The break-in happened shortly after 5 a.m. on 22nd Avenue near Lincoln Way, along the edge of Golden Gate Park, as reported by CBS News Bay Area. A neighbor’s surveillance footage showed the suspect walking back and forth on the block about 40 minutes before the break-in, which the station described as appearing to case the area. The homeowner, who withheld his name out of concern for his safety, said the man drilled a hole into the wooden first-floor door to unlock it and force his way inside.
“A professional burglar cut his way into my home,” he said, pointing at the hole.
He was asleep on the third floor when strange noises from the floor below woke him. He grabbed his handgun and went downstairs to investigate. On the second floor he came face to face with a man dressed in all black, wearing a hoodie and a face mask. The man was not alone. He had a large dog with him, a husky the veteran estimated at 60 pounds.
Most trainers will tell you to hold a defensible position and let the noise come to you rather than going down to meet it. He went down anyway. The reason he is here to describe it is that he did not go down empty-handed. The gun was where he slept, and it was in his hand before he ever saw the intruder.
The man grabbed him. The veteran fell to his hands and knees. He fired one round.
“I shot him because physically I felt really threatened. He had already made a deep intrusion into my home,” he said.
A 73-year-old man on the floor, a masked stranger standing over him, a 60-pound dog in the room. That is the threat, and it was already on top of him when he pulled the trigger. He did not fire at a shape in the dark or at a man carrying a television out the door. He fired at the man who had just put him on the ground.
He believes the round struck the intruder in the buttocks. The man ran. He left the dog behind. Blood-stained shoe prints outside the home led toward Golden Gate Park, and the abandoned husky can be heard barking in a neighbor’s security video. The homeowner said he believes Animal Control has the dog now. He came away with minor scrapes to his hands and knees.
A short time later, San Francisco police detained an injured man three miles away near Geary Boulevard and 47th Avenue in the Outer Richmond. Paramedics took him to San Francisco General Hospital, where police said he is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries. Police said they were working to confirm that the man at the hospital is the burglary suspect. No name has been released and no charges have been announced. The account of what happened inside the house is the homeowner’s own, and no charging decision on the shooting has been announced.
70-79, M
