A Florida woman was at home early one morning with her three teenage children and three of their friends. A strange man was noticed lurking outside the front of the house, so the woman called 9-1-1. The man broke through a window while she was on the call, so she began to shout, “I don’t want to shoot him, but I’m going to have to! Get out of my window! Get out of my window!” She fired one shot, hitting the intruder in the arm. When authorities arrived, he was found lying injured inside the home. The 32-year-old man is believed to be linked to other home invasions in the area, and faces four counts of burglary of an occupied dwelling, and four counts of criminal mischief. The mother was not charged. (miami.cbslocal.com, Miami, Fla., 4/1/20)
Late one evening, a mother left her toddlers in the back seat of her SUV while she went to shop inside a gas station. But those few minutes of absence were all one would-be car thief needed to move on his next target. When the woman saw the man getting into her car and attempt to drive away, she ran back and jumped into the passenger seat and ordered him to pull over, gesturing toward her 2-year-old and 4-year-old in the back seat. The kidnapper ignored her demands, and instead accelerated the gas pedal. At that point the woman, in a last-ditch effort to protect herself and her children, grabbed her firearm from the glove compartment and shot the aggressor. The man slumped over and drove the SUV into a utility pole. The man survived his wounds and was charged with several crimes. Neither the mother, who was not charged, nor her children were harmed. (nbcphiladelphia.com, Houston, Texas., 7/6/18)
