Category: Feel Good Stories

Another busy day for the forces of good. From Texas where folks own guns and get some range time;

About 11:40 p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to 104 N. Alabama St. on reports of a home invasion robbery and shots fired. When they arrived on the scene, a person in the house told them two armed black males had broken into the home. The victim told police he shot at the suspects who then fled the scene in a vehicle.

Shortly after arriving on the scene, police received information that two suspects matching the description of the home invasion suspects had arrived at Northwest Texas Hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds.

The victim in the house was not injured, police said.

Not much room for a range in New York City, though;

The shooting happened around 2:30 p.m. at Throop Avenue and Quincy Street in Brooklyn, police said.

Law enforcement sources told 1010 WINS the shots were fired between a worker at the bodega and someone trying to rob the store, police sources told 1010 WINS.

The woman was caught in the crossfire and was wounded in the leg, sources said.

Police were said to be looking for two suspects who fled in a sedan.

Last stop, Arkansas;

Searcy Police had responded to Dooley’s address for a shots fired call. Dooley admitted to police he had fired off four rounds at the two men who busted through the glass of his front door.

“I told him, I warned him – I said, ‘man I got a gun and I got a kid.’ I said I will shoot – might want to stop,” recounted Dooley.

The suspects apparently didn’t stop what they were doing. Dooley retrieved his 9 mm hand gun and ended up hitting James D. Hughes, 19 of Judsonia in the hand and chest. Hughes’ father, James A. Hughes, drove his son to the White County Medical Center to seek treatment. Investigators discovered the two at the hospital, along with a woman who had been with them during the whole ordeal.

“I didn’t want to shoot nobody,” said Dooley. “Nobody wants to shoot anybody, at least let’s hope not. But when it boils down to my life or your life – it’s going to be your life, not mine.”

Dooley said he was mostly scared for his five year-old daughter’s safety. She luckily was asleep in the other room and miraculously wasn’t awoken.

KATV – Breaking News, Weather and Razorback Sports

According to the story, Mr. Dooley had loaned the Hughes family some money and took their TV set for collateral. The Hughes family decided not to pay Mr. Dooley back and repossess their TV set. Wrong choice.

Well, we made it through the week, which is more than we can say to people like Dillon Carmelo in California. Dillon was the subject of a police investigation of reports about someone (Carmello) who was acting rather strangely, as if he was on drugs. When police approached him, he acted as if he might have a gun and then made his escape. Police sent out a reverse 911 call to neighbors. Jennifer Doolittle heard the call and went to bring her dogs inside to avoid hindering the police when she saw Dillon enter her yard;

Doolittle told deputies he advanced on her and again acted as if he was reaching for a handgun. She said she feared for her life fired several shots at Carmelo striking him once in the ankle.

Doolittle was interviewed by detectives and released.

Carmelo was taken into custody after resisting arrest with deputies with the aid of Shasta County Sheriff’s Office K-9, Thor. Carmelo was transported to the Hospital with non-life threatening wounds.
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Dillon Carmelo will be charged with resisting arrest along with parole violations.

Then it’s up to Oregon;

Portland reported that an employee at one business shot at, but missed, a man he believed was an armed robber chasing one of his co-workers. When police captured the suspected robber, they found he was carrying a pellet gun, Sgt. Greg Stewart, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman, said.

Later Wednesday, police charged Eugene Alexanderov Bratkov with three counts of second-degree robbery, one count of second-degree burglary and two counts of menacing. Bratkov was also wanted on a parole violation, Stewart said.

From the blotter on that one since the news article isn’t exactly clear;

Officers responded and began an investigation. Initial reports indicate that employees had located a suspected burglar or burglars upon arriving at work. Some kind of altercation ensued with a suspect possibly chasing an employee with what appeared to be a rifle. Another employee at the location was armed and fired two rounds at the suspect. The suspect was not struck and was ultimately taken into custody and had to be treated for minor injuries. The rifle turned out to be a pellet gun.

The creeps were out in force on the West Coast, I guess, because the next one is from Washington state;

The 19-year-old man, who was known to the tenant, came by an apartment and wanted to come inside. The tenant told detectives the victim made threats to beat the tenant and shoot up the apartment. The tenant said he closed and locked the door.

When the 19-year-old began to kick and pound on the door and window, the tenant got his firearm and told the man to leave.

The 19-year-old forced open the door, damaging the frame, and the tenant fired once, hitting the man in the chest, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Meanwhile, in Tennessee;

A homeowner shot a man who was reportedly trying to enter his Fayette County home.

According to the homeowner, the man broke his door. His wife said her husband did not know the intruder.

Fayette County Investigators say the suspect is a 26-year-old man with a criminal record.

“He has active warrants out of Shelby County, dealing with theft charges and violation of probation and I believe burglary charges,” said Ray Garcia with Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. “He’s also being looked at as a suspect with some possible warrants out of Marshall County, Mississippi.”

So, that’s two counties that are safer this morning.

Still in Tennessee;

Interviews with witnesses and the shooter, Doug Williams, said [Wallace] Hann had been breaking into vehicles in the North Knoxville neighborhood, according to KPD.

Williams said Hann threatened him, so he opened fire.

A neighbor had found a trail of blood leading from one home to the back yard of another house.

Officers found Hann behind bushes in the yard with several gunshot wounds. There was a child’s backpack next to Hann, one that had been reported as stolen.

Hann is in serious condition, if you’re wondering.

Thanks to Chief Tango for the links. He’s a machine.

With warmer weather, it appears that the natives are restless. Our first story comes from Oklahoma;

Police Captain Thomas Bell said the homeowner first thought her husband was returning home early, but then heard banging, screaming and breaking glass.

Bell said the woman fired three shots through the door, hitting the man in the head, shoulder and upper chest.

EMSA took the unidentified man to the hospital in serious condition. The woman was not injured.

Police said they’re investigating to determine what charges should be filed against the man who was shot.

NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com |

Next up is Tennessee;

Police say a man broke into the house while the family was sleeping just before 2 a.m. Wednesday.

The homeowner woke up to find the intruder in his house and shot him in the head.

The homeowner and his family talked with police on the scene. No one else was injured.

WMC Action News 5 – Memphis, Tennessee

Once again in Memphis;

Police say a 31-year-old man was leaving the Family Dollar store when two men tried to rob him. The two suspects were armed with a handgun.

“It’s sad,” said neighbor Kim Crutcher. “You can’t go anywhere.”

The victim got the gun and shot the 25-year-old suspect, later identified as Thomas Odom. The other suspect then shot the robbery victim. That suspect left the scene in the victim’s car, a Nissan Altima.

“You’re supposed to be able to go somewhere in your own vehicle without somebody trying to take it from you,” said Dale Washington, who lives in the neighborhood.

MyFoxAL.com – FOX6 WBRC Birmingham, AL

On to Montana;

Police Sgt. Pat Curry said the victim walked outside of her home to grab her purse from her vehicle. She told police she heard a noise and pulled her .380-caliber handgun from her purse. That’s when a man stepped out, attacked her and knocked her to the ground.

The woman fired twice at the assailant, but he escaped.

The victim could not identify the suspect, but said he was wearing jeans and a dark top.

KTVQ.com | Q2 | Continuous News Coverage | Billings, MT

And, finally, this happened in Kentucky;

Police say two adults and two kids were inside the apartment on Winburn Drive when a man tried to break just after midnight. One of the people inside opened fire, hitting the would-be intruder twice.

Lexington Police have confirmed that the victim knew and had a relationship with someone inside the home and was breaking in to see them.

“As far as who was responsible for the shooting, we do have that person identified, and they’re currently being interviewed,” Lexington Police Department Lt. Chris Young said.

EMS took the wounded man to UK Hospital.

LEX18.com | Continuous News and StormTracker Weather

Well, generally everyone is hitting their target, except that woman in Montana, so most of you have have found the correct amount of range time. There’s an article sent to us by David which reports that fewer people walk away from being shot with a .357 magnum than all other handguns, including the .44 Mag and the .45 ACP. So if your perps are walking away, you should be looking at the .357.

Thanks to Chief Tango for the links.

Down in Louisiana, a homewowner was held at gunpoint by a home invader until his son came in like Batman and ventilated the fellow;

“I heard a few gunshots and then a couple of minutes later, I heard a knock on my door,” said neighbor Sharmel Doberson. “She was like ‘Mel, Mel Mel, call 911. Some guy just broke into my house. He had me and my old man and my daughter held down at gunpoint.”

Police were dispatched to the 700 block of Hamilton Street in Gonzales. When they arrived, they found the homeowner had shot a suspect multiple times. The suspect was taken to the hospital for surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.

Police say multiple charges have been placed on numerous people within the home and also the suspect accused of the home invasion. They say more arrests are expected.

FOX5 Vegas – KVVU

And down in Georgia;

[T]he victim told officers he retrieved his gun after seeing several men walking across his back patio.

The suspects later knocked on his front door, and when he answered the door, they asked him to step outside, according to Pihera.

“When the victim said that he was not interested in stepping outside, that’s when the suspects forced their way inside the home,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “One of them was wearing a mask and one was armed with a bat. Inside the home was the victim’s family, a female and a small infant.”

Pihera said as soon as the suspects entered the apartment, “the victim used his firearm and discharged at least two rounds.”

One of the suspects was shot in the chest, and later died at North Fulton Medical Center. Investigators weren’t sure how he got to the hospital, Pihera said.

A couple more suspects turned up at local hospitals with gunshot wounds and they were scooped up by the police. One fellow last seen limping from the scene is still at large.

And, again in Georgia;

The man, 69, told police he woke about 2 a.m. to hear noises coming from the kitchen of his home on Circular Drive. Armed with a .357 revolver, he went to investigate and discovered the silhouette of a man in the kitchen. According to a Richmond County sheriff’s incident report, he fired a shot, prompting the burglar to run out the back door.

Deputies noted the kitchen drawers and cabinets had been rifled through by the burglar. A steak knife had been pulled from one of the drawers and left on the counter, the report stated. A bike that did not belong to the resident was found beside the back door.

So, Mister Homeowner gets a free bike from the errant burglar, and the burglar escapes with his life, just barely. It’s a win for everyone.

Chief Tango sends us our feel good story for this morning, the news comes from Texas where fences don’t always make good neighbors;

During an ongoing feud between two men off Sangerbrook Drive and Green Brook Drive around 12:30 Saturday morning, the homeowner shot another man after he refused to step off his property, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s deputies said the homeowner told the man to step off his property on multiple occasions before ultimately going inside and grabbing his gun. After the man refused, the homeowner shot the man in the leg and the three suspects fled the scene and called 911.

The homeowner was not arrested and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office refused to press charges.

USMCE8Ret sends us another story from Oklahoma where the cops can count on armed citizens to come to their rescue;

It happened just after 2 p.m. Tuesday in the 2800 block of W. Park Pl. Rookie Officer Adam Eller and field training officer Sgt. Michael Lambert were responding to the burglary call.

The two suspects in the burglary, Tremaine and Jermaine Williams, are twin brothers. Police say Tremaine was already gone when they arrived, but Jermaine was there and when he saw the officers he took off on foot.

5/6/2015 Related Story: OKC Officer Injured While Pursuing Burglary Suspect Released From Hospital

During the chase the two officers became separated. Eller found himself alone when he caught up to Jermaine in a driveway of a nearby home and as he tried to place him under arrest, a fight ensued. During the struggle, Jermaine was able to take Eller’s police baton and then proceeded to strike him over the head somewhere between six and 12 times.

According to a report, that’s when a witness nearby charged up with his weapon drawn and told Jermaine he would shoot him if he did not stop hitting Eller. That heroic witness has not been identified.

Both Tremaine and Jermaine Williams were eventually taken into custody and booked into the Oklahoma County jail Tuesday night.

The officer is recovering from his injuries which would have been much worse if not for the response from a good citizen.

Busy weekend for the forces for good this weekend. the first story comes from Ohio;

Warren County dispatchers said police were sent to the 10700 block of Murdock-Goshen Road shortly before 10:30 p.m. for reports of a man trying to gain entry into a home and shots being fired by the homeowner.

Police said when authorities arrived, they found a man at the scene who had been shot through the abdomen. A woman, who lived at the residence, was also seriously injured by gunfire, police said.

Witnesses said the man was acting irrational and attempted to gain entry into two homes in the area.

Air Care was put on standby, but then told to stand down. The man and woman were taken by ambulance to area hospitals. They are expected to recover.

Yet another one in Ohio;

Officials say around 7:00 a.m. police were called out the 22000 block of Virginia Avenue for reports of a home invasion.

According to Sheriff Raymond Stone, the suspected perpetrator, 33-year-old Ryan P. Johns of Canton, attempted to enter a home and was shot by the homeowner, 63-year-old William Dietrick Jr.

Police say Johns was shot in the chest then ran from the house and collapsed in a neighbors yard. He was transported to Alliance Community Hospital where the suspect was pronounced dead.

WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren Ohio

Next stop is a little further south in West Virginia;

The residents of the apartment along Cross Lanes Drive were sleeping about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when they heard the door kicked in and people in their living room stealing a TV and other items, according to a news release from the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said after hearing the suspects leave, the husband and wife went into the living area to see what happened. While in the living room, the residents said the front door was again forced open. A white male and a black male started into the apartment. Deputies said the male resident had a pistol with him that he kept for protection. The white male suspect fled, but the black male suspect continued into the apartment toward the couple, then turned to flee. Deputies said the male resident shot the black male suspect as he was fleeing.

The black male suspect ran along Cross Lanes Drive before falling alongside the roadway, deputies said. Deputies said the black male suspect was located and taken to the hospital in an ambulance for non-life threatening injuries.

Deputies said the white male suspect is still on the run and some of the stolen property has been recovered.

Our final stop is New York;

Police were called to Ann Road off Crane Road around 2 a.m. by a woman who reported a “burglary in progress.” A second call received moments later by the 9-1-1 Center from a resident of the home advised police that the intruder was carrying a gun.

Carmel Police Chief Michael Cazzari said Officers Christopher Fox and James Terrazas were in the area at the time and arrived on the scene less than four minutes later where they found a woman bleeding from a gunshot wound to the leg and a man suffering from multiple gunshots to the chest who was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Daniel Stephens.

The woman was taken by Mahopac FD Rescue Squad personnel to Danbury Hospital and was admitted.

Chief Cazzari did not identify the dead man or the woman due to what he described as the “domestic violence nature of the incident.”

The chief did say that the intruder was a “past domestic partner” of the woman.

Because a restraining order is just a piece of paper.

SJ sends us our first story this morning from North Carolina;

Winterville Police responded to Ashley Meadows Drive at 10:40 Friday night. Police said they discovered signs of forced entry at a home there. Residents of the home told police an estranged husband had broken into the home with a handgun. A person living at the home shot the man several times.

The suspect was taken to Vidant Hospital, but died because of his injuries.

More effective than a restraining order, I suppose.

In California, 79-year-old veteran, Richard is on guard for his neighbors;

e saw the man scoping out his neighbor’s home in the 14000 block of Willow Street when no one was home.

The Hesperia hero confronted the suspect: “I said, ‘What are you doing?’

“He said, ‘Well, my stuff is here.’

“I said, ‘No, it’s not here.’

“He said, Well, Steve lives here.’

“I said, ‘No, he doesn’t. You just better be on your way.’

“He said, ‘Well, you wouldn’t shoot me.’

“I said, ‘Well, test me.’”

Richard told the suspect to put his hands up on the the fence or lay down on the ground.

But he says the would-be burglar didn’t go down without a fight.

He allegedly punched Richard in the nose, knocking him to the ground and his glasses off his face: “Rather than swing at him, I just protected myself like this and he beat on my back for nine or 10 times. And then I took my gun out and hit him on the foot with it, and then he backed off.

“And he said, ‘If I run are you going to shoot me or kill me?’ I said, ‘Go for it.’ It was his choice, not mine.”

The one-time military man says he always has a gun on him for safety reasons./

The burglar was apprehended by police for assaulting Richard, who says that he’s pressing charges.