Category: Feel Good Stories

Today’s story comes from Texas – a good spot for a gunfight;

The owner of the lot and his daughter were sleeping when they heard the door being knocked down.

A woman who works on the lot said three or four armed men wearing masks yelled at the homeowner to get on the ground. The homeowner ended up exchanging gunfire with them.

“He grabbed his own weapon for self defense and he started shooting at them because they started shooting at him too,” the woman said.

Bullet holes were visible on the mobile home and a car parked in front.

According to the Monitor, no one was hurt and police have rounded up five of the six invaders. Range time, folks.

Marine_7002 sends us our first feel story today and it comes from Michigan;

The incident occurred at about 4:47 a.m. in the 15000 block of Flanders, according to Chief Jeff Smith.

“The defendant entered the home through a window and had a firearm with him,” Smith said. “The house was occupied by a man and his wife. He had a legal firearm and confronted the intruder. He ended up shooting him and the defendant died at the scene.”

Police are still working to identify the invader and have declined to release the names of the homeowners.

Chief Tango sends us some more stories. The first comes from Texas and goes out to LTC Robert Bateman who wonders why people take weapons to restaurants.

The robbery happened around 8 p.m. Wednesday as a male suspect entered the Church’s on the East Freeway at Normandy.

As the suspect held employees at gunpoint, a retired Harris County deputy pulled out his weapon to try and stop the crime. That’s when the suspect opened fire and shot the deputy.

The deputy returned fire, but the suspect got away. Police said there was a trail of blood, so they believe the suspect was wounded.

The deputy was taken to the hospital in stable condition and was expected to be okay.

Police said the retired deputy was inside the restaurant eating at the time of the robbery and was not working security.

The next story comes from Florida;

When officers arrived they found Steven Ricker, 41, outside an apartment with a gunshot wound.

Ricker was transported via an ambulance to Leesburg Regional Medical Center where he died.

The Leesburg Police Department said investigators spoke with a man, identified as 28-year-old Jimmy Soto, who told them he heard knocking at both his apartment doors and repeatedly said “go away” to the person knocking.

Investigators said Soto told them that Ricker attempted to enter the doorway so he fired one shot hitting Ricker in the torso area

Police said Soto told them he was in fear for his fiancé, young daughter and son who were in the apartment with him.

The last story comes from Missouri;

Police said an adult man was getting ready to leave a home in the 3900 block of Lafayette Avenue around 8:45 Tuesday morning when he opened the garage and found a man with a gun. There was a struggle between the suspect and man, which ended when a woman inside the house got a handgun and began shooting at the suspect. The suspect and woman then exchanged gunfire.

After gunshots were exchanged, the suspect got into the victim’s car, which was warming up in the driveway, and drove away.

An 8-year-old boy suffered a gunshot graze wound to his leg and was taken to a hospital after arriving at the St. Louis Language Immersion School, located at 4011 Papin Street. The school is about a mile from the Lafayette Avenue shooting scene.

A female victim was taken to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. Police later arrested the man who lives at the home because they said they found marijuana in a bathroom and in the basement.

Here’s another one that Fred sent us with the stupidest criminal in our history – you’d think he’d know better than to rob a Dunkin Donuts;

An unidentified would-be robber tried to hold up a Dunkin’ Donuts at gun-point in Philadelphia on Monday. Within seconds, two police officers, guns drawn, subdued him without incident. And, to top it off, the guy was brandishing a BB gun.

Yeah, who didn’t see that coming?

Our first feel good story this morning comes from Florida where two fellows learned that pellet gun doesn’t rate in a gun fight;

A 22-year-old man answered a knock at the door as two men forced their way into the apartment, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said one of the men held a pellet gun to the victim’s head after ordering him to the ground.

A 22-year-old woman ran into her bedroom and got her handgun. Deputies said she pointed the gun at the men who fled on foot.

The man dropped his pellet gun as he fled, authorities said.

Both victims were not hurt and are students at the University of Central Florida, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Now to Texas;

Police said four men wearing bandanas on their faces and armed with guns dashed into the store. As they entered, several store employees slipped out the back door.

Police said the gunmen hopped over a counter, grabbed a female employee and marched her to a back room where they tied her hands. One of the gunmen took a man to another room and forced him to lie on the ground. Then the attckers [sic] fled empty-handed.

As the robbers were leaving, the man who had been forced to lie on the floor grabbed a handgun in the store and opened fired on them. At least one of the gunmen returned fire. No one at the store was injured in the gunfire. Authorities do not believe the attackers were wounded.

Up to Oregon;

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call Tuesday morning after a neighbor allegedly chased a suspected burglar down his street and fired warning shots, officials said.

That neighbor also called 911 to report that the man had attempted to break into his house. He told deputies he fired a handgun into the air to scare the suspect away, Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies responded to the area of Mayberry Ln. and Lusted where they stopped a person who matched a description of the burglar.

Richardo Padron, 35, of Gervais was taken into custody and charged with second-degree criminal trespassing.

Padron allegedly dropped a bag or backpack while fleeing the scene, but deputies have been unsuccessful in locating it.

As always, thanks to Chief Tango for the links.

Need a pick me up this morning – here it comes. Inspiring stories of youths turning round their lives. First up is Texas;

The homeowner told authorities he was sleeping when two men kicked in his front door.

According to investigators, the homeowner grabbed his pistol and began firing shots at the criminals from the top of the stairs.

“It’s our understanding he was quite scared and terrified, in fear of his life. He discharged his weapon, and as they retreated, they shot back,” said Assistant Chief Mark Herman with Harris County Precinct 4.

The men reportedly fired repeatedly at the homeowner before they fled in a 2015 Dodge pickup.

Deputies said no one was hurt, despite more than two dozen shots being unloaded.

“I don’t know what to expect next,” said neighbor Dale Bahn. “There’s a lot of people that have guns in their homes. In this area, there are several gun owners and a gun club.”

They need to take advantage of their proximity to the gun club and get some more range time.

Next up is California, where crooks with pellet guns can be frightened away with invisible guns;

“I walked up and I said, ‘yep that’s a pellet gun,’ and I asked him what he was going to do with it, Dennis [the clerk] said, “(He said) ‘Well I want a thousand dollars,’ and I’m like ‘really?’ I said, ‘there’s only $50 in the drawer.’”

He then told the crook he had a gun stored underneath his counter, and when he bent over seemingly to retrieve it the man ran away.

Dennis chased after him, but was unable to stop him [from] making his escape.

Finally, from Kentucky;

38-year-old Johnny Collins died at Hazard ARH from a gunshot wound. Police uncovered information that Johnny Collins and an acquaintance, Jimmy Dunn, traveled to a residence on Perkins Madden Road.

The homeowner, Jamie Honeycutt advised police that he heard an intruder coming into the bedroom of his Knott County home.

Honeycutt fired a shot at the intruder, who retreated through the window and over an embankment. Johnny Collins was later located on Perkins Madden Road by Jimmy Dunn, who observed that Collins had an apparent gunshot wound. Dunn transported Johnny Collins to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead by the Deputy Coroner.

Lots of folks needing range time out there today.

Our first story of life-altering behavior comes from Utah and involves a woman turning her life around;

Dispatch personnel informed officers that a female had a knife and had demanded money. They later added that there was a male subject inside the restaurant with a handgun.

When police arrived, they took both the male and female into custody. But they, “immediately determined that the male subject had detained the female suspect.” Police later learned that man had entered the store and interrupted the robbery.

After interrupting the robbery, the man exited the store and obtained a handgun from his vehicle and confronted the woman. That woman, later identified as 37-year-old Vernal resident Stephanie Lente, was taken into custody and booked into the Uintah County Jail for aggravated robbery as a first-degree felony and possession of a controlled substance.

Now, from New Mexico;

Investigators say Zebadiah Romero, 26, entered the store around 1 p.m. with a .30-.30 caliber rifle.

According to police he threatened people inside the store and demanded money from the cash drawer. While in the store he fired one shot at the owner, but police say the owner returned fire hitting Romero in the leg.

Romero dropped the cash drawer and fled the scene, but was later apprehended a short distance away. Police say the rifle was found in his possession.

A little further east in Texas;

[T]he first deputy arrived at 7:44 pm. and found a black male dead on the floor wearing a mask with a gun next to his body.

Early in the investigation, detectives believed as many as six rounds may had been fired inside the store.

“Right now we are estimating, because the crime scene guys have not finished, but we believe somewhere around six rounds were fired, with a few being fired from both parties,” Lt. Gary Middleton said from the scene Sunday night.

The male clerk was not injured in the incident, and authorities did not say how many times the robber was hit by gunfire.

KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

Thanks, as always, to Chief Tango for the links.

Folks have been hard at work turning their lives around this past weekend, especially in South Carolina;

Simpsonville Police Lt. James Donnelly says officers arrived at the scene within four minutes and found the homeowner present and another party laying on the ground outside of the residence.

Deputy Coroner Jeff Fowler has identified the deceased man as 51-year-old John Michael Ferrell, also of Simpsonville.

Simpsonville investigators said Ferrell was the estranged husband of someone staying at the home. There were family members of the estranged wife and one non-relative in the home, according to police.

The homeowner told police that he shot the subject after he attacked him and broke into his residence.

Elsewhere in South Carolina;

Shortly before midnight, the man who lives in the Mashie Drive home said he was watching television when he heard a loud noise. Thinking it was his 69-year-old wife, the man went to check on her. When he realized she was fine, he went to the bedroom and grabbed his revolver while his wife called police.

As he walked through the house, the man saw a hand reaching through broken glass trying to unlock the rear kitchen door. The man then fired two shots through the top of the door and heard a scream. He later saw the burglar get into a vehicle and leave. Police found drops of blood near the back entrance to the home.

Early Saturday, officials identified the suspect as 54-year-old David Allen Waters Jr., according to a police department news release. Waters is wanted on a first-degree burglary charge….

Thanks to Chief Tango for the links.

Today’s feel good story comes from Ohio where 44-year-old William D. Hedrick escaped from the hospital after he was arrested for his previous encounter with an armed homeowner;

According to Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless, at around 3 p.m. Thursday, they received a call in which they were advised that a homeowner had arrived home to find a subject had broken into their home. The homeowner witnessed the male subject hiding outside the home and he fled on foot.

Lawless said the homeowner’s family and neighbors chased the subject and fired a handgun striking the alleged burglar in the abdomen. The man, identified as Hedrick, was apprehended. The family and neighbors held Hedrick at gunpoint until Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene.

Hedrick was, according to deputies, found to have jewelry and other items stolen during the burglary, in his possession. The items were recovered and collected.

So, it looks like his girlfriend helped him escape. She’ll have a good time in jail when they catch up with the duo eventually.