Category: Feel Good Stories

An update to the story from New Castle County, Delaware, yesterday;

Police said 20-year-old Elijah Gordy-Stith entered a home on Flint Hill Road in Arundel around 11:30 p.m. Monday and was then confronted by the homeowner.

Police said the homeowner had heard a noise and armed himself with a gun. The homeowner fired at Gordy-Stith when he found him hiding in a room.

“The suspect was known to a family member, but not to the homeowner,” said NCCP Spokesman Master Cpl. Mike Eckerd.

Gordy-Stith was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and died, police said.

From Springfield, Illinois;

The homeowner confronted the burglar when the suspect pointed a gun at them and was able to wrestle it away.

The suspect is described as a skinny white man with a gray tank top, gray hat, and black gym shorts.

He was last seen running northwest from the home.

From Salt Lake City, Utah;

Raphael Ames, 35…entered the apartment Sunday in a “violent and tumultuous manner,” according to [South Salt Lake Police Sgt. Matthew] Oehler. Ames damaged the apartment’s front door and a bedroom door where he forced entry before being shot by a male guest who was in the bedroom with a woman who lived in the apartment.

Ames knew the woman, Oehler said, but did not have any connection to the man who shot him.

The man who shot Ames has been cooperating fully with the police investigation, according to Oehler.

From Jacksonville, Florida;

The cashier, LaToya King, spoke with Action News Jax about the incident. She said she didn’t think twice of Hill, who was dressed in bright orange, until she opened her cash register.

“When I did that, he leaped over the counter and he grabbed my hand and I was like, ‘Sir, what are you doing?’” King said.

Once the register was open, Hill grabbed the register and ran out of the store, according to a JSO arrest report.

A witness saw Hill get into a silver Ford SUV, but it did not appear to start, so he got out and ran.

Police said Hill approached a man who was sitting in the parking lot near Supercuts. Hill asked the man for a ride and the man refused.

“I turned the ignition off, grabbed my keys, opened the door and boom, there he was,” Scott Reardean said.

According to the report, Hill put the cash register in the Reardean’s truck bed and pulled a knife, cutting Reardean on the hands and leg, the arrest report said.

“I was bascially just doing this, trying to get the knife off me, and he’s like, trying to pull me and he yanked my shirt and ripped it all up,” Reardean said.

Reardean said to Action News Jax that he was able to grab his pistol from his truck and pointed it at Hill, who then ran away toward Starbucks.

Hill ran to the car of a woman who was in line at the Starbucks drive-through. She told police she rolled down her passenger’s side window to see what he wanted and she said Hill opened her door and got into the car.

The woman said Hill told her to drive because someone was chasing him. She told police she tried to push him out of the vehicle and he would not get out. According to the report, she was in fear for her life, so she got out of her car to get her Ruger pistol out of her trunk.

Hill got out of the car and came toward her. She said she pointed her pistol at him and he ran away.

When police arrived, they found Hill had barricaded himself inside the bathroom at Supercuts, but he came out when officers ordered him to.

From Wilmington, Delaware;

Police in Delaware are investigating a shooting that left a burglary suspect with life-threatening injuries.

New Castle County Police say officers were dispatched to a residence at about 11:30 p.m. Monday for a report of a burglary in progress.

Officials say police learned that a 20-year-old man had unlawfully entered the residence while a family was inside.

Authorities say the homeowner confronted the suspect, who was then shot.

The suspect was being treated for life-threatening injuries at a local hospital. The homeowner was not injured.

An update to yesterday’s story from Salt Lake City, Utah;

Friendly fire caused a man to be shot in the head.

According to charging documents, Julius Navanick was one of the three suspects who barged into a home and began spraying bullets.

It happened Thursday near 500 North Redwood Road. Their target was shot once in the arm and survived.

The trio is now facing multiple felony charges ranging from aggravated burglary, firing a weapon to causing bodily harm.

Daniel Gonzalez and Richard Arriola have also been charged by the Salt Lake district attorney.

In charging documents, Gonzalez told police: “He did not mean to shoot his friend Navanick (who) walked in front of the gun while he was shooting into the house.”

Navanick remained hospitalized after being shot in the head. Gonzalez and Arriola are currently in the Salt Lake County Jail.

The homeowner, who didn’t want to be identified, said Cesar Hernandez was very lucky.

“He hid in the place that was more accessible to him, I guess at the moment by our fridge,” said the homeowner. He didn’t come out until the shooting stopped.”

The homeowner said Hernandez is an acquaintance. He was shot once in the arm and is out of the hospital.

From Madison, Tennessee;

Metro Police responded to a reported shooting at a Burger King on Gallatin Pike North in Madison just before 11: 30 p.m. on Monday.

According to police, the incident began as a robbery attempt when three suspects entered the restaurant. At least one of the suspects had part of their face covered.

Both an employee and a suspect were shot. The employee is in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The suspect that was shot died on the scene.

From McComb, Mississippi;

It was reported that [21-year-old Saveyon Raheam] Harvey forced a female clerk inside the store at gun point after he came in contact with her at the front door.

Once inside Harvey pointed a small caliber handgun at the store clerk behind the register and demanded money while waving the gun around at both employees of Service Station.

Harvey and the store clerk begin exchanging gun fire where Harvey ran out the front doors towards W. Presley Blvd. and Witterman St., where a witness saw Harvey stop in the roadway then fall into the westbound lane of West Presley Blvd.

Officers arrived moments later to find Harvey dead in the roadway.

From Salt Lake City, Utah;

A man was hospitalized with gunshot wounds early Sunday after police say he broke into a South Salt Lake apartment and was shot.

It is the second incident in Salt Lake County in three days where an alleged intruder was shot in a home.

The shooting occurred just before 4:30 a.m. at the gated Brickstone Apartments, 220 E. 3300 South.

“There does appear to be some forced entry into that apartment. It’s still under investigation at this time as to exactly what happened,” said South Salt Lake Police Sgt. Matthew Oehler.

From Natchitoches, Louisiana;

A man who broke into a woman’s home and started beating her ended up stabbed in his chest, according to the Natchitoches Police Department.

Officers responded to a Winnona Street home about a disturbance. Once there, the victim said a man came into her home through a bedroom window, reads a release.

She identified the man as Steven Vercher of Natchitoches, it reads.

The victim said Vercher, 19, began hitting here. “Sometime during the altercation, Mr. Vercher was stabbed once in the upper chest,” it reads.

Vercher was taken to University Health Hospital in Shreveport. A warrant for Vercher’s arrest on a charge of home invasion was obtained.

Vercher remains in the hospital in stable condition, reads the release.

From Orange, Texas;

Police in Orange are investigating after a robbery suspect was shot and killed.

Officers responded to the Crawdad’s convenience store at 4080 IH-10 just after 2 a.m. Monday.

Police said a man entered to the store and demanded money while brandishing a weapon. The incident led to an altercation and the clerk shot the suspect with his personal weapon, according to the Orange Police Dept.

From Ovideo, Florida;

Authorities were called to a home near Haggarty High School on South Lake Lane in response to a break-in.

Officials said the homeowner fired multiple shots at an intruder but were unsure if the person was hit.

Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said they were called to a BP gas station on Alafaya Trail for a person with a gunshot wound.

Authorities in Orange County believe the person could be connected with the break-in in Oviedo.

From College Park, Georgia;

Two Fulton County Sheriff’s Office deputies were working as off-duty security at the cantina when an altercation between patrons started in the restaurant’s parking lot.

During the incident, investigators say a suspect fired at least two shots at patrons, leading to a deputy and security guard firing their weapons.

The suspect was shot and transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. He is currently in critical condition, officials say. A woman who was not involved in the incident has also been shot. She was transported to Grady and is in stable condition.

SSG E sends a link from Silverton, Ohio;

An 84-year-old man exchanged gunfire with two other men who broke into his Silverton home Sunday night, police said.

The victim was struck by gunfire and the two suspects fled the scene on Sampson Lane and are still at-large, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said. The victim’s 17-year-old grandson was also inside the residence.

It is unclear if the suspects were struck during the exchange.

From Cornville, Arizona;

Shortly after midnight Sunday, June 3, two men wearing bandanas over their faces allegedly entered a home in the 2600 block of South Greaves Place, Cornville, armed with a revolver and shotgun, officials with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) said.

According to victim accounts, one of the men, 33-year-old Matthew Goff of Cornville, entered a bedroom and escorted a victim at gunpoint into the living room, where 3- and 5-year-olds were sleeping.

The other man, 32-year-old Adam Brock of Cornville, fired a shotgun toward the victim, but missed, hitting a VCR player instead, the YCSO reported.

The shot woke up another resident and alerted a guest who was outside working in a shop, YCSO deputies were told. Both entered the living room and all three adult victims started fighting with the two suspects.

As the fight continued, the victims were able to physically remove the suspects from the home, deputies reported. However, Goff allegedly returned with a handgun and one of the victims began fighting with him. Another victim came to help and reportedly stabbed Goff several times in defense of the other victim and taking the handgun.

Goff eventually ran from the victim’s property until he was found lying in the street about a block away, injured from stab wounds. When deputies found him, he told them that he had been “jumped” and could not identify suspects. The statement was a complete fabrication, YCSO officials said.

After speaking with Goff, deputies went to his home the next block over on Karlson Drive, and found Brock, who is Goff’s roommate. Brock denied any knowledge of the home invasion, but his injuries told otherwise, deputies reported. A search warrant was served at the Karlson Drive home, and the involved shotgun was found.

During follow-up, it was determined Brock was an ex-family member to one of the victims.

From West Jordan, Utah;

Investigators say a husband, wife, their child, and the husband’s mother were awoken when their dog started barking.

The husband grabbed a gun and went down the stairs to investigate, officials said.

Police say the man shot and killed the woman after a “brief altercation”.

“Obviously this is a traumatic experience for all involved,” said Scott List, West Jordan Police Department. “We’re trying to take care of the people inside the house but we’re also trying to get statements from them as to what happened — what they saw, what they heard, those types of things,” he added.

The woman was later identified as Makayla Yeaman, 23.

From Gary, Indiana;

Nathan K. Cole, 32, Hobart, was shot by the 29-year-old homeowner as Cole forced his way into the home, according to police and court records.

Cole and Venus M. Chappo, 32, of Lake Station, were each charged Monday with Level 6 felony residential entry, Lake Criminal Court records show.

Gary police were dispatched to the 4100 block of East 10th Avenue for a report of shots fired and located the homeowner, who told officers he heard banging at his door about 1 a.m. Sunday and retrieved a gun because he thought someone was breaking in.

When the door was forced open, the homeowner fired a round, police said.

Cole and Chappo fled after the shooting, records said.

Within 10 minutes of the first call, police were dispatched to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus for a person with a gunshot wound.

From San Antonio, Texas;

A suspected robber is believed to have been shot in the face during an East Side stickup, police said.

It’s unclear who or what the suspect robbed, but when police found him just before midnight in the 100 block of Rambling Drive, officers found cash on the ground all around him.

He was also suffering from a gunshot wound to his cheek and ear, leading police to believe someone retaliated against the suspected robber.

Police said the suspect was uncooperative with authorities and eventually taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for treatment.

From Crawford County, Arkansas;

A homeowner wrestled with an intruder before shooting him in the head overnight in Crawford County, the sheriff said Wednesday (June 6).

Sheriff Ron Brown said the homeowner’s alarm went off about 3 a.m. in the 2700 block of Clear Creek Road near Kibler. The homeowner grabbed his shotgun and went to investigate the source of the alarm. He told deputies that when he opened the door, the intruder attacked him.

The homeowner said he wrestled with the intruder, then shot him with the shotgun. The intruder ran off, Brown said.

The intruder was arrested later at a traffic stop and was taken to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville with a shotgun wound to the head. He was reportedly in stable condition.

From Youngstown, Florida;

Officers arrived at a Rainbow Food Store in Youngstown on May 31 after police were called to confront a man who was allegedly carrying a gun. When Sheriff Tommy Ford, Deputy Chief Joel Heape, and Maj. Jimmy Stanford found the suspect in the store, he was actually carrying a hammer and began attacking the officers.

Maj. Stanford had a surprise for their attacker and “bush-whacked” the suspect. “I saw Jimmy poke his head out, the next thing I know he steps out with a can of Bush’s extra brown sugar baked beans and hits the suspect in the upper body and distracts him,” Sheriff Ford said, via the Panama City News Herald.

The deputy pelted Justin Tyler Stanford with two cans of beans, giving his partners the chance to wrestle the 25-year-old to the ground and arrest him. The hammer-wielding man was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on an officer, resisting arrest with violence, and DUI for an accident he was reportedly in before entering the Rainbow Food Store.

An update to last week’s story from Harvey, Louisiana;

A 66-year-old man fatally shot when authorities say he entered a Harvey home without permission and attacked a resident has been identified by the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office as Norbert Leblanc.

Leblanc, of Harvey, died May 29 of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, said Mark Bone, chief death investigator for the coroner’s office.

Leblanc was accused of entering the unlocked Maple Street home of a romantic rival around 6 a.m. while armed with a pistol. The 53-year-old male resident of the home said Leblanc assaulted him while he was still in bed.

The resident, who is not being identified by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune because he is not facing criminal charges in the shooting, said LeBlanc had become obsessed with his girlfriend, who was also in bed when the attack occurred.

“He came in the house, and he pistol-whipped me,” the resident said of Leblanc.

During a scuffle between the two men, Leblanc was shot in the abdomen. He was taken to a local hospital where doctors pronounced him dead a short time later.