Category: Feel Good Stories

From Putnam County, West Virginia;

According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, a homeowner shot a suspected home invader this afternoon.

According to Chief Deputy Eric Hayzlett, the shooting occurred around 12:45 PM on Monday, April 16th, 2018, on Thompson Road in the Culloden area.

Chief Deputy Hayzlett says the suspect was transported to St. Mary’s Hospital in Huntington, WV.

His condition is unknown.

From Baker County, Florida;

According to BCSO, the suspects forced their way into the home and confronted the occupants, who deputies have identified as David Boldry, 22, David Johnson, 21, Matthew Cornish, 19, and Justin Raulerson, 18.

However, the suspects’ plan backfired, as the occupants inside the home woke up to loud noises and yelling. They then armed themselves and began exchanging gunfire after realizing they were being threatened.

As a result of the shooting, three of the suspects were shot multiple times: An unidentified juvenile, who is currently being treated at Shands Jacksonville, William Lauramore, who was treated and released to law enforcement, and Cory Lauramore, who later died from his gunshot wounds.

William Lauramore is in custody in Duval, County and will be transported to the Baker County Detention Center Monday evening.

The suspects are currently charged with home invasion. There may be additional charges added at a later date.

From Houston, Texas;

Houston police say an off-duty sergeant shot a suspect trying to break into the front door of his home in a neighborhood in the Third Ward.

Authorities say the sergeant heard banging on the front door of his home around midnight, so he grabbed his gun and went to check what was going on.

We’re told the sergeant lives in the home with his elderly parents and aunt.

Police say he went to the front door and asked the suspect, 36-year-old Patrick Jenkins, who he was and what he wanted, but Jenkins continued to bang on the door, eventually breaking the glass.

Officials told ABC13 that’s when the officer fired at least two shots, hitting him.

Jenkins was taken to Ben Taub Hospital. He is expected to survive. The sergeant was not injured.

From Birmingham, Alabama;

A Birmingham man has been hailed as a hero after he helped stop a robbery in progress at a local bank.

The incident occurred at America’s First Federal Credit Union at 1200 4th Avenue North on April 9.

Scott Arnett told CBS 42 he had an odd feeling when he first walked into the bank and noticed it was not as busy as it usually is. As he approached the teller, he heard frantic voices that clued him into the crime.

“[The robber] was saying to the guard: ‘Give me that gun, give me that gun’ and [he] just kept repeating that and that was all he said,” Arnett said. “And the guard kept saying: ‘No, no, no’ and it was just going back and forth and the guard was trying to move around, you know, trying to get away from him, but you know, he really had him tight.”

Arnett said the robber had the guard in a head lock and Arnett believes the guard would not have had a chance if he had not stepped in.

As the robber and the guard wrestled, Arnett said the robber leaned back and that is when Arnett took action.

“I went for him around the chest and I grabbed him and I pushed him down on the ground real hard so he couldn’t get up,” Arnett said.

Arnett said he made sure the robber stayed down and the security guard was able to break free without relinquishing his gun.

“[The guard] had pointed the gun down at [the robber’s] back and said, you know, don’t move,” Arnett said.

When Birmingham police arrived, the robber was taken into custody.

Police identified the robber as 53-year-old Mark Anthony Nelson. He was booked into jail on complaints including 1st degree robbery and 2nd degree assault on a $25,000 bond.

From Albuquerque, New Mexico;

An Albuquerque man with ties to a home invasion that left another man dead has been arrested.

In February, Police say 25-year-old Isaiah Marquez, his half-brother Juan Perdomo and another man broke into a house near Gibson and I-25.

The homeowner’s son shot Perdomo.

They say the other men left him to die in the street.

According to a criminal complaint, 20-year-old Alonso Hernandez drove the getaway car that night.

Police finally arrested Hernandez Friday, charging him with aggravated burglary.

From Tucson, Arizona;

It happened near South Sixth and Pennsylvania Drive. Tucson Police say the woman left a store and a man approached her as she got into her car. He had a machete and demanded her keys. The woman was able to retrieve a handgun and she told the man to leave. She shot him when he started to lift the machete.

The suspect is in the hospital and police say he faces charges when he is released.

From Atlanta, Georgia;

The preliminary investigation indicates the victim was attempting to break up a physical altercation between several individuals when the suspect exited his apartment, observed the altercation and retrieved a handgun,” Chafee said in a statement.

The man aimed his gun at the victim and another male, but police did not say if he fired a shot.

“The victim then produced his own handgun and fired several times, striking the suspect,” Chafee said.

Earlier, police said the man breaking up the fight was shot in the face. It is unclear if that is still the case.

Chafee said charges are expected against the suspect. The victim was not injured in the shooting.

From Iredell, Texas;

Oakly was barking.

That was unusual, because she seldom actually barks, especially at 7:20 a.m.

That’s why Oakly’s owner, Owen Turman, decided to get out of bed and head downstairs to quiet the dog. It was Sunday morning, after all.

What Turman didn’t expect was a strange man in his outdoor sunroom, trying to get into the house.

Turman, who lives on Culpepper Road off Wilkesboro Highway, quickly snatched his .22-caliber bolt-action rifle and went around back to confront the stranger.

“I saw him turn the handle on my door and twist real hard trying to get in,” said Turman, recounting the events of April 8. “When I saw that, I instantly put my rifle up at him.”

He asked the man what he was doing, told him to get away from the door and to lie on the ground. The stranger followed orders, but didn’t answer questions, like who he was or what he was doing. Turman, still in his underwear, called police.

And he waited.

His fiancé and two daughters, one 6 years old and the other an infant, remained inside, unaware of what had unfolded outside.

“My main concern was I have to protect my home and my family,” Turman said. “The only thing I was thinking (was) keeping my family safe.”

He couldn’t help but worry about the possibility of his oldest daughter coming downstairs and finding her dad pointing a gun at another man. He was worried he’d have to shoot someone in front of his little girl.

“I want her to know home is a safe place,” he said.

Turman said that while the suspect lay on the ground, he began rummaging through his pockets. He kept trying to take needles out of his pockets and throw them under Turman’s vehicle, Turman recalled.

“Look, man, you’re making me nervous,” Turman recalled telling the man before ordering him to stop. But the man continued to dig in his pockets. An Iredell County deputy ran up seconds later.

Turman said the intruder struggled with the deputy but eventually was taken into custody.

From Memphis, Tennessee;

According to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the Papa John’s employee was making a delivery at the Southwind Lake apartments off Shelby Drive when he was approached by two suspects.

He told police one of the suspects pointed something at him that looked like a gun. He was scared for his safety and opened fire.

A teen was struck and rushed to the Regional Medical Center in critical condition.

Two other teens and an 18-year-old named Tjohntay Woods were taken into custody and charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated assault.

From Carbondale, Illinois;

Officers learned that a suspect wearing a ski mask had forced his way into the residence while brandishing a firearm. He made threats against the residents and then fought with a resident, at which time the suspect’s gun went off. Police said the suspect then fled on foot.

No one was shot during the incident. The resident who fought with the intruder reported minor injuries.

From Baton Rouge, Louisiana;

On April 6, Matthews entered a home in the 500 block of Brice Street. According to the arrest report, Matthews kicked the door open.

Once inside Matthews, who was armed with a handgun, pushed the victim which led to a physical struggle between the two. Matthews then threatened to “pistol whip” the victim.

The victim was able to arm herself with a knife and stabbed Matthews in the chest in self-defense, according to the affidavit. The incident occurred in the presence of several children under the age of 12.

After the attack, Matthews left the scene in a 2007 Ford Fusion. He was driven to the Baton Rouge General Hospital and later transported to the Our Lady of the Lake Hospital for his injuries.

Matthews’ car was located and towed by authorities.

On Wednesday, authorities searched the car and found a 9mm pistol. Later that day, Matthews turned himself in to authorities.

From Ypsilanti Township, Michigan;

Police were called about 5:25 p.m. to the 1200 block of Lexington Parkway in Ypsilanti Township for a reported home invasion, according to the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.

Police believe an unknown man entered the residence through an unlocked door, but was struck in the face by the resident, said Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Sgt. H. Eugene Rush. The suspect then fled.

The suspect is described as a white man, last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

From North Royalton, Ohio;

According to police, a homeowner on York Road found two unknown people in his garage when he arrived home. There was “some sort of altercation” that resulted in the homeowner shooting one of the intruders.

The two unknown people ran from the garage into a waiting car with two people already inside it. The car drove from the house to a nearby parking lot at York and Sprague. At that point, two of the occupants jumped from the car and started running. The injured person was left in the parking lot. The driver of the car drove away from the scene.

The driver was later apprehended in Parma. The two suspects on foot were caught by North Royalton police. The injured person was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center.

Police tell Fox 8 that they have also taken the homeowner into custody while they “sort everything out.”

From Sonora, California;

It was sometime after 3 a.m. when Jake Fuller and his girlfriend, Evon Meckler, were suddenly awakened from a deep sleep. They realized someone had broken into their Feather River Drive home.

Meckler immediately dialed 911 as Jake armed himself and made his way outside.

“I told her that someone had broken into our house, given her our address immediately and told her that Jake had a gun,” Meckler said.

“He wrecked a mile up the road and randomly walked into this door here,” Fuller said.

Once inside the garage, the suspect made his way to a back door. Before Jake got there, they could hear the suspect’s voice.

“He was repeating who he was. He was in the basement, ‘Please open the door.’ Real polite and just something weird to hear that at 3 a.m.” Fuller recalled.

“We didn’t know who he was,” Meckler said. “We didn’t know how many people were down there, what he was going, how long he’d been in there. We didn’t hear anyone break in. We only heard him trying to get out.”

By that time, Jake positioned himself in the driveway, facing all the entrances that the intruder could possibly pass through.

“As soon as he opens this door, I have him at gunpoint. And he stood here for about eight to 10 minutes until the sheriffs arrive,” Fuller said.

In what seemed like 45 minutes from the time that 911 call was made, which was actually only about 10, the 38-year-old suspect Jeremiah Hyde was on his stomach and in handcuffs.

Fuller and Meckler were thankful they had the means to protect themselves but relieved it didn’t come down to using deadly force.

“If it’s in the right person’s hands, it’s effective as anything,” Fuller said. “Kids are texting and driving these days and they’re dying. I don’t see a ban on automobiles or cell phones.”

“Especially with all the gun laws going on and people wanting to ban guns you don’t see a lot of these stories,” Meckler said.

From Houston, Texas;

“An altercation occurred between an employee here at the store and a customer,” HPD Officer Ben Rothberg said. “The altercation led from the store out into the parking lot where at one point a gunshot was fired, and the male was struck one time.”

HPD major assault investigators rushed to the scene after the shooting victim was transported to the hospital for a gunshot wound.

A witness claims the whole thing was a misunderstanding with his co-worker named ‘Cameron’ over the price of some beef jerky.

“So, they’re going back and forth over a damn Slim Jim, over a dollar, basically,” witness Kenneth Allen said. “He walks up to Cameron, Cameron pushed him back […] he whipped in his back pocket, pulled a gun out and shot him.”

The shooting victim underwent surgery for his wound but is reportedly in stable condition.

Police said the store clerk could face charges over the shooting.

From Raleigh, North Carolina;

According to Raleigh police, the homeowner fired at two intruders during an armed robbery.

The shooting happened in the 4200 block of Brintons Cottage Street around 4:51 a.m.

Deandre Carney, 19, died from his injuries.

Willie Richardson, 22, was also injured in the shooting.

He is still in the hospital with gunshot wounds but is charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, first-degree burglary, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The homeowner’s 11-year-old son was also injured and is in the hospital with serious injuries.

From Brookhaven, Mississippi;

James O’Quinn and Trelin Courdell McWilliams…entered the store at closing time around 9 p.m. while several customers were still inside, he said.

Witnesses said he displayed a handgun to the clerk and took money from the register.

He ran out to the Chevy Malibu and they left, but not before witnesses were able to get a description of the vehicle.

One witness did more than just take notes. He took aim.

“One of the customers saw it, came outside and retrieved his shotgun and fired a shot at the tires of the car,” Rushing said.

While he managed to shoot the car, he didn’t flatten a tire.

But based on the description, Brookhaven police officers located the Malibu at Hwy. 51 and Hwy. 550 at a convenience store and apprehended the three suspects.