Category: Feel Good Stories

From Greenwood, Indiana;

The resident of the South Lake at The Reserve neighborhood called police at 12:18 a.m. Wednesday. He told officers that he saw a person entering his vehicle on Vista Way and confronted the suspect, who got out of the passenger side of the vehicle and reached for his waistband as if he was reaching for a weapon, a Greenwood police report said.

That prompted the homeowner to fire a shot from his handgun, police said. The suspect ran between houses.

Officers launched a search for the suspect based on his description and were able to watch a video on the homeowner’s cellphone. The clip showed the suspect in the vehicle, then showed the homeowner walk up to the window with a gun pointed inside while yelling not to move, police said.

Police didn’t find blood at the scene but could not say for sure whether the suspect was hit by the shot. A police dog tracked the suspect’s scent to nearby apartments, but he was not located.

From Mobile, Alabama;

An area man was charged with menacing/reckless endangerment on Tuesday, January 9 after officials say he shot himself in the hand during an argument while trying to shoot at someone else.

Officials say police responded to the 7100 block of Smith Street in reference to one shot. Upon arrival, officers discovered that the male subject had shot himself in the hand during an argument while he was trying to shoot at the victim.

From San Jose, California;

The power plant employee described a suspicious man in a black Mercedes-Benz. The employee said that the person had pulled something out of the trunk but they could not confirm exactly what that object was, Garcia said.

The employee described him as an Asian man in his 20s, standing about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing about 145 pounds. He was wearing a black jacket, a white shirt and black pants.

Garcia said investigators believe that after the call was made, the man gained access to the property by jumping over the fence.

The employee called police back to report that the man had a backpack, a pipe and possibly an ax with him. Garcia did not immediately release how close the suspect got to employees.

When officers arrived, they found the black Mercedes unoccupied and located a large sword laying in the driver’s seat.

When police ran the man’s license plate, it identified the vehicle as armed and dangerous because of a prior incident with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

Garcia said the same suspect had possibly led authorities on a pursuit in Santa Cruz County after he brandished a weapon around security guards and also possessed a sword. Garcia said he did not know whether the sword from the Santa Cruz County case was the same one San Jose officers found Tuesday night.

The officers located the man who matched the employee’s description in a matter of minutes after arrival and saw that he was wielding a 6-foot pipe and an ax. They gave the suspect verbal commands to surrender or drop the weapons, but he refused to comply and walked away from the officers, Garcia said.

The chief said officers followed the suspect at “a safe distance” and continued to give the man verbal commands to drop his weapons, but he continued to act defiantly and yelled “shoot me” and “kill me” multiple times.

The suspect then turned around and advanced toward the officers still armed with both weapons. He continued to yell demands to shoot, Garcia said.

He got 5 to 6 feet away from one officer, at which time the officer shot at the man. The suspect continued toward a second officer with his pipe and ax, which is when the second officer shot at him too, Garcia said.

The suspect was hit at least once and was pronounced dead at the scene…A search of the suspect’s possessions found that he was also carrying an additional ax, six throwing knives and pepper spray, according to Garcia.

Poetrooper sends us a link from Irvington, Alabama;

According to a report filed with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, 18-year-old Daniel Bennett was discovered in a horse barn owned by Francine Janes Jan. 4. Janes said it was her dogs that alerted her and her husband to something in the barn that Thursday evening.

The report indicates Janes and her husband held Bennett at gunpoint until MCSO deputies could arrive on the scene. According to police, Bennett admitted to owning a trench coat and burglar’s tools that were found in the barn and later to molesting the horse, whose name is Polly.

Janes told the responding officer she believed one of her mares had been molested the night before, which Bennett later confirmed during a subsequent interview with investigators.

Speaking to WPMI’s Andrea Ramey, Janes said she didn’t believe these were isolated incidents either, saying she’d seen evidence that the horse’s stall had been disturbed “seven maybe 10 times” throughout the month of December.

From Licking County, Ohio;

It happened at 913 East Main Street in Newark. Authorities said the homeowner observed someone knocking on his door and upon asking who was there, the window on the door shattered as someone was breaking it.

Authorities said the homeowner retrieved a pepper-ball gun and shot at the intruders. The homeowner believes he struck at least one of the subjects.

The three suspects ran westbound on East Main Street. Newark Police conducted a K9 search with no results.

From Amarillo, Texas;

Authorities said Ruben Rios, 29, was taken to the Potter County Detention Center around 2 a.m. and booked on a murder charge.

Rios and another man, 36-year-old Clayton Morgan, reportedly entered the La Bella Pizza located near Western Street late Tuesday to rob the business. Witnesses said Morgan was armed and used his weapon to make demands on store employees.

One of the employees, a licensed firearm carrier, fired his weapon at Morgan after being threatened. The suspect was struck and taken to an area hospital where he later died.

One witness, who wished to remain unidentified, told NewsChannel 10 Wednesday morning medical staff showed up within minutes of the shooting.

“I was like this guy got shot and is dying fast. You need to get here quick.”

Rios’s murder charge stems from the fatal shooting, according to police. Under Texas law, a person can be tried for the charge if they take part in the crime in which someone was killed.

Police said the Morgan’s weapon was a BB gun furnished to appear as a real handgun.

From Chicago, Illinois;

The shooting happened around 5:45 p.m. Monday in the 5500 block of West Thomas Street when Shaquille Gales approached a 58-year-old man, pulled out a gun and demanded his property, police said.

The man pulled his own gun and fired at Gales, hitting him in the back of the head, police said. Gales was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and pronounced dead.

Police said the 58-year-old man had a concealed carry permit.

From Hood County, Texas;

When a knife-wielding man forced his way into a pregnant woman’s home near Lake Granbury early Monday, the woman and her dog fought back — and won, according to the Hood County Sheriff’s Office.

The 25-year-old woman, who is 35 weeks pregnant and lives in an unincorporated area north of Granbury, told deputies that she heard a knock at the door around 6 a.m. When the woman opened the door, a man brandishing a knife forced his way in.

The Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that the woman struck the suspect on the head with a flower vase. Her dog rushed into the room and bit the suspect on his left thigh and chased him out of the home.

The woman suffered several superficial cuts on her arms and stomach but was not seriously injured.

From Tallulah, Louisiana;

Investigators say two suspects, identified as Corey McGowan and Robert Freeman, tried to rob Virgil Barnes. The suspects knocked on the door and Barnes let them in.

Investigators say the suspects were armed. So was Barnes. The men exchanged gunfire. Barnes shot Freeman, who died at the scene.
McGowan was arrested and is being held at the Madison parish detention center.

McGowan is charged with attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery, and home invasion. He is being held without bond.

Virgil Barnes survived the encounter with the intruders.

From Hernando, Mississippi;

Law enforcement officials believe they may have solved a spate of weekend armed robberies at automated teller machines (ATMs) along Goodman Road in Horn Lake after an early morning chase and fatal shooting of a suspect.

A Horn Lake Police investigator, working on a hunch, was at the Regions Bank ATM location near Highway 51 and Goodman shortly before 5 a.m. Monday morning when he was approached by a black male and who brandished a weapon.

The investigator identified himself as a police officer, according to District Attorney John Champion at a news conference later Monday morning, and the suspect then fled into a darkish-gray to black-colored Impala, struck a police car in leaving the scene and headed east on Goodman Road.

Three other officers who were working surveillance with the investigator gave chase, along with the investigator in his unmarked car. However, the suspect’s vehicle spun out while the pursuit was on near Sutton Place, a short distance away from the attempted robbery. That was followed by one of the pursuing police cars striking the suspect’s vehicle.

Champion said after he stopped, the suspect pulled out a gun and fired at the officers who then returned fire and fatally shot the suspect.

From Lawrenceville, Georgia;

Officers were originally dispatched to the home off Cainbridge Drive shortly before 3:00 a.m. in reference to gun shots being heard.

“When Officers arrived, they met with the male homeowner of 850 Cainbridge Drive,” said Gwinnett Police Cpl. Frederick Saldana. “The homeowner had been shot in the leg.”

He said officers acted quickly and applied a tourniquet to the homeowners’ leg.

The male told authorities that while sleeping he heard the back door crash in and he went to investigate the noise. The homeowner, who was armed, encountered three males. Saldana said gunfire was exchanged inside of the home and the three males fled the scene.

“Arriving officers located a deceased male who had been shot, a short distance from the residence,” Saldana said.

The name of the decedent was not released.

Police say the homeowner was taken to a local hospital. His status is unknown at this time.

From Wichita, Kansas;

Police say a young man shot and killed two people who were trying to break into a Wichita home during the weekend.

Police Lt. Jeff Gilmore says the men killed Saturday afternoon were 20-year-old Ky Jones Jr. and 20-year-old Jeremy Burdine.

Gilmore says an 18-year-old and another person were in the home when the two men tried to force their way in. The homeowner tried to block the door but when Jones and Burdine tried to enter, the 18-year-old fired several shots through the door, killing them.

Gilmore says the homeowner had previous problems with the two men and officers had been called to the home in the past.

From Alexandria, Virginia;

A suspect accidentally shot him/her self during a robbery at an apartment in Alexandria, police said.

The robbery happened in the 3800 block of Executive Ave. in Alexandria.

Three suspects broke into the apartment and one shot him/her self in the lower body during the robbery. All three of the suspects fled the area, according to authorities.

None of the victims were hurt.

From Merrillville, Indiana;

The passenger got in and wanted to go to Chicago, but the driver refused because warning lights in the car had come on and he didn’t feel safe driving that far, he said.

The driver told The Times the passenger asked to be dropped off at West 68th Avenue and Van Buren Street. The passenger didn’t make small talk during the ride and sat in the back seat, the driver said.

“He stood up and put a gun in my face,” the [Uber] driver said, before the two tussled and exited the vehicle.

“He looked at me. I looked at him. He had his gun in his hand. I shot at him three times,” the driver said.

The passenger ran, and the driver called police, he said…The driver said he disregarded Uber policy by carrying a gun for protection while in Indiana. He doesn’t have a permit to carry a gun in Illinois.

The man said he won’t be driving for Uber anymore. He feels it is too unsafe.

From Seward County, Nebraska;

The deputy sent to the initial call about the vehicle in the ditch, re-routed to the home invasion. As he arrived in the area he spotted a man who fit the description of the home invasion suspect. The deputy approached him and authorities say the suspect refused to obey commands. They say he became violent and tried to get away in the deputy’s patrol unit.

The deputy deployed a TASER, twice. The TASER jolts didn’t faze the man on the run.

Authorities say the suspect was again ordered to the ground. He ignored the command. At that point the deputy shot him, then initiated medical care while rescue crews responded.

That suspect turned out to be [Cody Nielsen, 31]. He’s being treated for the gunshot wound that is not considered to be life-threatening.

He was taken into custody for a parole violation and several felonies.

From Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;

“The suspect made entry by prying open a door, went into the home,” MSgt. Gary Knight, with the Oklahoma City Police Department, told News 4.

Police said the suspect demanded the homeowner hand over his keys to his F-250.

“Victim gave him the car keys, but what the suspect didn’t know is the victim was also armed with a gun,” Knight said.

According to police, the homeowner fired a shot at the suspect, who then ran outside. The alleged suspect jumped in the truck and took off, but not before the victim fired one more shot.

“Possibly as he was driving away. He may have hit the vehicle, he may not have. Time will tell on that,” Knight said.

A family member told KFOR that the homeowner is 85-years-old and retired from law enforcement several years ago, adding the suspect is lucky the thief didn’t do this a few years back when the former officer was younger.

From Tucson, Arizona;

Dugan said a man entered the business and displayed a firearm and took money from the business.

The robber was reportedly confronted by a customer in the parking lot and gunfire was exchanged between the customer and the suspect as he was leaving, according to Dugan.

A family member of the customer was hit by gunfire and was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

TPD said the suspect left the scene and was not found.

From Little Rock, Arkansas;

Police said the shooting occurred after officers stopped a vehicle about 1 a.m. at West 52nd Street and Camp Robinson Road. Officers found three people, including a 17-year-old boy, in the vehicle. Officers searched the boy and found he was carrying a gun, according to police.

“A struggle then ensued between officers and the suspect,” the department said in a news release. “During the struggle the suspect fired at least one shot at the officers which resulted in the officers firing shots at the suspect.”

Officers provided medical treatment to the boy after the shooting, but he was later pronounced dead at the scene.

From Orlando, Florida;

An 18-year-old Orlando man is facing a first-degree murder charge after authorities say a botched home invasion turned into a shootout — leaving another 18-year-old dead and a 70-year-old homeowner injured with multiple gunshot wounds.

Deputies say Luismil Hernandez was one of two armed teenagers to kick down the door at a house on the 7700 block of Murcott Circle on Wednesday. They were greeted by the homeowner, Juan Caraballo, 70, who was armed with a .45-caliber handgun.

Authorities say a gunfight started between Caraballo and the second intruder, Gerald Anderson, 18. Caraballo and Anderson were both shot multiple times during the shootout.

When deputies responded, they found Caraballo bleeding profusely near his front door — shot in the arm, chest and stomach. Caraballo’s wife told authorities she arrived home from work to find her husband crawling on the ground, saying that he was injured but had “shot one of them,” according to court documents.

Caraballo was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center for surgery, and was last in stable condition, sheriff’s spokesman Jeff Williamson said.

Inside the home, deputies followed a trail of blood leading to a bedroom, where they found Anderson lying on the bed holding a .40-caliber handgun. He was pronounced dead — shot twice in the chest and once in the arm, authorities said. Deputies also found a shattered bedroom window from which Hernandez apparently escaped.

Authorities were able to identify Hernandez by searching through Anderson’s Facebook account. Hernandez was arrested Friday on a warrant for first-degree murder and armed burglary charges. He’s being held at the Orange County Jail without bond.

In Peoria, Arizona;

Peoria police report that on January 1, 29-year-old Adam Daniel Flower used a golf club to shatter a rear door and enter a home near 93rd Avenue and Jomax Road.

Flower, who has a harassment injunction filed against him, was allegedly looking for the juvenile girl. Other family members confronted him, but he still managed to push his way upstairs.

The girl heard the commotion, escaped out her second story window and hid on the roof of the home.

The father retrieved his handgun from a gun safe, confronted Flower upstairs, firing one shot into the floor, preventing him from going into the bedroom.

Other family members flagged down police from their second story window, directing them to Flower’s location.

Police say Flower violated his harassment injunction several times. He has now been charged with aggravated assault.

From Memphis, Tennessee;

Police responded to the 2700 block of Jolson at 3:53 p.m. where two armed suspects tried to rob the home.

The homeowner got into a fight with one of the suspects in an attempt to get the gun away, police said.

That’s when the gun went off and one of the suspects was shot.

Police found the injured suspect lying dead in front of the home upon arrival.

The other suspect ran away.

From Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;

According to police, officers responded to a report of a home invasion in the 600 block of Southwest 23rd Street.

Police learned that a homeowner fire a shot at one person who broke into the home. No one was injured.

No arrests have been made.

From Silver Spring, Maryland;

Montgomery County police say officers responded to the 14000 block of Twig Road at around 3:18 a.m. Wednesday for a reported theft. When they arrived, police were flagged down by a resident on Rossiter Court who told them he had fired several gunshots with his handgun at three suspects in the area. The suspects fled the scene after the shooting.

A short time later, police located an 18-year-old male suspect suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower body on Elm Grove Circle after the 911 call center received a call about a person shot. He was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Two other teenage suspects were later located by police. They have been charged with theft while the injured 18-year-old is expected to face charges once he is released from the hospital.

From Little Rock, Arkansas;

About 30 minutes later, a female robber holding a “long barrel rifle” and a man with a gun entered the Exxon station at 8724 Colonel Glenn Road, authorities said.

The pair immediately pointed their weapons at the manager and several customers near the cash register, according to the report.

The 30-year-old manager said he recognized the two robbers as [Makala Ann] Colin and an 18-year-old Little Rock man, and addressed both of them by name.

“Really Makala? You’re really gonna do this?” he said, according to the report. He then handed the robbers some cash.

When the 18-year-old man realized that he had been identified, he became angry, yelling that he was going to kill someone, while at the same time grabbing multiple pastries and cupcakes from a nearby display stand, the report stated.

Then the pair fled, running to a maroon Chevrolet truck that was waiting for them, the manager told officers. He added that Colin dropped the rifle, the report said.

As the manager ran after the truck trying to get the license plate number, he said, the man began shooting at him. The employee said he shot back and thought he may have shot Colin in the thigh.

The driver and the male robber then left in the truck, the manager told police, while Colin reportedly ran south on John Barrow Road.

About 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, officers spoke to Colin at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary, where she was being treated for a gunshot wound in her left thigh, police said.

Colin reportedly told officers that she had been shot around midnight while taking her usual route to her boyfriend’s house. She said she heard arguing coming from a house in the 3600 block of Walker Street, then shots were fired, and she felt something hit her leg and started running, according to reports.

Colin said she reached her boyfriend’s house, cleaned the wound there and waited until about 7:30 a.m. to go to the hospital, reports said.

The Exxon manager did not report the holdup until Wednesday, telling police that he had pushed the alarm button but later discovered that it was not connected and was “overwhelmed” so he went home, the report said.

He told police that a woman entered the business that day saying she was Colin’s mother. She showed the manager pictures of the gunshot wound and requested that he call police to “keep her daughter from being killed” through her ties to the male robber, the report said.

From Detroit, Michigan;

The robber went into the deli and demanded money, then hopped over the counter, Simon Shaykhet of WXYZ reports.

Police say the store owner saw his daughter being accosted and opened fire on the suspect, shooting him in the arm.

Police arrested the man.

From Orlando, Florida;

A 70-year-old homeowner shot and killed a suspect breaking into his Orange County house Wednesday night, sheriff’s deputies said.

Spokesman Jeff Williamson said around 5 p.m., two people were trying to break into Juan Jose Caraballo’s house in the 7700 block of Murcott Circle. He was armed and exchanged gunfire with the suspects, hitting and killing one, Williamson said. The other ran out the back door and is still on the loose, he said.

Carabello was hit in the gunfire and underwent surgery, Williamson said.

The deceased suspect’s name was not released.

From Six Lakes, Michigan;

Cody Rockafellow tells FOX 17 that he and his wife Julie came home at about 11 p.m. Tuesday and noticed that the lights were on and some of the doors were open.

“As soon as I walked inside I noticed that my dog Addie was laying on the ground just cowering and she was very nervous and that set off another red flag,” Cody said.

Cody went downstairs and grabbed his gun and followed footprints in the snow heading out the basement door. He says he folowed fresh tracks in the snow over to a corner of his yard near a building where he makes maple syrup.

“I went around the corner of the building, didn’t see anybody, very cautiously approached and thought ‘well they must’ve just left.’”

However, Rockafellow then says he spotted the suspect.

“I just happened to glance left and I saw somebody standing behind a tree.”

He says the suspect then came out with a shotgun and that’s when he shot him.

“I kind of turned and shined the flashlight on him and he came around the right side of the tree and the first thing I saw was his eyes and then I looked down and I could see the barrel of a shotgun swinging up, and then I turned and I shot twice and I dove down and could hear something hit,” Cody said. “The first shot was like a thud and the second was like a crack like it had hit metal.”

Cody thinks the man might’ve been wearing some sort of vest since he was able to run away. He eventually went through the woods and got picked up by a car that sped away, Cody says.

From Merced, California;

A man suffered life-threatening injuries Wednesday night when shot while allegedly breaking into an apartment on West Yosemite Avenue in Merced, the Merced Police Department reported.

Few details were immediately available.

At about 10:05 p.m. Wednesday, a man heard someone trying to break into his home at 604 W. Yosemite Ave., Sgt, Dan Dabney said. The homeowner confronted the suspect and shot him, according to police.

From Portland, Oregon;

Officers first responded to the report of a robbery at the U-Haul Powell Boulevard, located at 4831 Southeast Powell Boulevard. As officers were responding to the scene, a 911 caller reported someone had been shot.

Based on preliminary investigation, police believe the suspect entered the U-Haul location while in possession of a firearm and demanded money. While the suspect was on U-Haul property an employee shot the suspect. He was taken to a local hospital where it was determined that he had died.

Police said two guns were found at the scene. One belonged to the suspects and the other belonged to the employee.

Police said the employee is cooperating with the investigation.

From Chicago, Illinois;

The 25-year-old suspect pulled a gun on the Lyft driver around 2 a.m. in the 7200-block of South Saint Lawrence Avenue in the city’s Park Manor neighborhood.

But the driver, also 25, fought back and tried to disarm the passenger. The weapon went off, striking the would-be robber in his hand.

The driver was not hurt. Video from the scene shows a dark SUV with a Lyft sticker and a Chevy Malibu with what appears to be bullet holes in it.

Investigators arrived on the scene shortly after the shooting. Police said the gun was not recovered.

The suspect was taken into custody and transported to University of Chicago Medical Center, where his condition stabilized. Charges are pending.

From Atlanta, Georgia;

A victim opened fire on armed robbers as a Craigslist deal for a cellphone turned into a New Year’s Eve shooting in Gwinnett County, Channel 2 Action News reported.

When it was over, two people were arrested, one suspect was shot, the robbery victim wasn’t charged, and a car had multiple bullet holes, according to police.

“The victim in this case was an average working class citizen who wanted to sell a phone and put an ad on Craigslist,” Snellville police Detective Kevin Seay said.

About 3 p.m. in a parking lot along Scenic Highway, the robbery suspects pulled a gun on the seller and stole his phone, Channel 2 reported.

Police are not sure who shot first, but the seller, who works as a security guard, got out of his car and shot suspect Jaylen Holmes three times through his car.

Holmes was arrested after he showed up at a hospital with gunshot wounds, Channel 2 reported. He’s facing armed robbery and aggravated assault charges.