Grandma, 70, shoots alleged home intruder: 'Kill him before he kills me'
KatherineLam
A gun-toting 70-year-old grandmother took matters into her own hands early Saturday morning when she shot and wounded an alleged home intruder attempting to break into her Philadelphia residence.
Maxine Thompson told Fox 29 she woke up around 4:30 a.m. and heard banging outside her house. Police said a 43-year-old man attempted to break into the grandmother’s Philadelphia home at the time.
“First I thought I was dreaming, and then I looked out the window, outside. I was still hearing the banging, banging, banging, so I yelled to whoever, ‘Who’s that on my door? Get off my door, get off my door,’” Thompson recalled.
Despite her warnings, the alleged burglar didn’t stop and continued to smash her dining room window and enter the house. Thompson, going into survival mode, grabbed her late mother’s handgun and shot at the suspect. She told Fox 29 it was her first time using the gun.
“I shot at him. He turned around and he ran and when he ran, I ran down the steps behind him and shot at him some more,” Thompson recalled. “Kill him before he kills me. That’s what was going through my mind.”
Police said a 43-year-old man was attempting to break into the Philadelphia home early Saturday morning. (Fox 29)
The alleged burglar was struck while Thompson fired at him several times. He ran to a nearby car wash and called police to report he’d been shot, Fox 29 reported. He was arrested, taken to the hospital and treated for a gunshot wound to his upper arm.
Thompson, whose son is a Philadelphia police officer, said the incident played out within 10 minutes. She recalled how the suspect could have killed her if she didn’t fire the gun.
“After everything was over, then I did get a little shaky. He could’ve killed me,” the grandmother said.
She added that she hopes she taught the alleged home intruder and other people a lesson.
“Stay the hell out of people’s houses,” Thompson said.
As for her broken window, she replied: “I have people that will come and fix this. It’ll be fixed in no time.”