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Intruder shoots woman who fired toy gun

Josey1Josey1 Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
edited December 2001 in General Discussion
Intruder shoots woman who fired toy gun By Susan Weich Of The Post-Dispatch A 76-year-old woman from O'Fallon, Mo., who heard a noise in her kitchen Wednesday night picked up a toy cap gun and fired to try to scare off the intruder. Her plan worked, but not before he fired back at her, hitting her in the leg.From her hospital bed Thursday, the woman said she was counting her blessings because the bullet had only grazed her right thigh. She was released Thursday from St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis.A resident of O'Fallon for 25 years, the woman said she lives alone in the 400 block of Prince Charles Drive. She said that the encounter, her first with a criminal, had not frightened her and that she was eager to get back home.The woman said she was dressed for bed and in her bedroom at 6:47 p.m. Wednesday when she heard a loud noise at her back door. She grabbed a toy cap gun, which she said she keeps in her home for safety reasons, and walked toward the kitchen."He had already broken the lock and was in my back door," she said. She shouted at the intruder, "Get out of here," and fired her toy gun three or four times.She then heard three loud bangs and saw a dark silhouette run out her back door. The intruder's shots had hit her in the right thigh and in her toy gun, too."Evidently, he was a real good shooter," she said. The woman then called 911, and she said the police responded "pronto."No lights were on in the house at the time of the encounter, so the woman could not give police a description of the intruder.The woman said that if she had it to do over again, she would not have confronted the intruder."I probably should have just stayed in my bedroom and called 911 from there," she said. "But who knows? He might have come in there and hit me over the head and still shot me. At least then, I could have got a look at him though."Capt. Jerry Schulte of the O'Fallon police agreed that the woman should have dialed 911 from her bedroom. "And then she should have locked her bedroom door and waited for police."Schulte said shooting a cap gun was especially risky because he's sure the intruder thought the gun was real. He said many burglars carry a weapon, so residents should let police handle suspicious noises.Reporter Susan Weich:\ E-mail: sweich@post-dispatch.com\ Phone: 636-946-3903, ext. 227 http://home.post-dispatch.com/channel/pdweb.nsf/TodayFriday/86256A0E0068FE5086256B2200451286
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