BALDWIN COUNTY, AL — It was not your average morning in the quiet suburban neighborhood of Eastern Shore on Thursday, September 5th.
Baldwin County Sheriff’s deputies report that a homeowner shot an intruder that entered the house while she was taking a bath.
The woman said that she was in the bathtub when her two children, who were also in the house, came to her, terrified.
They said they heard somebody moving around in another part of their house on Collier Loop.
Because her two young children were obviously scared, the woman took it seriously.
She told the children to run out of the house, but the children were too scared to leave without her.
Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Captain Cliff Cadenhead said,
“The current homeowner was actually in the bathtub and she had two young juvenile children who were in the house also. The kids heard some movement or whatever going on in the house, would go out there and look and see someone in the house that shouldn’t be in the house.”
When the children wouldn’t leave, the mother quickly went and found her personal handgun.
Authorities reported that after she had retrieved the gun, the mother and the intruder had a confrontation in the house.
The intruder was a female, and the two tangled and struggled over the firearm, but eventually, the mother was able to shoot the intruder.
Calderhead said, “There was an initial confrontation and, then, there was a struggle over the firearm and it appears that the homeowner shot the person that got shot in the stomach.”
The female intruder’s injury required her to be flown to University Hospital in Mobile, AL. Police say she is expected to make a full recovery.
A Quiet Neighborhood
A nearby neighbor, Oveta Burkhart and her mother, were interviewed after the fact.
Burkhart said, “I heard the helicopters going over the house, then I heard one, then I heard another one shortly after.”
Burkhart said authorities then came and knocked on her door.
She said, “It was two police officers and they were asking me if I had heard anything and I said ‘No, sir.’ And he said there had been a shooting in the neighborhood and I was very shocked at that in this neighborhood.”
Another neighbor, Daniel Womble, said, “It’s surprising. It’s a really nice neighborhood. I haven’t met these people specifically, but I met a lot of people in the neighborhood. Its always been a calm neighborhood.”
Sheriff’s officials have not released any names. No charges have been filed yet.
Thankfully, this woman and her children are okay. Her use of a firearm likely prevented something much worse from happening.
This is a good lesson for all of us that live in quiet, calm neighborhoods. You’re never more than one crazy intruder away from a life-or-death situation.
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