The gun has been on his bedside table for 30 years. It had never been fired. However, its 82-year-old owner used it to fight off a home invader last Friday morning, saving his life from the much younger intruder.
Uniontown police told WTAE-TV in Pittsburg that the octogenarian was awakened around 1:30 a.m. by an intruder who meant business. “He had a skeleton mask and gloves,” Lt. Tom Kolensic said of the intruder. “[The victim] said he demanded money, he told him he didn’t have any money, an altercation started, he grabbed the firearm off his nightstand and fired one shot, and the intruder ran out of the house.”
The would-be burglar—identified as 46-year-old Franklin Schrout, who had an “extensive” criminal history—died just outside the home after being shot once in the torso. Kolensic said it looked as though the elderly man did not intend to kill the invader. “He wasn’t sure if he shot him or not.”
