Seventy-one-year-old Savu Cirligel hadn’t stayed in his Des Moines, Iowa, home since it was damaged by fire. But he was tired of having possessions stolen and the garage ransacked, so he stayed there late Monday. And he brought his gun.
After hearing a noise, he surprised a female intruder who yelled that her boyfriend was outside and armed. Cirligel then tried to escort her out, assuring the woman he had no intension of shooting. That’s when the woman suddenly started to choke him with her scarf, and he “had no choice but to shoot.”
Stunned, the woman stopped the attack and fled the home. Police quickly found the suspect, who was treated for a superficial gunshot wound. The Romanian-born homeowner told The Des Moines Register he didn’t want to fire, adding, “I feel so sorry for her. But I was so scared, when she choked me so hard.”
