A disabled 71-year-old Hickory, N.C., man was watching television in his home Monday when he heard a knock at the door. Since it was late, he decided not to answer it. But about 15 minutes later, an intruder smashed through the sliding glass door in the rear of the home.
The resident, Tony Pitts, retrieved a .22-caliber pistol and responded to the threat by firing at the criminal, striking him twice.
Pitts said that this is not the first time his home has been broken into and that he shot the man because he was afraid. “I’m disabled and somebody kicks the door in, I got to do something,” Pitts told WSOC-TV. “I didn’t want to but had to. If I hadn’t shot him, he might have shot me. I don’t know.” Despite the gunshot wounds, the intruder fled the scene to a nearby club and asked for help. He is expected to survive.
