Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
An Ohio man worried about his widowed mother living alone in a crime-plagued Columbus neighborhood bought her a gun just last week, hoping that she’d never have to use it.
His timing could not have been more fortuitous:
A man was shot while reportedly breaking into homes in a west Columbus neighborhood.
It happened Thursday around 5 a.m. on North Guilford Avenue.
Columbus Police at the scene tell 10TV a widow heard someone breaking in, grabbed her gun and shot the intruder.
“She was armed and apparently fired multiple shots at him,” said Sgt. Dave Sicilia.
The woman’s son says he bought the gun for her a week ago to keep her safe now that she is living alone, but he never thought she would actually have to use it.
Police believe the suspect also broke into neighboring homes.
The incident apparently started as a burglary at a home across the street, where the burglar was chased out a window by the residents. Police were apparently on the way to the neighborhood responding to that burglarly call when the suspect attempted to invade the widow’s home.
The widow fired multiple shots, at least one of which connected. The burglar was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital less than two hours after he was shot.
The article provides very little information about the widow, the son, the firearm used, or the deceased suspect, which is entirely normal in a breaking news story.
What is clear is that the widow did know how to load the firearm and use it to good effect to defend herself in this admittedly rough neighborhood.
We hope that is widow is able to cope with the trauma of being forced to defend herself with lethal force, and that the death of the suspect will convince other criminals in the community to keep their distance.