I gasped when I first heard this story while getting ready this morning, but then I threw my fist in the air and shouted "You go girl!"
From the Fort Worth Star Telegram
By BILL MILLER and NATHANIEL JONES
A 66-year-old grandmother shot an intruder in her north Arlington home early Wednesday as he grabbed for her gun, she told police.
The grandmother, who asked that her name not be published because she fears retaliation, the training she received to earn her concealed-handgun permit saved her life.
"If I didn't have a gun to protect myself, I probably wouldn't be here," she said. (emphasis mine)The man, identified as Christopher Lessner, 22, was under police guard Wednesday morning at Harris Methodist Fort Worth, where he was being treated for a leg wound, said Christy Gilfour, Arlington police spokeswoman.
The woman said she used a .38-caliber revolver. Gilfour confirmed that the woman has a gun permit.
Lessner was shot sometime after 12:30 a.m. He had initially fled from officers at about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday during a traffic stop on Interstate 30 at Fielder Road, Gilfour said.
The grandmother told officers that she was letting her dog out about 12:30 a.m. when she noticed a muddy footprint on her back porch.
The woman told police that she usually carried her gun because she was afraid of coyotes attacking her dogs.
She said her 28-year-old granddaughter, who was in the house, heard glass breaking. The grandmother also noticed that her cats were out of their room and that items in another room had been moved, police said.
When she yanked open the door of her front closet and pulled a coat away, she saw the face of a man, who motioned for her to be quiet, she said.
He then "jumped out of there like a jack-in-a-box,'' she said.
She told him to get on the floor or she'd shoot. He fumbled with the front door with one hand and reached for the gun with the other, she said.
She then fired her revolver, which was loaded with hollow-point bullets, she said.
The woman said she could have killed the man because her concealed-carry instructors taught her to aim for the torso. But she said she aimed for his leg. He was hit in the upper leg, police said.
Helloooo! Shoot him in the center of mass and put him down! He would be a bloody spot on my carpet had that been me instead of that grandma. No leg shots here. He still got away from her. She's lucky he didn't come after her."He said, 'Ow, you shot me!' '' the woman said.
Police said the woman fired another shot but missed.
Gilfour said officers searching for the suspect heard the gunshot, and dispatchers soon directed them to a 911 caller on Northaven Court, a cul-de-sac southwest of I-30 and Fielder.
"We found him a couple houses to the east, lying on a balcony,'' Gilfour said.
The black Chevrolet pickup Lessner was driving was reported stolen out of Euless, Gilfour said. She did not know his address.
During the traffic stop, Gilfour said, officers tried to pull the truck over for speeding, but it turned north onto Fielder and into a neighborhood north of the interstate.
Officers said Lessner leaped from the moving truck on Parkcrest Terrace, which is just east of Randol Mill Park, and ran into a wooded area.
Officers combed the neighborhood for more than two hours, street by street, with a police helicopter overhead. At some point the man crossed the interstate.
Gilfour said Lessner faces charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, evading arrest and burglary.
She said police "do not anticipate" filing charges against the grandmother.
Thanks to Uzz for sending me the print story.
