Posted on 01/21/2007 8:09:22 AM PST by Pharmboy
When two men broke into family's home, one of the intruders ended up dead, the other wounded
SCHENECTADY -- Ralph Schulenburg Sr. feared if he didn't take action, the two armed intruders would kill everyone inside his Division Street home. The pair, he said, made no attempt to hide their faces, and one of them even boldly gave his name as ``Charlie'' when one of Schulenburg's sons asked.
``I wasn't about to just sit there,'' Schulenburg, 50, said Saturday as he recounted the events that played out inside 421 Division St. on Friday afternoon.
But he said it was his son, Ralph Schulenburg Jr., 23, who grabbed an old Mauser rifle and shot the intruders during a fierce gunbattle.
Aaron Peavy, 21, of Albany, was shot in the heart and killed. His alleged accomplice, Charles E. Little III, 20, of Troy, was shot in the left hand and lost at least one finger. It was the fourth time since early December that alleged intruders have been shot inside homes they targeted in Schenectady.
Little was arrested at 2 p.m. Saturday and charged with felony burglary. He was expected to be arraigned on the charge and held without bail in Schenectady County Jail.
Ralph Schulenburg Sr. was in the house with two of his sons, Nathan, 25, and Ralph Jr., 27; Nathan's girlfriend, Julie Brauth, 18; and her friend, Catherine Fahey, 19.
His wife, Kimberly, 49, was not home, he said. The Schulenburgs said they believe the incident stemmed from a long-running dispute over a girl their youngest son, Roy, has had with a boyhood friend now in jail.
In a lengthy interview Saturday with four witnesses to the shooting, they detailed the harrowing incident as follows:
Shortly after 3:30 p.m. Friday, Brauth stepped outside the home to smoke a cigarette. That's when she noticed a man on a neighbor's porch who looked confused.
He asked for a smoke, but Brauth said she didn't have one. She retreated inside from the cold and, minutes later, heard a knock on the door.
The same man asked her if Roy Schulenburg was home and when she expected him to return. He then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun, she said.
Brauth said he then marched her into the living room and summoned a second man to enter the home and search it. At that time, Nathan Schulenburg came downstairs and the gunmen ordered him into the living room on the couch with Brauth and Fahey.
The men mistakenly believed Nathan was Roy, but Brauth told them he was not. The pair then said they'd wait until Roy got home.
When someone knocked on the door and the men were distracted, Nathan had the opening he needed, he said.
He said he dashed to the back of the house screaming, ``He's got a gun! He's got a gun!'' and bolted upstairs. By then, he said, his brother Ralph Jr. had heard the commotion and already loaded the rifle.
Ralph Schulenburg Sr. said he heard the noise as well, realized his family was in danger and came from the rear of the house wielding a 4-by-4 piece of wood that he tossed at the shooters as they squeezed off five shots in his direction.
Ralph Sr. said he believes one of the intruders' weapons jammed or that he unwittingly had put on the safety. He suggested that's why only one of them was firing at him.
He said Ralph Jr. then ordered the intruders to drop their weapons and shot them when they refused. One of the bullets ricocheted off a wall and struck Peavy, said Ralph Sr.
``Ralph had a clear shot and shot his hand,'' Ralph Sr. said of Little's wound. He said Little then offered to give the family money if they let him go. He said his son threw him a towel to wrap around his hand, but refused to let him go.
Authorities say Little fled the house, making his way a short distance to 606 Bradley St. There, police say, he broke into Paul Mangroo's house through a side basement window, and once there Little treated his mangled hand.
The couple was not at home at the time. But in an interview at the house Saturday, Mangroo's wife said she noticed fresh bloodstains on the handle of the sliding door when she came home from the supermarket with her husband later Friday. She immediately showed her husband, who, in turn, contacted police. She said they later found blood on the carpet leading upstairs, in the bathroom sink and on the washer and dryer in the basement. ``He just came in, cleaned himself and left,'' said Paul Mangroo, who said he considers the neighborhood safe. His wife said there was a towel missing from the bathroom.
``I'm just thankful I wasn't home alone,' she added.
Investigators believe Little called someone who gave him a ride to St. Mary's Hospital in Troy. They said he walked into the emergency room and said he had been involved in a car wreck. Troy police were notified by hospital staff who interviewed Little and determined that he had been involved in the Schenectady shooting. He was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital.
Ralph and Kimberly Schulenburg said police told them they didn't do anything wrong.
But the couple say they are tired of the constant threats and harassment.
``I'm selling my house and moving from here,'' said Ralph Sr..
Good outcome...
Thanks for posting. (ping)
And contrary to popular opinion, upstate NY is pretty good as far as gun ownership is concerned.
He should have kill both perps...but glad it came out possitive.
These young guys never considered before hand that they could be shot. Suprise, suprise.
No problem at all...
Dude!!! I love your tagline! I can see that as a whole campaign. Pictures of the witch (Hillary, of course) and the slogan, "She turned me to Newt!"
Campaign buttons with pictures of little lizards.
"Keep us from the witch's brew!"
I had never thought of that in terms of Hillary, but your add-on is a great idea. Thanks!
Just more proof that no one should own guns. If that family had no guns in the house, that young man would still be alive.
A good time to "lock and load".
Just think of it as "dead bolt" backup.
If someone treads someone else's property without invitation, continues to approach and passes the door jam, and shows willful contempt for one's private property by showing a weapon, and threatening them, then it's about time for a little bit of concerning self defense and property protection.
If that family had no guns in the house, that young man would still be alive..........
And breaking into your home next =)
The dead perp will now become one of HCI's homicides attributed to gun violence.
Maybe so, but the homeowners wouldn't have even stood a chance in NYC.
Deadly force is generally authorized in any state when there's a home invasion, as it should be. The very fact that an occupied home is invaded forfeits the invaders right to live, even if the invader thought the home was unoccupied-it's the risk they take.
Thank you for the ping!
I'm loaded and safety off with 3 weapons at this time. (one of them is my daughter's .22 rifle).
Taking no chances, but praying I never have to use them.
He also will now become the newest democratic voter :-D
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