Posted on 03/06/2012 8:49:06 AM PST by marktwain
GASTONIA, N.C. -- Police released the 911 call after a Gaston County woman shot and killed an intruder during a home invasion early Saturday morning.
Kenneth James Cox, 28, broke into a woman’s home in the 4700 block of Chapel Grove Road in Gastonia shortly after 1 a.m., according to the Gaston County Police Department.
Police say Cox and a woman at the home confronted each other the break-in, and the woman shot Cox.
"I'm in my room with the gun pointed at the door," the woman told a 911 operator.
"I just shot him. He tried coming into my bedroom," she said, just moments later.
The woman was not injured, and Cox was pronounced dead on the scene.
"At this time it does not appear that Cox and the female knew each other,” a police report states.
No charges against the woman have been filed, and the case is still under investigation. Read below for the entire 911 call.
TRANSCRIPT
Dispatcher: Gaston County 911...
Caller: Someone is trying to get in my house.
Dispatcher: What is your address?
Caller: 4700 block of Chapel Grove Road
Dispatcher: Do you know who it is, ma'am?
Caller: Why no I don't. It's 1:15 in the morning.
Dispatcher: Did they say anything?
Caller: They're trying to get into my house. I have a gun...I'm in fear of my life.
Dispatcher: Stay on the phone with me ma'am until we send someone there, OK?
Dispatcher: Calm down, where are you in the house?
Caller: I'm in my bedroom.
Dispatcher: Did they say anything or do you just hear them trying to get in?
Caller: No they're just trying to get in. They're almost in my house.
Dispatcher: And you don't know who it is?
Caller: No, no I don't.
Caller: Sounds like they're in the house.
Dispatcher: Just stay on the phone with me. Help is on the way.
Dispatcher: What's going on now?
Caller: I don't know, I'm not out in my house. I'm in my room with the gun pointed at the door.
Dispatcher: OK, did you hearing anything in your house, besides you?
Caller: No, not from what I can tell.
Dispatcher: Is this a one or two level house?
Caller: One.
Caller: I can hear who ever is outside.
Dispatcher: So they're not in the house?
Caller: No.
Dispatcher: OK, hold a minute. They're on the way.
Dispatcher: Have you heard anything else?
Caller: They just busted my glass out. They're coming into my house.
Dispatcher: Just stay inside. Do you have your bedroom door locked?
Caller: Yes.
Dispatcher: Ma'am...ma'am...ma'am.
Caller: What?
Dispatcher: OK, you said someone is in the house?
Caller: Yeah.
Dispatcher: Hello?
Caller: I just shot him. He tried coming into my bedroom.
Dispatcher: You did what? Did you shoot him?
Caller: Yes.
Dispatcher: You said you shot him?
Caller: Yes, hurry up.
Dispatcher: They're on their way.
Dispatcher: You have no idea who it is?
Caller: No I don't.
Dispatcher: Ma'am did you shoot again?
Caller: Yes, he's coming at me.
Caller to intruder: Get out of here.
Dispatcher: Ma'am, how many times have you shot him?
Dispatcher: Ma'am, if you can hear me the police are outside, go outside...
He shouldn’t have broke into her home. If she had given him a chance to leave he may have used the opportunity to use a gun or another weapon.
BS.....She did exactly the right thing...except maybe she should’ve emptied the gun in him....
...and maybe doing that would only have delayed the confrontation until some other night. It’s impossible to second-guess. I think she did the right thing.
The shooting would have been avoided if he had not broken into her house with intent to do harm and commit a crime.
The woman ought to have said, “Will you please shut up. I’m trying to defend myself.”
I’ve been a 911 dispatcher. Flight or fight kicks in and folks do NOT think about such things when in fear of their lives. I am betting she was not a trained shooter .... if she’d been trained, that might have given her some ability to think outside of the fear and call out. Frankly, if someone breaks into my house in the middle of the night, they’ve already demonstrated lawless intention and they may or may not get “I have a gun & the police have been called” from me ..... for all I know, they may have a gun, too and then I’ve disclosed my location. Bottom line - she defended herself while in fear of her life & the bad guy got what he deserved.
...and let him run off to attack another elderly lady in the dead of night? I think it’s probably better to just nip that problem in the bud.
+1!
Mark? He also could have felt threatened and surprised that someone was home and prepared for an aggressive attack. She may have lost the element of surprise. Was he high on meth? Was he drunk? Did he have a weapon? Was he actually there to rape and kill her?
We'll never know and there is never a perfect recipe or procedure for these events, not even for LEO. It sounds to me like she covered all her bases and was perfect in her execution of self defense. I would not suggest anything to her for her to consider the "next" time it happens.
Nope. Those willing to commit a hot burglary are willing to come back if they can get away, and when they come back they won't make the mistake of letting you get to your gun a second time.
The only safe resolution is all the perps dead.
I would like to thank this lady for saving the taxpayers a large bill.
I would have done exactly what she did and to hades with the consequences.
While the woman was justified, she might have avoided shooting if she had yelled at him that the police were on their way, and that she had a gun.
You are joking right??
Never give your position away.....
WRONG!....well at least in Arkansas. Some state laws may require warning or retreat though.
It is prudent to give an assailant a face-saving exit, however, comma, the tactics SUCK and ..it doesn't benefit the victim if a firefight breaks out in your home. A warning ONLY serves to let the miscreant know exactly where you are and if he/them intend to harm you in the first place, why give them that vital information??!!
IMHO the first warning for a known illegal intruder in your home is this:
BANG!
Disclaimer: This post was for informational and entertainment purposes only. Any legal advice on the internet IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, and you should consult an attorney in your state that is knowledgable in legal use of deadly physical force and not your personal interpretation of it from my post(s).
FRreegards! Stay safe!
She did not know if they were armed. I would not give away my position. That gives them a first shot. She did what she had to do.
Having a gun with the police on the way should be a given in any B&E... all this woman did was prove it! Good for her, and it’s exactly what I would have done. Like to think that’s how we roll here in NC.
I would like to thank this lady for saving the taxpayers a large bill. . . . . .
This woman did a lot more than save the tax payers a large tax bill, that would be the least of what she did.
She has saved society from his future crimes of breaking and entering, theft, rape and perhaps murder. This woman is owed a great big “Thank You!”
She wouldn’t want him to hear her and know where she is in the house.
That would have been giving him a fair chance, which he may have used to come into the room shooting or shooting through the walls at her voice.
I think she did exactly the right thing.
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