As reported, a South Bakersfield, California grandfather reportedly held an intruder at gunpoint while his wife called the police.
Police say that the 70 year old homeowner, who has health issues, was at home with his wife and grandson during the early afternoon, when the 9 year old boy noticed that a light was left on unexpectedly. The grandmother reportedly found signs of a burglary, at which point the grandfather grabbed his handgun. Upstairs, the couple found an armed intruder hiding in the bathroom, police say. The intruder is said to have pointed a rifle at the grandfather, at which point the grandfather fired a shot that missed but caused the intruder to give up and lay on the floor. The grandmother called 911, while the grandfather held the suspect at gunpoint until police arrived. The grandparents and their grandson were unharmed, and a suspect identified as John Jenaro Garner is in custody, police say. Garner was allegedly in possession of drugs at the time of the burglary, and was wanted on an outstanding warrant, according to police.
This is yet another self defense gun use where no criminal died, and no criminal was even shot. Some anti gun individuals like to call this a failure, on the theory that the armed citizen missed his mark when shooting at the criminal. In fact, this is a success story:
When defending oneself, the goal is to prevent the criminal from inflicting harm. Shooting the criminal is certainly one way of accomplishing this goal, as a criminal who is fatally shot will be unable to continue the attack. However simply shooting at the criminal, even if one misses, can be quite effective too. When being shot at, the criminal will often take cover, which hinders the criminal’s ability to continue their attack. The criminal may also be held at gunpoint until the police arrive, as happened here, ending the threat to the citizen. Here, the criminal’s home invasion attempt was foiled, the homeowners were unharmed, the young child was unharmed, and a suspect is in custody.