PHOENIX -- Responding to a loud noise complaint at an apartment home near 7th Avenue and Washington Street, police found a man holding a marijuana cigarette. In an attempt to flee the scene, the man jumped out of a window, hopped a fence and ran to a nearby neighborhood. The suspect broke through the back door of a nearby house, alerting the family dog who began to bark.
The homeowner, who asked not to be identified, was awakened by the dog and saw a stranger inside his home. He told 3TVs Marissa Wingate: "I yelled ‘who's there? I have a gun’ and he started screaming and I walked out of my hallway into the living room and it was dark. There was a guy standing there, he had something in his hands, I was in fear for the safety of me and my family so I fired."
The suspect was shot in the hip and ran right out the front door right into the hands of awaiting police officers, who say he was holding a chair. Phoenix Police spokesman Andy Hill says, "If somebody feels that they're going to hit you over the head with a chair, obviously it could knock you out and then that person could kill you, take your gun, shoot you.".
When asked about his dog, the homeowner said, "She did her job...kept him from...who knows what he would have done, we were sound asleep." He went on to say that he is relieved that he did not kill the suspect.
Investigators say the home-owner's actions were justified. The suspect was placed under arrest and transported to a local hospital where he is recovering. Police say the suspect has a criminal history and had outstanding warrants at t his arrest.
