An older man was woken up in the middle of the night to burglars, and fearing for his life he fired his weapon in yet another instance of defensive gun use
A 79-year-old Petros, Tenn., man shot two intruders outside his bedroom door Tuesday, leaving both in critical condition, authorities said.
Morgan County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Steve Cochran said Don Cox shot the intruders about 2:30 a.m. when he heard them trying to enter the bedroom of his Hobbs Street home. “He opened the door and there they were,” Cochran said.
Cox, a retired Oak Ridge laboratory security guard, armed himself with a .38-caliber revolver kept near his bed when he was awakened by the intruders, Cochran said.
Cox ended up shooting both suspects in the torso and they have been hospitalizedO in critical condition. Neighbors say the elderly man is well respected in the community, and that he loves taking walks and visiting people. He said to police responders that he hated having to shoot but knew he had to protect himself. He also said he is weak and still recovering from a surgery he had from cancer.
Another instance of defensive gun use
Neighbors came to help him after hearing gunshots and found him waiting outside on the phone with 911.
The community hopes this can be a lesson to keep their homes safe in the future.
“I think we would all hope for a safe place to live,” Beene said. “I would hope that this would deter other people from such actions.”
This elderly man was sleeping and there is not much more terrifying than waking up to strangers trying to get in your bedroom door. So he pulled out his weapon stowed away for instances like this and protected his life. His neighbor expressed her support in Cox defending himself, saying that if she woke up to a stranger in her house she would do the same thing. I think we all would.
Neighbors also agree that this act of defensive gun use will represent their neighborhood as a community that protects itself.
