80-Year-Old Stabbed, Then Shoots Attackers

Elwood Pickett just wanted to be a good neighbor, so when two young men asked to use the phone, he handed it out the door. Then he grew suspicious. “They used the phone and left, but when they came back the second time, I was ready for them in case there was trouble,” the 80-year-old Pickett explained. He handed the phone out a second time, but he says one of the men “pushed through like an elephant and pounded me with a knife. He... stabbed me half to death, and I thought it was time.” But it wasn’t. Police say Pickett, a World War II vet and lifelong hunter, drew his .38 caliber pistol and fired three shots, striking one of the men and causing both to flee. One suspect went to the hospital; the other to jail. Pickett was badly injured but is recuperating. Hood County News - Granbury, TX

Man Rescues Girlfriend From Intruder

After a man was killed at his apartment complex, Phillip Reinhardt bought a 9mm handgun and kept it nearby while he slept. Months later he was glad he had it. Police say an 18-year-old intruder kicked in Reinhardt’s dead-bolted door just before dawn. The commotion woke Reinhardt’s girlfriend, whom the intruder grabbed and began to touch inappropriately. Reinhardt came to her rescue, freeing her and firing one shot at the intruder. In hasty retreat, the wounded intruder broke a window and jumped through it. Police found him running down a street. The Salt Lake Tribune - Salt Lake City, UT

Thug Jumps Fence and Gets Shot

Loud noises interrupted Julius Billy’s discussion with his wife. According to police, a man tried to kick open the back door and continued lurking outside. Billy says he was forced into action because the man was on the side of the house where his 5-year-old slept. He grabbed his 9mm handgun and repeatedly ordered the man to the ground, but he wouldn’t comply. “ ... He kept coming toward me,” Billy recalled. “He even jumped a little fence towards me and said, ‘Go ahead. Shoot me.’” Billy did just that, and the man fell. Billy ran inside to ensure his wife was calling 9-1-1, then returned to the back yard. “ ... This time he told me not to shoot,” Billy said. Police arrested the man minutes later. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Fort Worth, TX