911 call frantic as elderly woman holds intruder at gunpoint

By Dustin Grove (grove@wsbt.com)

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An elderly woman held a suspect at gunpoint Sunday night until police arrived, after the man broke into her Portage Road home on the edge of South Bend's northwest side. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Jan 5, 2009 at 6:17 PM EST

Story Updated: Jan 6, 2009 at 10:15 AM EST

SOUTH BEND — An elderly South Bend woman stopped an intruder in his tracks, holding him at gunpoint until police arrived.

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It happened Sunday night at a home on Portage Avenue in South Bend.

The 70-year-old woman called 911 about 9 p.m. sounding frantic, but prepared.

“I’ve got my gun out. Somebody’s trying to get in my house,” she told a dispatcher. “I’ll have to shoot him if he comes in.”

“What kind of weapon do you have?" asked the dispatcher.
“I have a .38," the homeowner responded.

Minutes later, the intruder was inside, breaking through a window, but was stopped by the homeowner.

“I don’t want to have to kill anybody, but I will,” she said.

“She felt threatened by a man entering her home illegally by breaking the window and she was going to protect herself,” St. Joseph County Police Sgt. Bill Redman told WSBT News.

And gun retailers say this woman isn’t alone. At Midwest Gun Exchange in Mishawaka, owners say they've seen a strong increase over the last year in people buying firearms to protect their home; two age groups specifically.

"One is the young couple, first time home buyers with small children at home,” said owner Brad Foster. The other, he said, is the elderly. "Those people are saying, ‘I want to be able to protect myself.’”

After holding her intruder at gunpoint for almost five minutes, police arrived and arrested 28-year-old Cyrus Brown on preliminary charges of burglary, resisting arrest, and intimidation.

But Brown told police and the homeowner he was just looking for help.

Police said he crashed his car near this woman's home because he said he was being chased by gang members trying to kill him.

Authorities took Brown to the hospital for a broken leg before being booked into jail.

Police are still looking into that part of the story.

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