“If someone’s breaking into your house, you’re more than welcome to shoot them in Santa Rosa County. We prefer that you do, actually.”
That’s a quote from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff in a press conference after arresting a man who broke into multiple houses, one of which the homeowner shot at him.
Around 4:30 PM last Wednesday, police in Santa Rosa County, Florida, started receiving phone calls about a man breaking into houses. At least 20 police responded to the calls and set up a perimeter around the area along with K9 dogs.
Then at 5:12 PM, the police received a call for shots fired. Apparently, the homeowner of one of the homes the suspect broke into was home and armed. He fired at the intruder multiple times, who then fled. None of the shots hit the suspect.
The police were then able to corner him in the bedroom of another house he broke into. The suspect blocked the door with his foot as deputies tried to enter and then jumped headfirst out the window through the glass. Then the police arrested him in the backyard he landed in.
The suspect had three active warrants and now has seven more charges to deal with. It is safe to say this guy is going back to jail for a while. The police knew the suspect well, as his first run-in with the police was when he was just 13-years-old. Since then, he had been arrested a total of seven times and spent six and a half years in jail for home invasion.
“We don’t know which homeowner shot at him. I guess they think they did something wrong, which they did not. If someone’s breaking into your house, you’re more than welcome to shoot them in Santa Rosa County. We prefer that you do, actually. So, whoever that was, you’re not in trouble, come see us. We have a gun safety class we put on every other Saturday. And if you take that, you’ll shoot a lot better and hopefully save taxpayers money,” Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said during the press conference.
Click the image below to watch the full press conference:
Read the original story: Florida Sheriff: “You’re Welcome to Shoot Intruders, We Prefer You Do, Actually”
