New Mexico grandmom says home intruder didn't listen to her warning, so she shot him to protect her 4-year-old granddaughter



A grandmother in New Mexico recalls the terror of the night she shot a home intruder in order to protect her 4-year-old granddaughter.

Blaze News previously reported the incident from March 21, but new details have been revealed through the release of the harrowing 911 recording from the night and the victim's interview with KRQE-TV.

Anissa Tinnin said that she was happily dancing to the Taylor Swift movie with her granddaughter when her serene evening was obliterated by an uninvited criminal invading her home in Albuquerque.

Joseph Rivera, 32, had reportedly crashed a stolen vehicle after the Albuquerque Police Department had flattened its tires with stop sticks and he continued to drive on the rims. He fled on foot and allegedly ran into Tinnin's home at about 9:30 p.m.

“I jumped over this couch, and we met there by the front door," the grandmom told KRQE-TV. "That’s when he grabbed me and was upset and said to give him my keys. He said he didn’t want to go to jail. He did threaten to hurt my granddaughter and me."

Tinnin gave him her key fob and tried to calm him down. She said that she called 911 and kept the line open while the rest of the events transpired.

"As we were walking, ... I put my hands on him ... to try to be calming," she said.

"Tell me what your name is, ... tell me where you are from."

"Get back! I will f****** shoot you!"

The man took the key fob and left but returned to ask for more keys. She took her granddaughter to a bedroom and grabbed her gun.

“I told him to not hurt us, that I would do whatever he wanted. I would give him keys, money, whatever it took,” she continued.

Tinnin said she comforted her granddaughter and then returned outside of the bedroom to find that Rivera had not left. That's when she threatened to shoot him.

“Get back. Get back! I have a gun. Get back! Get back. I will f****** shoot you!" she said.

At that point, one gunshot can be heard on the recording.

"Why did you shoot me?” the suspect can be heard asking.

“Because you’re in my f****** house!” she responds.

Despite the threat, Tinnin put pressure on the man's wound to stop the bleeding.

At that point, video surveillance captures scores of police officers swarming the home and dragging the suspect out.

Tinnin says she wants Rivera to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and called on the district attorney to refuse a plea deal. The man has had five previous felony convictions and faces numerous charges stemming from the home invasion.

Megan Tinnin Austin says that her daughter is traumatized from the events of that night and is afraid of the dark.

Tinnin says that she believes God was looking over her and her granddaughter that evening.

“I do believe we had a guardian angel here with us, and I do firmly believe that God was watching over us,” she concluded.

Here's the stunning video report:

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Alleged home intruder picks the wrong house in Maryland, armed homeowner makes him pay the ultimate price



Police said they are investigating the shooting death of a home intruder by a homeowner in Baltimore on Saturday.

Baltimore County police said they were called to the 1000 block of Middlesex Road in the unincorporated community of Essex over reports of a shooting at about 9:45 p.m.

When they arrived, they found a man with multiple gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead on the scene.

Investigators said that the man was trying to break into the home when the homeowner shot him.

The homeowner is not facing charges yet, but the shooting is under investigation.

Maryland trial attorney Randolph Rice told WBAL-TV that the state doesn't have a "Castle Doctrine" but that homeowners have a legal right to self-defense if they feel threatened.

"What the courts have established and what the legislature has established is that there is a self-defense with deadly force defense when it comes to your home," Rice explained.

"If the homeowner believed that somebody was coming in the house and posing that threat, maybe with another weapon or some other device, or maybe just knowing that this person was a dangerous individual that could or has caused harm in the past, then yes, the homeowner could use that deadly force to protect themselves."

One resident in the neighborhood, who wished to remain anonymous, said she heard the gunshots but thought they were firecrackers.

"I have been living here for 56 years, and it has changed within five years. It's gone straight down the hill," she said. "The problems that's going on is chasing everybody away. And i think it's time somebody does something to help us older people, because I don't feel safe at all, nowhere."

Essex is located in the central part of the state with a population of about 40,000 people.

Here's the news report about the incident:

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Alleged home intruder was shot in the head by female homeowner, LAPD says



A female homeowner shot an alleged home intruder in the head in the Hollywood Hills in California according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police said the shooting was reported at about 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night at a a residence on Hollyridge Drive. A man called the police and said his wife had shot an intruder with a shotgun while he was trying to get into the home.

She told police that the man had tried to push open the door and had said that someone had hurt him.

The man was found by police at the scene and transported to a local hospital where he was treated for his gunshot wound. He is in critical condition.

Police only described the man as a being in his thirties.

The woman was detained briefly by police and questioned about the shooting before she was released. No arrests have been made in the incident.

Police said she told them that the man had reached into his pocket when she opened fire. She also reportedly yelled at the man to leave before the shooting, and he refused.

Neighbors told KTTV-TV that there had previously been other break-in attempts at the home.

The average home price in the Hollywood Hills is about $1.55 million, according to Redfin.

In a similar story from nearby Calabasas, a crime novelist called the police after seeing several masked figures climbing up through the brush below his home. They were caught on his surveillance video and ran off before police could arrive.

“It’s very unsettling. It’s what I write about, this stuff, and I imagine it, but I don’t think it would happen to me,” said Lee Goldberg. “They looked organized, they looked professional."

Here's a local news video about the incident:

Woman shoots alleged home invasion robber www.youtube.com

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!