FL: Burglar chased off by shotgun-wielding homeowner: "An unemployed man who reportedly sneaked into a home shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday was chased away by a shotgun-wielding homeowner. According to officials, Stephen Cody Hand, 18, was later arrested and charged with occupied burglary. The victim, Harold D. Chick, told officials that he and his wife and daughter were watching television in his bedroom when the women fell asleep. Chick said he had just closed his eyes when he heard the television shut off. He said he opened his eyes and saw a white man, about 5-foot-7, with dark hair, wearing a white tank top and plaid shorts, standing in the room. Chick said he grabbed his shotgun, which was nearby, and the intruder slowly walked out of the home. Chick told deputies the man may have silently entered the home through the unlocked front door. The door was left unsecured so his other daughter, who was visiting a friend, could come in. Deputies were called and a perimeter was set up. During their search, deputies spotted a man wearing plaid shorts, but no shirt, who fit the description of the man they were looking for. Authorities brought Chick to the location, where he identified Hand as the man who was inside his home."


MI: Resident who shot man outside home cleared: "The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office has cleared a 27-year-old Ferndale resident who fired two shots and critically injured a man outside his apartment window because the resident said he feared a break-in. “When they examined all the facts, they decided it was self-defense,” said Ferndale Police Lt. William Wilson. Neither man’s name is being released. The man who fired the shots lives with a woman who is a Detroit police officer, Wilson said. The injured man, 58, is being treated at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak and is expected to recover, although he was struck in the esophagus by a bullet outside the apartment on West 9 Mile and remained in critical condition this morning, the lieutenant said at 1 p.m. today.... The apartment dweller is a mall security guard who legally possessed his Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol. Shortly after the shooting at 2 a.m. Wednesday, he walked to a nearby 7-Eleven store and turned over his gun to Michigan State Police troopers at the store. The State Police, in turn, gave the handgun to Ferndale police, who investigated. “We probably will return his gun to him. That’s my decision,” Wilson said".


CT: Gun-savvy man thwarts would-be robber: "Robert Dwyer, a counselor at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, has trained with 9 mm handguns every year in his other role as a weapons instructor for the Department of Justice. So he knew just what to do when an assailant approached him Tuesday night outside his Waterbury home brandishing a handgun... That's when Dwyer's expertise with weapons kicked in. "I reached down and grabbed the gun by the upper receiver," he recalled. A struggle ensued, during which a shot was fired that did not hit either man. Dwyer said because of the way he grabbed the gun, the spent shell casing could not be ejected from the chamber, and the gun jammed. But by then, his two sons, Robert Jr., 27, and Christopher, 25, had heard the commotion and left the house to come to his aid. Christopher tackled Marte, Dwyer said, and he and Robert Jr. subdued the assailant and kicked the gun away while a neighbor called police. After officers took Marte into custody, he was charged with a bevy of crimes -- attempted first-degree robbery, attempted first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, illegal discharge of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit. He was arraigned Wednesday in Waterbury Superior Court and ordered held in lieu of $600,000 bond. He is now behind bars at New Haven Correctional Center. Dwyer, who also served eight years in the Army before his career in corrections began, was thankful Friday for his familiarity with 9 mm guns, but said he never thought he'd get the kind of hands-on experience he did Tuesday."


TN: County employee who took shotgun to work resigns: "The Knox County employee disciplined for taking a shotgun into his workplace last week resigned Friday because he couldn't afford a two-month suspension without pay... "Given the harsh financial and emotional burden that would be placed on my family and me by having to endure two months with(out) any income whatsoever, and the intractability of the county regarding this condition, I am faced with only one option," Rockett wrote. "Therefore, I am tendering my resignation effective this date." Rockett allegedly took a shotgun to the county's Department of Engineering and Public Works office to show to another employee May 27. Knoxville police were called to the scene but determined no laws had been broken".