Police: 89-Year-Old Fires Gun At Intruder

DES MOINES, Iowa --

Des Moines police said Tuesday that a woman scared off a burglar after he broke into her home.

Police said they were called to 1300 block of Idaho Street on a burglary in progress around 5:30 a.m. Officers said they found Nelson McAlpine, 36, standing in the front yard of the home. They said he matched the description of the burglar and was detained.

Officers went inside the home and met with the homeowner, Beatrice Turner, 89, who said that she heard and saw McAlpine punching her front door and putting a hole in it.

"He kicked this, he broke all this out. And then he kicked all this out. See, and all this here," said Turner.

Turner told police that she grabbed her 22 cal. pistol and confronted the burglar and then shot once at him once inside the home. The bullet did not hit McAlpine.

"After he start kicking the door, that's when I got my gun. And that's when he stood there. And that's when I fired my shot, you know. The Lord was with me, I never got scared," said Turner.

Turner told KCCI that she was aiming at McAlpine.

"The next thing I knew, he was in here. Right there. And that's when I grabbed my gun and I stood right there in my bedroom door with my gun and I said I'm going to kill you!" said Turner. "I was trying to hit him in the head, but I guess my bullet missed him. But if it had cocked him again, I'd have got him."

Turner told police that McAlpine quickly left the home.

"I must not have been a dang good shot, because I must have missed him!" said Turner. "I think the Lord was watching over me."

McAlpine was charged with second-degree burglary. He's being held on $10,000 bond in the Polk County Jail.

"This is a .22. And the police reloaded it for me," said Turner. "I know how to work that gun. I just hope and pray to God it don't happen again."

http://www.kcci.com/news/23208133/detail.html