Homeowner Shoots At Burglary Suspect

A North Side homeowner shot at a burglar he caught stealing tools from his garage early Tuesday, Spokane police said.

The man, whom police refused to identify, woke up about 2:30 a.m. to a security alarm sounding in the garage behind his house on the 1700 block of West Mansfield.

He grabbed his gun and went outside to investigate, Lt. Scott Johnson said.

The door to the garage was open and the man yelled for the burglar to stay inside. Suddenly, the thief charged out the door. The homeowner told police he saw something in the man’s hands and fired one shot from his gun.

“He didn’t know if he hit (the burglar) or not, but the guy ran away,” Johnson said. “Then he went inside and called us.”

Johnson said the burglar was holding several power tools and dropped them when the gun went off.

Nearly four hours later, police were called to Fourth and Cannon, where a man claimed he had been shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting.

The man was uncooperative with police and changed his story several times, Johnson said. Police believe he may have been the West Mansfield burglar.

“He is definitely a suspect on this,” Johnson said.

He was in satisfactory condition at Sacred Heart Medical Center late Tuesday. He has not been arrested.

The homeowner was not arrested either. Prosecutors will decide whether to charge him with a crime.

, DataTimes