A 93-year-old man has shot and critically injured a would-be burglar after a gang tried to break into his home in California.
Retired plumber Joe Howard Teague repeatedly warned the attempted robbers that he had a shotgun, but they continued to approach and throw things at him.
Teague told reporters outside his Moreno Valley home yesterday: ‘I approached them to put them under citizen’s arrest.
‘They wouldn’t adhere to that and then one of them came at me with a fishing pole.
‘I kept telling them, I have a shotgun with three shells in it, but I actually only had one. And they kept throwing stuff at me,’ Teague said.
‘It was just like somebody comes to a gunfight with a pocketknife, you know’, ABC reported.
One kicked his door in and entered his home, prompting Teague to call 911 around 12.30pm. He tried to hold them at gunpoint while waiting for police to arrive.
A relative noted that Teague not only has tools from his life as a plumber, he’s also a musician as a hobbyist and owns several musical instruments.
When Riverside County cops showed up, attempted burglar Joseph Ortega, 33, was shot.
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Senior Joe Teague, 93, said: ‘It was just like somebody comes to a gunfight with a pocketknife’
The Los Angeles area homeowner fended off the gang of would-be burglars using a shotgun
By the time cops showed up at Teague’s home (pictured) Wednesday, one burglar was killed
Officers from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department spoke to Teague for a long time before letting him go
The car the alleged burglar used to get to Teague’s home
Teague was taken in by police and questioned before being let go.
Because of the suspect’s critical condition, the Central Homicide Unit took the case.
Sheriff’s department officials said the shooting appeared to be justified, but added that the investigation is ongoing.
‘Investigators have established that several individuals, including Ortega, were inside Teague’s property when a shooting occurred,’ police said in a statement. ‘Teague was unharmed during the incident. He was questioned at the Moreno Valley Station and later returned home.’
No other arrests have been announced, with the rest of the gang getting away.
As of Friday morning, Ortega was still listed as hospitalized and in critical condition, according to the sheriff’s office.
Because of the suspect’s critical condition, the Central Homicide Unit took the case
Police said they will continue to investigate the potential homicide in Moreno Valley, California
But in-law Oscar Malma said: ‘I don’t think there would be any reason for him to be arrested’
Teague’s in-law Oscar Malma said Teague is often targeted by burglars – and the police response is less than rapid
Malma, who is married to Teague’s granddaughter, said the 93-year-old man was recently widowed
Teague’s in-law Oscar Malma said Teague is often targeted by burglars – and the police response is less than rapid.
He told KABC Los Angeles: ‘He took the law into his own hands.
‘He was tired because every time he calls the police, the police were taking forever to come and assist him.
Malma, who is married to Teague’s granddaughter, said the 93-year-old man was recently widowed.
‘And now this happened in the middle of the night.
‘He was defending his property. That happened inside of his home. So, I don’t think there would be any reason for him to be arrested.’
‘I don’t blame Joe. He’s been working all his life, he’s 93. He’s been working on his life and whatever little things he has, he needs to protect them,’ Malma said.
Kansas City, KS – The wait is over for southpaw shooters coveting CZ’s latest generation of precision rimfire rifles. CZ-USA proudly introduces two left-hand 457 rifles – the Varmint in .22 LR and American in .22 LR or .22 WMR – tailored for left-hand shooters.
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Bolt opens with safety on
Adjustable (weight and travel) trigger mechanism
Turkish walnut stock
Cold hammer-forged barrel; threaded muzzle
60° bolt throw allows quick and convenient reloading
Barrel: Cold hammer-forged; 20-inch, heavy profile
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Twist Rate: 1:16
Trigger Mech: Fully adjustable
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Weight: 7.08-Lbs
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This was the end result of an exceptionally productive morning on my rural farm. The big one stretched out to 37 inches. The bottom is 29.
I have had need of a gun when facing two-legged predators but twice thus far. However, I have had cause to wield a firearm for real numerous times against malevolent animals capable of killing me. This week was one for the books.
I absolutely despise these things. It makes my skin crawl to write about them. This particular moccasin is attacking a GoPro camera fastened onto a stick out in the middle of a lake. Water moccasin and cottonmouth are both appropriate names for these ghastly animals.
In the interest of full transparency, I really hate venomous snakes. There are doubtless those who feel that water moccasins are our pals whose irreplaceable contribution to the great circle of life is what keeps us from being utterly overrun by vermin. Whatever. Something else can eat the mice. It’s not like they’re endangered rhinos or federally protected snail darters. According to the WHO, venomous snakes typically kill between 81,000 and 138,000 people per annum worldwide.
It’s easier to step on these guys while out walking through the woods than you might think.
I live in the Deep South. I stepped on a really big one once while out walking in the woods with my kids. It felt like I had trod upon Arnold Schwarzenegger’s forearm. I had that one ventilated with a .22 pistol at a slant range of three feet before my 7-year-old son walking behind me knew anything was amiss.
This was the sight that greeted me when I snatched my little girl up as she was walking barefoot on the back patio.
We have a lake on the place, and that attracts them like locusts. I killed thirteen moccasins the first year we lived here and nine the next. I snatched my precious daughter up one time when her little bare pink foot was about to come down on one coiled up on the back patio. In my corner of heaven they’re literally everywhere.
Know Your Enemy
The Eastern Coral Snake is a relative to the krait, cobra, and mamba. Thankfully it is a reclusive docile creature.
There are four venomous snakes endemic to the US, only three of which are common. Coral snakes employ a neurotoxin akin to that of a cobra that is unimaginably lethal. However, coral snakes are by their nature docile and also fairly rare. I’ve never seen one in the wild. I’m told they have to gnaw on you a bit to do any real damage. The day I sit still and let a snake gnaw on me will be the day I vote Democrat.
This Western Diamondback Rattlesnake is the very living embodiment of “Don’t screw with me, dude!”
The real players are the pit vipers—copperheads, water moccasins, and rattlesnakes of sundry flavors. These animals employ a hemotoxin that breaks down tissues and disrupts blood clotting.
A proper snakebite can be breathtaking to behold.
Around 25% of poisonous snake bites are dry, meaning they do not involve envenomation. However, bites from pit vipers can produce some truly hideous wounds. I’ve seen a few as a physician, and snakebite is high up on my list of medical things I don’t want.
You think your job sucks? At least you’re not the poisonous snake milker. Imagine going to work and doing that every day.
Antivenin is trade-named CroFab, and it costs $3,198 per dose. CroFab is made by milking poisonous snakes and synthesizing the nasty bits out of the venom. This stuff is injected into sheep, and the subsequent antibodies are harvested, cleaned, and tested. These antibodies are then dehydrated and packaged as a powder.
CroFab works fairly well, but it costs a holy fortune.
CroFab is polyvalent. This means that this one drug treats bites from all three pit vipers. As a result positive identification of the snake in question is not necessary.
This is admittedly an extreme case of a young lady living in a third-world country without proper medical attention. However, left to their own devices snakebites can get plenty nasty.
Treating a snakebite can require a single dose of CroFab or quite a few. An article I read recently concerned a nine-year-old bitten on the big toe by a copperhead while at summer camp in Illinois. She kept the toe. However, her entire hospital stay cost $142,938. A friend bitten in the hand by a water moccasin ultimately shelled out $36,000 for the privilege. Did I mention that I really hate venomous snakes?
The Engagement
Little will cure what ails you faster than a vigorous stroll through a pretty stand of woods. I never strike out without a firearm.
My bride and I walk around my rural farm about five days a week. I invariably carry a gun. This particular day I chose a really nice suppressed .22 rifle from TacSol. I slapped a ten-round magazine in place and called it good.
In my experience water moccasins typically swim with their bodies high in the water and their heads extended. They are fairly easily distinguished from the harmless water snakes that share much of their coloration.
We struck out around the lake and saw a real monster as soon as we got near the water. He was swimming across the lake with his head held unnaturally high. Moccasins do that. He was heading away from me at a slant. If he got to the far bank I’d likely lose him. I’d conservatively estimate his size as breathtakingly gigantic.
A moving cottonmouth doesn’t offer much of a target.
I ran around the lake but could only get within about fifty meters before the brush got thick. I stopped, took a few deep breaths to steady my heart, and drew a bead off-hand. The snake was moving so I had to lead him just a hair.
Water moccasins have a characteristic speckled belly. This 5.5-foot beast is six inches short of the world record for a cottonmouth. Sheesh.
The first round was right off his nose. The second was a bit behind. The third centerpunched the monster’s head. It sounded like I had hit a side of beef with a boat paddle. The massive snake rolled, showing me its cream-colored speckled belly. I jogged over close, found a small hole in the brush, and hit him with a single round of insurance amidships. A stream of bubbles erupted, and he headed down to meet Old Hob.
Trust me, this stuff shoots straight. However, turns out I needed more than ten rounds this particular day.
I caught my breath, suddenly feeling really good about being me. My beautiful bride had that “My hero!” look in her captivating eyes. One less water moccasin meant the world was now a better place. However, I needed some more ammo.
This top notch TacSol rifle fed quality ammo is a snake-slaying machine.
I jogged back to the house and dropped a box of fifty Federal Premium Hunter Match hollowpoints in my pocket. As I headed back to meet my wife I saw number two.
This particular day there was a bit of an infestation.
This one was almost but not quite as big as the first. He was heading across the lake at a leisurely pace. This time I could quietly slip around to roughly where the serpent planned to make landfall. He stopped about twenty-five meters out, curled his head back, and stared at me all hungry-like. I popped him between the eyes with a single round. My security shot pithed his gut, but he still floated.
A water moccasin actually has a fetching hide once it is properly prepared. I soak mine generously in glycerin and alcohol before stretching them on a board.
If the hides aren’t terribly perforated I like skinning these things. The entrails smell like rotten fish, and you want to mind the pokey bits at the front. However, soak the skins in a 50/50 mixture of glycerin and rubbing alcohol and then stretch them out on a board and they’re quite pretty. The last couple of nice ones I had got eaten by something in my workshop. This would make a splendid replacement.
Number three made his debut as I paddled out to fetch number two.
I ran over and mounted the canoe to fetch the demised beast. About halfway there number three broke cover and started trekking left to right. I paddled like a madman on an intercept course. Once within about twenty meters I swapped my paddle for my rifle and judged the geometry of the engagement.
This is the Goalkeeper CIWS (Close-In Weapon System). This automated close-range anti-aircraft/anti-missile system has got nothing on the human brain.
The snake was moving left to right, while the canoe was slowing down of its own accord. I was about to launch a 40-grain bullet at about 1,000 fps from a moving platform at a moving target. Churning through all that math would have been a Gordian chore for a computerized fire control system. However, the system God designed that perches atop my homely shoulders managed it all in an instant. I blew this guy’s head off with a single round. Three up, three down, all in the span of ten minutes.
The Gun
This is a simply magnificent .22 rifle. It costs a holy fortune. However, you get what you pay for. The gun is just stupid quiet, and it shoots like a laser.
A brace of c-notes will land you a fabulous base model Ruger 10/22 from your local Walmart. This gun shoots straight and well. Many’s the burgeoning shooter has cut his or her teeth on such an entry-level smoke pole. However, the suppressed TacSol X-Ring Takedown rifle is the .22 rifle for professionals.
The oversized charging handle can be arranged on either side.
Everything about this gun is literally perfect. The extended charging handle is reversible. I keep mine on the left so I can run it with my weak hand.
The TacSol X-Ring Takedown rifle breaks down and then snaps together for handy storage or portage.
The Magpul X-22 Backpacker furniture is indestructible and nicely executed. Lock the bolt to the rear, pull forward on a spring-loaded stud, give the barrel a twist, and the gun breaks in half for storage. The front half snaps into the bottom of the stock to make a nice compact package. Assembly takes less time to undertake than to describe.
The extended magazine release is handy and easy to use.Three standard ten-round rotary magazines ride comfortably inside the Magpul stock.
The 6061-T6 aluminum receiver has a built-in 15-MOA Picatinny rail for optics, and there’s a rear port for cleaning access. The Ruger BX trigger breaks like a prom queen’s heart, while the extended magazine release makes mag changes fast and painless. The all-up weight of this gun is a paltry 3.7 pounds, so it is easy to tote.
The fiber optic front sight mounted to the suppressor is both easily accessed and patented.
My X-Ring Takedown rifle also sports a TacSol TSS integrally-suppressed barrel. This suppressor is the same diameter as a bull barrel, so it fits the Backpacker stock perfectly. It also includes a top-end set of fiber optic sights mounted both front and rear.
TacSol offers a full line of .22 suppressors. The Pac-Lite IV integrally suppressed upper (left) is a drop-in upgrade for the Ruger 22/45 pistol. The Aeris micro rimfire suppressor is proper 007 kit.
The can is aluminum, while the entrails are titanium. It is just stupid quiet. I can shoot this thing all day long without plugs in complete comfort.
Ruminations
A rifle this awesome deserves a nice piece of glass. This Leupold VX-R Patrol 1.25-4x20mm scope drives this remarkable rifle out to its max effective range.
I topped my Rolls Royce rifle off with a Leupold VX-R Patrol 1.25-4x20mm optic. All up this rig is just crazy expensive. However, it carries like it’s not there, shoots like a laser, and lets me leave my muffs at home. I can consistently hit a target the size of my thumb on the move at fifty meters so long as I do my part.
The cottonmouth water moccasin is a simply horrible creature. While I’m a pretty live and let live sort of guy, I don’t care for these things infesting my backyard.
Thanks to my TacSol rig there are currently three fewer deadly creatures wandering around my world waiting to poke me with poison. I’m stoked. That and my wife now thinks I’m kind of awesome.
This DIY Form 1 cut-down side-by-side 12 gauge loaded with Aguila minishells used to be my primary counter-snake weapon. My TacSol X-Ring Takedown rifle has lots more reach.
Malik Harris, 18, attempted to rob the NC Tobacco store in Greensboro, North Carolina late last month. An armed citizen stopped Harris in the act, fatally shooting him, WFMY 2 repots.
The incident happened sometime in the morning before 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29th. Harris entered the store armed with a handgun and quickly started making demands, according to store clerk Adil Khawaja.
“There were three or four customers in the store. And the guy came in and put the gun on all the customers, made everyone come [behind the counter] at gunpoint,” Khawaja explained.
An elderly lady walked in during the holdup and Harris quickly confronted her.
“He grabbed her by the neck, brought her back [behind the counter] at gunpoint,” with the rest of the customers, Khawaja said.
While Harris was dealing with the woman, one of the customer who was already behind the counter retrieved his own firearm. That’s when the situation turned deadly for the teen robber.
“[The customer] shot him four or five times,” said Khawaja. “It happened like in 45 seconds. Like 30 to 45 seconds.”
Though multiple shots were fired, Harris was only hit once. But that’s all it took. First responders rushed him to a local hospital but he would not survive the injury.
Khawaja felt bad for Harris, but also pointed out the misguided nature of his plan. That is to say, armed robbery in a state with permissive carry laws and a well-armed citizenry.
“I wish it could have ended up differently,” said Khawaja. “Personally, I don’t want to see an 18-year-old kid die. He didn’t even start his life yet. That was just a very, very poor decision in a state like North Carolina, where everyone has guns.”
Meanwhile, Greensboro Police say an investigation is still ongoing.
It’s not clear at this point if the citizen who shot Harris was a concealed carry permit holder. If he (or she) was, then it seems based on the available facts that it’s a clear-cut case of self-defense. If the individual did not have a valid permit, he or she may face charges for carrying unlawfully.
To obtain a permit in NC, one must complete a firearms training course and be at least 21 years of age.
Tuesday morning at 4:30 am, Maiso Jackson, who resides on Salem Street on the west side of Detroit, was awakened by a man knocking on his door and yelling.
Parts of this encounter were recorded on the homeowner’s Ring doorbell camera, which you can view in the video embedded above.
Jackson opened the door, and was met with a man showing obvious aggression.
“(He was) talking about how someone owed him money, I said no one here owes you money,” Jackson told Fox2 News, looking back at the incident.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told the man.
The man was insisting that money was owed, and Jackson was unable to reason with him. He began to feel threatened, so he called 911.
While waiting for the authorities to arrive, the man became more violent towards Jackson. He broke a window, and Jackson feared that the destruction would continue. It was at this point Jackson chose to arm himself.
Jackson has had a gun for eight years and has taken part in gun safety training.
Jackson recalled the events, “I came outside and said you have to leave, you can’t be doing this. So then he reached for his gun and pulled it out. I had to defend myself, I had to shoot him because of that.”
Jackson fired four shots, hitting the man in the chest and killing him.
Jackson was sure that it was the perp’s life or his own, and that if he did not act in self-defense he would have been killed.
Police arrived and put Jackson in cuffs. Jackson willingly followed orders, being aware that even as a lawful gun owner he would be questioned about the incident.
“I was just in shock, he wouldn’t leave. He tried to kill me and I didn’t do nothing to the guy,” Jackson said. “That’s the part that’s kind of sad.”
By sharing this story, Jackson hopes that others can learn a lesson from his experience.
“You have to be on guard, you have to be prepared, You can’t just let people run you over, hurt you, and don’t do nothing about it. You have to defend yourself,” he said.
Jackson was questioned and released without any charges, according to Detroit police. However, Fox2 News reports that a prosecutor will review the case to ensure Jackson’s use of deadly force was lawful.
———————————————————————————-Good luck with the DA and I hope that you get cleared! Grumpy
