A family in East Ridge, Tennessee used a firearm to protect themselves against an intruder early Sunday morning.
Chas Scruggs, 22-years old, banged on the Davenport’s door at 1:45 AM on Sunday. They asked what he wanted, and he said he wanted in. They called the police, but knew they had to act on their own.
“My husband said police are on the way, I have a weapon and the guy said ‘F that I’m coming in this house’ and he was breaking the glass and he had his arm inside the house trying to unlock the door,” Melissa Davenport said.
Her husband fired a shot into the door, but that did not scare the intruder. Davenport called her father, Bill Birkhead, who lives down the street and has a permit to carry. When he got to the house, the intruder went after him. Birkhead pulled his gun and threatened to shoot Scruggs if he came closer, firing a warning shot.
Davenport and Birkhead were able to surround Scraggs, and he finally surrendered. They held him at gunpoint until police arrived.
The police arrived four minutes after the call. The Davenports had mere seconds to act to protect themselves.
“I will always have a gun so that we can protect ourselves because you never know what someone’s crazy enough to do,” Davenport said.