An alleged intruder who kicked in a door in Lakeland, Florida, is hospitalized in critical condition after being greeted with a shotgun blast to the chest.
The suspect, 19-year-old Gabriel Jacobs, allegedly kicked in the door around 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
WFLA reports that the homeowner, 66-year-old Michael Ives, warned Jacobs numerous times before shooting. Ives said he first made contact with Jacobs by yelling through the door that he was armed, warning him not to come in. After Jacobs allegedly kicked in the door, Ives warned Jacobs not to come closer but Jacobs allegedly ignored the warning and went right at Ives. At that point Ives shot Jacobs one time in the chest.
Jacobs was conscious when medics arrived and was hospitalized in critical condition.
Jacobs’ brother decried the shooting, saying his brother had simply wrecked a car and “needed help. He was looking for help.”
The brother added, “Right now, he is still alive. He does have a heartbeat. It ain’t looking good. It ain’t looking good at all.”
A charge of burglary to an occupied dwelling is pending against Jacobs, should he recover.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.