HOUSTON – A former Houston firefighter pulled a gun on two robbery suspects, killing one of them, investigators said.
Houston police said the homeowner pulled into his driveway on Glenhurst Drive near Southbank in southeast Houston about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Two armed men walked up to him and demanded cash, officials said.
"The two males held him at gunpoint and told him that they wanted money, demanded that they go inside and, once inside, proceeded to search the house," said Mark Coleman of the Houston Police Department.
Police said the two masked gunmen forced the homeowner, his sister and her teenaged niece to the ground. What the attackers didn't know was that the 58-year old husband and father was also a legal concealed handgun carrier.
Investigators said the homeowner decided to turn the tables on the crooks.
"They were in the process of searching the residence when the homeowner proceeded to use a weapon he had to shoot one of the would-be robbery suspects and exchanged gunfire with the other," said Coleman.
The homeowner, who didn't want to be identified, said he did what he had to do to protect his family.
"They made us lay down in the dining room. My niece laid on the end, my sister was in the middle and I was on the end. When we were laying there, he was ransacking the bookcase and the dining room, and I figured it was now or never. So when I got my chance, I had to take it," said the homeowner.
One of the suspects was fatally wounded, detectives said. His name has not been released.
"If I had any regrets, I wouldn't be here talking to you," the homeowner said.
Police said the second man took off. Investigators said they don't have a good description of that man because his face was covered with a mask.
Shots were fired outside the home, too. One of the bullets hit a home across the street.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.