Is a good guy with a gun. Even if he's 67 years old.
According to witnesses, a man, his wife, and his 19-year-old granddaughter were home on Yedda Road in Lumberton when a black male knocked on their door and asked for water for his mechanical problems with his car.
Two other people entered the home wearing black clothing, ski masks and gloves asking for money. All three suspects also had handguns, according to the release.
The release states that the man and his wife were forced into the back of the house and advised to open the safe while the suspects attempted to rape the 19-year-old granddaughter.
The man was then able to retrieve a weapon and several shots were fired between the man and the suspects in the house. The man was struck multiple times by gunshots and the suspects then fled the scene in his vehicle.
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| Brandon Stephens (L), Jamar Hawkins (C) and Jamie Lee Faison (R): Source |
The man was transported to Southeastern Regional Medical Center and later airlifted to another medical facility where he remains in serious condition, according to the release.
Officers later received a call from the McLeod Hospital in Dillon and discovered that Stephens and Hawkins had been shot. Both were airlifted to another medical facility for emergency surgery.
Jamie Lee Faison, 20, was later found in the man's stolen vehicle deceased, where he had been shot, according to the release.
During their first court appearances Friday, Stephens and Hawkins were each charged with first-degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, possession of a firearm by a felon, first-degree sexual offense, kidnapping, and two counts each of robbery with a firearm and felony conspiracy. Bond for each suspect was set at $1 million secured.
Stephens, Hawkins, and Faison are possible persons of interest in other home invasions, according to the release.Another story from the Robesonian states that the grandfather is 67-year-old Kenneth Byrd. Mr Byrd is still in serious condition after surgery, but is expected to recover. "Recover", in this case, is a relative term. I know several men who were shot in combat. None of them ever fully recovered their health, and they were all young men when they were shot.
Mr Byrd is a hero. He successfully defended his wife and granddaughter at the cost of his health, if not his life. And, as the Robesonian points out, he was able to do so because he was armed.
We would never advise folks on how to protect themselves, but we think it’s fair to say that Kenneth Byrd and his loved ones are alive today because he had a weapon in the home and knew how to use it.Thieves typically break into empty houses because doing so minimizes their probability of getting caught. A criminal who invades a house he knows is occupied probably wants more than money. A group of criminals who force their way into a house they know is occupied, beat up an elderly woman and attempt to rape a teenage girl probably want to eliminate witnesses, and that means murder.
Mr Byrd was able to prevent that because he was armed. Suppose that, by some miracle, the confiscation crowd could make every gun on earth disappear and prevent anyone from making any more guns. Imagine if the three criminals that invaded Mr Byrd's house had done so wielding knives and/or clubs, and Mr Byrd had no gun with which to defend his family. How would a 67-year-old man defend his family against three much younger, stronger attackers?
He couldn't. It's that simple. Guns make it possible for the older, weaker and less numerous to defend themselves from the younger, stronger and more numerous, even when the attackers themselves have guns.
