A 73-year-old Vietnam War veteran in San Francisco’s Sunset District shot a masked intruder after the man drilled through his front door, forced entry with a large dog, and knocked him to his hands and knees on the second floor. The veteran, who had grabbed his handgun before investigating noises, fired once, striking the suspect in the buttocks.
The intruder fled, leaving the dog behind and a trail of blood leading toward Golden Gate Park. Police later detained an injured man nearby whose connection to the case is being confirmed. No charges have been announced, and the homeowner sustained only minor injuries.
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A 73-year-old Army Vietnam War veteran shot a masked intruder inside his Sunset District home early Saturday after the man grabbed him and knocked him to his hands and knees on the second floor, the homeowner said.
The break-in happened shortly after 5 a.m. on 22nd Avenue near Lincoln Way, along the edge of Golden Gate Park, as reported by CBS News Bay Area. A neighbor’s surveillance footage showed the suspect walking back and forth on the block about 40 minutes before the break-in, which the station described as appearing to case the area. The homeowner, who withheld his name out of concern for his safety, said the man drilled a hole into the wooden first-floor door to unlock it and force his way inside.
“A professional burglar cut his way into my home,” he said, pointing at the hole.
He was asleep on the third floor when strange noises from the floor below woke him. He grabbed his handgun and went downstairs to investigate. On the second floor he came face to face with a man dressed in all black, wearing a hoodie and a face mask. The man was not alone. He had a large dog with him, a husky the veteran estimated at 60 pounds.
Most trainers will tell you to hold a defensible position and let the noise come to you rather than going down to meet it. He went down anyway. The reason he is here to describe it is that he did not go down empty-handed. The gun was where he slept, and it was in his hand before he ever saw the intruder.
The man grabbed him. The veteran fell to his hands and knees. He fired one round.
“I shot him because physically I felt really threatened. He had already made a deep intrusion into my home,” he said.
A 73-year-old man on the floor, a masked stranger standing over him, a 60-pound dog in the room. That is the threat, and it was already on top of him when he pulled the trigger. He did not fire at a shape in the dark or at a man carrying a television out the door. He fired at the man who had just put him on the ground.
He believes the round struck the intruder in the buttocks. The man ran. He left the dog behind. Blood-stained shoe prints outside the home led toward Golden Gate Park, and the abandoned husky can be heard barking in a neighbor’s security video. The homeowner said he believes Animal Control has the dog now. He came away with minor scrapes to his hands and knees.
A short time later, San Francisco police detained an injured man three miles away near Geary Boulevard and 47th Avenue in the Outer Richmond. Paramedics took him to San Francisco General Hospital, where police said he is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries. Police said they were working to confirm that the man at the hospital is the burglary suspect. No name has been released and no charges have been announced. The account of what happened inside the house is the homeowner’s own, and no charging decision on the shooting has been announced.
One round did what it needed to do. The attacker disengaged and ran, and the trail he left behind did a good share of the police work for them. The veteran did not chase him down the stairs or out into the street. He stayed home, scraped up and shaken.
“Our neighbor is really something special. I’m glad that he was able to do this. But it doesn’t surprise me,” said next-door neighbor Michael, who declined to give his last name. “He’s definitely got a heroic side to him. He’s a real, true vet.”
San Francisco police report overall burglaries are down 22 percent compared with the same period last year. Neighbors said Saturday’s break-in is a reminder that the Sunset is not immune. “It’s unusual. But the Sunset is not free of crime,” Michael said. A citywide trend line does nothing for the man whose door is being drilled at 5 a.m. The only number that matters at that moment is one door, one house, and whether the person inside is ready.
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The veteran said he is still trying to process what happened and is grateful he was not seriously hurt.
“I had a little help from a friend, just a little friend,” he said. “But I’m just kind of really shook up still.”
