'Stay the hell out of people's house:' Grandmother, 70, opens fire on man who broke into her home





PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- A gun-toting 70-year-old grandmother took matters into her own hands early Saturday morning, May 5 when she shot and wounded an alleged home intruder attempting to break into her Philadelphia residence. The suspect later called police himself to tell them he'd been shot.

Maxine Thompson was calm as could be as she pointed at her busted dining room window and chunks of glass scattered on the floor.

"This is where he was trying to get in at. I have people that's going to, they'll fix this. This will be fixed in no time," she said.

It was Thompson who fixed things when police say a 43-year-old man broke into her home around 4:30 a.m.

"First I thought I was dreaming and then I looked outside, out the window, and I was still hearing the banging, banging, banging, so I yelled to whoever, 'who's that on my door? Get off my door. Get off my door,'" said Thompson.

She said she offered fair warning, and the security alarm sounded, but the brazen burglar didn't pause. Instead, Thompson said he smashed her window and used backyard furniture to hoist himself inside her home.In the heat of the moment, Thompson grabbed her late mother's handgun and opened fire for the first time.

"I shot at him. He turned around and he ran and when he ran, I ran down the steps behind him and shot at him some more," said Thompson.

Thompson, whose son happens to be a Philadelphia police officer, said she was in survival mode.

"Kill him before he killed me. That's what was going through my mind," she said.

The real-life terror played out for about 10 minutes, but it took a little while to set in.

"After everything was over, then I did get a little shaky. You know, the thought of -- he could've killed me," said Thompson.

Thompson is OK after this ordeal. Her grandchildren helped her clean up the mess and she took a little time to reflect.

"I hope I taught him and the rest of them a lesson. Stay the hell out of people's house," said Thompson.