Shipwreck
07-20-2006, 12:31 PM
Korea vet had surprise for intruder
Suspect in custody after being shot
BY CAROLYN P. SMITH
News-Democrat
EAST ST. LOUIS -
Willie Brown shrugged off the noises downstairs early Thursday, but the 74-year-old was fully awake when he saw a man holding a knife in his bedroom doorway.
"He said, 'Don't move, I got a knife.' I said, 'You got a knife, huh?' He said, 'Yeah.'"
"I reached under my pillow and came up firing my .38 Smith and Wesson. He said, 'Oops' and turned and ran down the steps. I followed and shot him again," Brown said.
The suspect hopped out of the window he broke to enter Brown's house at 3912 Caseyville Ave. and ran across his yard, Brown said. East St. Louis Police did not identify the suspect, but said he was arrested Thursday as he was fleeing.
Capt. Henry Williams of the East St. Louis Park District police saw a man driving a white Neon at high speed. Williams was unaware of the home invasion until after the man was stopped.
"He appeared to be heading right into me," Williams said. "He hollered out that he'd been shot. I took off behind him with lights and my siren on. At 40th Street and Caseyville Avenue, Washington Park police officer Wendell Wilson blocked him in. I took his car keys," Williams said.
Williams said he saw blood on the back of the suspect's red and white shirt. There was a bullet hole in the man's back.
The suspect's condition was not immediately available and police would not say how many times he was shot. Brown said he thinks he hit him with at least two of the three rounds he fired.
East St. Louis Detective Ricky Perry, who is investigating the case, said police were called to Brown's home at 4:48 a.m. Brown's handgun was taken by police.
Although it's not likely Brown will be charged, Perry said he would present the case to the state's attorney's office and let them make a decision.
On Feb. 8, an 87-year-old woman on Gaty Avenue shot and killed Larry Tillman as he was breaking into her home. She had previously been beaten by an intruder, believed to have been Tillman , and was not charged in the shooting.
In Thursday's case, the intruder took cash and change from a pair of Brown's pants, though Brown didn't realize it until after the shooting.
"My wallet was lying on the floor near the bed," Brown said, adding that he wanted his money back because it was all he had.
Brown said he was a special forces member in the Korean War. He said he knows the suspect could've stabbed him, but he was never worried because of his military training.
"I might be old, but I am not slow. And I ain't afraid to take one down. I shot him in the shoulder, I believe. I think he might be through breaking in people's houses for a while," Brown said.
He said the home invasion "messed up my whole day." "I was supposed to paint my daughter's house and take a friend to the doctor," he said.
He has lived on Caseyville Avenue for 30 years. He'd never had a crime at his home until a few weeks ago when someone took two ladders from his yard.
"I don't know why these young people won't get a job like I did when I was their age," Brown said. "I cut grass."
Suspect in custody after being shot
BY CAROLYN P. SMITH
News-Democrat
EAST ST. LOUIS -
Willie Brown shrugged off the noises downstairs early Thursday, but the 74-year-old was fully awake when he saw a man holding a knife in his bedroom doorway.
"He said, 'Don't move, I got a knife.' I said, 'You got a knife, huh?' He said, 'Yeah.'"
"I reached under my pillow and came up firing my .38 Smith and Wesson. He said, 'Oops' and turned and ran down the steps. I followed and shot him again," Brown said.
The suspect hopped out of the window he broke to enter Brown's house at 3912 Caseyville Ave. and ran across his yard, Brown said. East St. Louis Police did not identify the suspect, but said he was arrested Thursday as he was fleeing.
Capt. Henry Williams of the East St. Louis Park District police saw a man driving a white Neon at high speed. Williams was unaware of the home invasion until after the man was stopped.
"He appeared to be heading right into me," Williams said. "He hollered out that he'd been shot. I took off behind him with lights and my siren on. At 40th Street and Caseyville Avenue, Washington Park police officer Wendell Wilson blocked him in. I took his car keys," Williams said.
Williams said he saw blood on the back of the suspect's red and white shirt. There was a bullet hole in the man's back.
The suspect's condition was not immediately available and police would not say how many times he was shot. Brown said he thinks he hit him with at least two of the three rounds he fired.
East St. Louis Detective Ricky Perry, who is investigating the case, said police were called to Brown's home at 4:48 a.m. Brown's handgun was taken by police.
Although it's not likely Brown will be charged, Perry said he would present the case to the state's attorney's office and let them make a decision.
On Feb. 8, an 87-year-old woman on Gaty Avenue shot and killed Larry Tillman as he was breaking into her home. She had previously been beaten by an intruder, believed to have been Tillman , and was not charged in the shooting.
In Thursday's case, the intruder took cash and change from a pair of Brown's pants, though Brown didn't realize it until after the shooting.
"My wallet was lying on the floor near the bed," Brown said, adding that he wanted his money back because it was all he had.
Brown said he was a special forces member in the Korean War. He said he knows the suspect could've stabbed him, but he was never worried because of his military training.
"I might be old, but I am not slow. And I ain't afraid to take one down. I shot him in the shoulder, I believe. I think he might be through breaking in people's houses for a while," Brown said.
He said the home invasion "messed up my whole day." "I was supposed to paint my daughter's house and take a friend to the doctor," he said.
He has lived on Caseyville Avenue for 30 years. He'd never had a crime at his home until a few weeks ago when someone took two ladders from his yard.
"I don't know why these young people won't get a job like I did when I was their age," Brown said. "I cut grass."