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Okeechobee County homeowner pulls shotgun on man breaking into home

Posted at 5:55 PM, Jun 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-29 07:21:05-04

A family's run-in with a burglary suspect is the talk of the town in Okeechobee. 

The couple told the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office they returned to their home near 138th Street Tuesday evening to find their front door wide open. 

The report says the husband went in to check things out, only to find a man inside his home. 

He described his next move to emergency dispatchers:

“I went in and grabbed my wife's 12-gauge, put shells in it. I was as quiet as I could be. I told him to stop, or I'm going to shoot. He kept going and kept going, and then I shot at him twice. I’m almost positive that I didn't hit him because that 12-gauge would've dropped him,” the resident said.

Deputies were called to the neighborhood, and K9s searched the area, but they were unable to find the suspect. 

The couple spoke on the phone Wednesday afternoon and said the burglar left behind a mess in their home.

The sheriff's office says it's unclear if the homeowner hit his target - so the burglar may still be on the loose. 

“We did find the shotgun casings, but there was no indication such as blood that he had possibly been hit, so we don't know,” sheriff’s office spokesperson Michele Bell says.  

The homeowners describe the suspect as a white or Hispanic man wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

If you have any information about this case, you're urged to call the sheriff’s department.