An 80-year-old man in Chicago is in critical condition in the hospital after he fought with an alleged home intruder on Monday, shot the suspect, and then took himself to the hospital.
FOX News reported the incident happened Monday around 10:30 a.m. when the 80-year-old answered his door after hearing a knock.
When the door was opened, a man and a woman who were suspected of breaking in rushed in, and the 80-year-old started fighting with the man.
The 80-year-old managed to use a gun during the struggle, critically wounding the alleged intruder.
During the struggle, the armed senior citizen produced a firearm and brought an end to the threat by opening fire on the invaders, hitting the male suspect in the chest, the female intruder was not injured, according to police as the duo then reportedly fled the premises after realizing that they had mixed it up with the wrong old man.
The Chicago Police Department noted that the 80-year-old was also hurt: “The victim was battered and sustained several injuries throughout the body and was transported to Resurrection Hospital in critical condition.”
NBC 5 noted the 80-year-old is a legal gun owner with a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card.
Another resident in the same area as the 80-year-old praised the elderly man’s actions, saying, “I think it’s great. I think everybody should be able to defend themselves, within reason, so having something in your home, it’s not a bad idea.”
Residents of the neighborhood, which isn’t near the more violent areas of the Windy City where crime is rampant, expressed shock that Chicago has become so dangerous that no resident is safe anywhere in the sprawling Midwest metropolis.
“This doesn’t happen here. This is a pretty rare event,” Boris Stojakovic, a Chicagoan who manages a building across the street with his family told ABC7 Eyewitness News.
According to Chicago Police Department statistics, crime is already up a stunning 61 percent in the first four weeks of the year over a similar period last year, a grim omen that 2023 is going to be another bloody year.