The first sign of trouble for Michael Ives and his wife Charlotte was hearing their doorbell repeatedly ring at their Lakeland, Florida, home around 3 a.m. Sunday, the Ledger reported.
A man outside also was shouting obscenities and kicking at their door, the paper said — all of which prompted the couple to call police.
Ives told police he asked the man to leave multiple times and warned him that that he had a shotgun, the Ledger added.
Unfortunately for the persistent visitor, no.
Police said Gabriel Jacobs, 19, finally kicked in the front door — and Ives, 66, told him not to come any closer, the paper reported.
But when Jacobs continued moving forward, Ives shot him in the chest, police told the Ledger.
Jacobs is hospitalized in “severe, critical condition," Lakeland police spokesman Sgt. Gary Gross told the paper.
“We don’t know why he was at the house,” Gross added to the Ledger. “His family said he has had an issue with drinking.”
Gross told the paper that Ives won't be charged in the incident.
“The homeowner was well within his rights,” Gross noted to the Ledger. ”[Jacobs] was combative with the emergency personnel on the way to the hospital. If he lives, he will be charged at least with breaking into an occupied dwelling. We know he’s not leaving the hospital anytime soon.”
Police added to the paper that an unoccupied red Chevrolet Impala belonging to Jacobs' stepfather was found near the scene — and his stepfather confirmed to police that Jacobs had been using it.
“It appears that the Chevy Impala hit several street signs,” Gross told the Ledger. “We’ll look at the car and try to match the damage up.”
Dave Urbanski
Sr. Editor, News