A naked man emerged from the Biloxi River in Mississippi last weekend and physically attacked a homeowner who approached the man to see if he needed help, police told WLOX-TV.
But the homeowner shot the man several times after the attack, the station said.
'How awful for everyone involved.'
The incident began around 8 p.m. Saturday when the Biloxi Police Department got a report of a naked man coming out of the Biloxi River and walking up to homes on Woolmarket Lake Road, WLOX said.
Officials said one of the homeowners — who wasn’t in his residence at the time — saw the man on his doorbell camera and called his next-door neighbor, the station said.
The neighbor walked to the home to see if the man needed help, but the man attacked the neighbor, police told WLOX.
With that, the neighbor shot the man multiple times, the station said.
The man got the gun away from the neighbor and re-entered the river, officials told WLOX.
A search and rescue team was called, and the man was found dead in the river around 2 a.m. Sunday, the station said.
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Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer identified the man as 31-year-old Peter Virden III of Gulfport, WLOX reported.
Switzer said Virden was found dead in the river with multiple gunshot wounds, the station added.
The neighbor suffered facial cuts and bruises from the attack but was not severely injured, police told WLOX.
The station said officials reviewed video from the home’s security system, which recorded the whole incident.
A number of commenters let their thoughts be known under WLOX's Facebook post about the incident. The following are a few of them:
- "How awful for everyone involved," one commenter wrote.
- "I feel for the neighborhood. How traumatic for him," another user said. "Just going about your day one minute then having to [shoot] someone to defend yourself."
- "So sad," another commenter shared. "Prayers for everyone involved in this. Heartbreaking."
- "Prayers to the brave neighbor [who] not only checked on his neighbor’s property when called but also had to defend himself," another user said. "He was totally justified. Please try to tell me if a naked man comes to my porch (AND ATTACKS me) that I’m not justified."
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