This article was originally published on The Huffington Post by Nina Golgowski on March 28, 2017.
Three suspected burglars are dead after they broke into an Oklahoma home and were confronted by a man reportedly armed with an AR-15 rifle.
The three suspects, all of them in their teens, allegedly forced their way into a house near Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, around noon on Monday. The homeowner and his son were home at the time. The son, 23, says he grabbed the firearm and confronted the intruders, according to local reports.
The son, whose name has not been made public, opened fire on the suspects. Two of them died inside the home, while the third collapsed in the driveway, the Wagoner County sheriff’s office said.
All three suspects were reportedly clad in black, including masks and gloves. A 21-year-old woman who later turned herself in is accused of serving as the trio’s getaway driver, Fox 25 reported.
That woman, identified as Elizabeth Marie Rodriguez of Oologah, faces three counts of first-degree felony murder and one count of first-degree burglary, Wagoner County First Assistant District Attorney Jack Thorp told The Huffington Post.
Authorities said they believe the shooting was a case of self-defense, and don’t expect charges against the homeowner’s son.
“This may be a case of ‘stand-your-ground,’ however, it’s still too early to say for sure, and we’re still looking into all aspects of this,” sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Nick Mahoney told reporters.
Mahoney, speaking to News on 6, said that authorities recovered brass knuckles and a knife from the suspects’ bodies.
The homeowner and his son were not injured.
A neighbor who lives two houses away told the Tulsa World that the gunshots were loud enough to hear from her home, causing her to run to the window to see what had happened.
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