No one ever thinks they’re going to be the victim of a robbery or home invasion until they are. Plenty of TTAG readers keep a handgun on the nightstand or otherwise nearby. Just in case. Jack Thompson of Marshall County, Kentucky keeps his pistol under his pillow. That may not be our choice, but it certainly worked for him early Monday morning two BGs kicked in his door and one made a bee-line for his bedroom . . .

Somehow they seemed to know exactly where the 78-year-old Thompson slept.

The blood spattered on the tan walls upstairs tell the story of what happened next.

“I think I fired three rounds.”

Startled, the man disappeared. But when he came back, Thompson was ready, firing off more blasts with a shotgun,

“I was scared,” he said, hours after the fact.

Thompson’s daughter told wpsdlocal6.com her father has slept with that pistol under his pillow for years.

“He’s been ready all his life.”

The home invader with the new orifices has been hospitalized. His partner in crime made tracks and hasn’t been located yet. But Thompson doesn’t seem to be worried about a repeat performance. Not from him, at least.

“I don’t think he’ll want what his friend got.”

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23 COMMENTS

  1. Which was it?

    “Startled, the man disappeared. But when he came back, Thompson was ready, firing off more blasts with a shotgun,”

    or
    “Thompson’s daughter told wpsdlocal6.com her father has slept with that pistol under his pillow for years.”

    Minor point, but just to keep the story straight.

    • It was a handgun first, then a shotgun in hand when the perp tried again, wasn’t it? “firing off more blasts….this time with a shotgun” would have been clearer. And btw, do you know a good web source for a breakout of who commits burglaries, i.e. prof criminals v. amateur drug addicts, etc.?

      • I always understood that the professional burglars went out of their way to try to do the deed when nobody was home, because they didn’t need that kind of trouble.

        Meth heads and their ilk, on the other hand, need cash and need it NOW, so they’re less likely to let a random homeowner deter them from trying to get their fix.

        I neither am, nor know any professional burglars nor meth heads, so my thoughts are probably not worth a great deal.

  2. This guy made me giggle.

    I’d also like to point out that the place where this happened is only a 30 mile straight shot from Paducah, KY, where they (gasp) SELL MACHINE GUNS AT WAL-MART.

  3. I wonder what kind of sympathy gift basket the Brady slugs will send the hospitalized criminal.

  4. “I don’t think he’ll want what his friend got.”

    Fantastic line!

    I hope neither he nor his daughter suffer any lingering problems from this home invasion.

    • I think that one of the lingering problems was rolled out of the door on a Gurney. The other lingering problem is changing his drawers somewhere.

  5. I grew up (and still have family) one county over from Marshall. Probably the first home invasion there in decades. The times they are a changin….

  6. Pretty dumb going back to a door with fresh bullet holes in it. Not as dumb as the taxpayer picking up the tab for his hospital stay.

  7. It saddens me greatly to see older folks becoming the common prey for criminals. There were 3 recent home invasions of old folks’ homes within 20 miles of my place that all ended in the homeowners being injured or killed. All in the last month or so. I’m glad that Mr. Thompson was not injured and was able to fight off his attackers.

    • Yeah, me too. On a lighter note. An old lady here in Cleveland paid three boys aged 14-17 quite nicely for a good shovel job they did a couple of three winters back. They thought she paid so nice that they decided to come right back to rob her. She beat the BeeJesus out of them three with a solid frying pan and they fled.

      How’s that for street cred?

  8. Reminds me of the Clint Smith quote:

    “A handgun is what you use to fight your way back to the rifle that you never should have put down in the first place.”

    Or, in this case, the shotgun.

  9. ” I think I fired three rounds.”
    ” Startled the man disappeared. But when he came back, Thompson was ready, firing off more blast with a shotgun,”

    Another case where firing one or three rounds was not enough.
    Another case where the bads did not shit their pants and run away at the mere sight of a gun ( or there rounds sent in their direction).
    Another case where more than one perp was involved.
    Another case where having a gun ALWAYS at hand probably saved a life.

    Just something to think about.

  10. Man, if I kept gun under my pillow I’d be dead by now. If not from a gunshot wound because I toss and turn so much (ask my wife), then from driving off a bridge someplace, sound asleep at the wheel.

    • “Cute story.”

      Right, cute. In your perfect world (one without guns) Jack Thompson would have had no way to defend himself against the two assailants and would likely be dead at this point. Is that cute in your mind too? Sometimes you really sicken me.

  12. I live in western Kentucky and sent TTAG the link for this story. For the sake of Nemesis and MikeB, here are a few examples of some recents events from this area:

    http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Charges-upped-in-home-invasion-case-139758553.html?m=y

    http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Victim-responds-to-Not-Guilty-Verdict-125993503.html

    http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Four-arrested-in-Marshall-County-home-invasion-104576579.html

    I know the man interviewed in the second news story personally. He is lucky to be alive.

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