Bay County Sheriff's Office home invasion
Courtesy Bay County Sheriff’s Office

The Associated Press reported a defensive gun use that happened yesterday in Panama City, Florida. A man was walking down the street acting erratically. When the man smashed his way through the door of a home and started beating a woman, the homeowner shot him.

The AP, however, refers to the attacker not as a burglar, not as an assailant, and not as a home invader…but as a “visitor from Georgia.” That visitor was Nathan Jerell Edwards and he’s now dead. The woman in the home was treated for her injuries.

Here’s the AP’s story:

A Florida homeowner fatally shot a visitor from Georgia who broke through [his] front door and began beating a woman inside, sheriff’s officials said.

Nathan Jerrell Edwards, 31, was pronounced dead Tuesday morning at the home in Panama City, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

Witnesses told deputies that Edwards had been walking down the street, “screaming and swearing … acting very aggressively and erratically,” the post stated. He said the man threatened him, so he retreated inside his house to get away.

Deputies said Edwards then smashed through the glass front door and began beating a woman inside. The homeowner, who is in his 70s, went upstairs and got his gun, firing several shots at Edwards. The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Authorities learned Edwards had been staying at a rental home with friends nearby, according to a separate post. Investigators found illegal drugs, a gun and money, as well as children. Each adult inside the home was arrested and charged with child neglect and other charges.

Here’s how the Bay County Sheriff describes what happened:

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106 COMMENTS

  1. I think these “journalists” need to be visited by some of these poor unfortunates!

  2. “The visitor, who was jogging in the neighborhood, was attempting to effect repairs on the door when he was brutally shot down by the homeowner.”

  3. Maybe Pelosi, Biden, Beto, Mini-Mike, Sanders can ‘visit’ a couple of homes in a free state. All they have to do is say they are from the government and are there to help the people.

  5. A visitor uh……The left your does like to change definitions of words today…..
    Just like the whole “social distancing” thing when what it really is, is “Physical” distancing. They just want you to get real accustom to using that word…..social cause it’s just like socialism.

  6. Rather than use conflict resolution techniques and conversation he went to the default method of ending the problem.

    • If someone forces entry and commits aggravated assault is definitely not an invited “visitor” who has popped around for polite conversation and a cup of tea.

    • The homeowner ended the threat to his wife.
      That the unfortunate visitor died is merely a side effect of his own actions.

  8. Might want to replace that door with a fiberglass model layered with a steel skin and reinforced jam and hinges.
    Maybe a stout storm door with Lexan

    • My first thought after seeing that picture. No glass doors with lead cames. I like steel insulated doors.

        • Damn guys, we’re so frightened that our homes must become fortresses? Not me, I have big sliding glass doors that are often open and have just screens between me and the world, front door is glass with a full view storm door that more often than not is what separates me from the outside.

          I simply refuse to live in fear, refuse to give up my life style to thwart that which should never happen, and deny myself the enjoyment of watching nature and breathing fresh air. If someone chooses to avail themselves of my lack of physical security I will deal with it on no uncertain terms.

        • Anon

          A man’s home is his castle. People don’t live in fear, but if there is a low cost, high benefit option that people can use to better improve their positions, they take it.

          Position improvement never stops, that’s why I’m planting more agaves, black berries, and building more fences. IF someone manages to get over a hedge of fishhooked agaves without bleeding to death or tripping and impaling himself, they then have to contend with the black berries, barbed wire, and Myrtilliocactus. Myrtilliocactus Geometrizans doesn’t have thorns, it has nails. 99.999% of people will be deterred or funneled into choke points. I may plant Opuntias too, good luck using roundup on those, the plant will collapse into a hundred pads and regrow.

          • “if there is a low cost, high benefit option that people can use to better improve their positions, they take it.”

            Uh, no, not really. Like your garden – If you haven’t already, please don’t reproduce.

        • anonymous4goodreason says:
          ““if there is a low cost, high benefit option that people can use to better improve their positions, they take it.”
          Uh, no, not really.”

          Well, in one sense, you’re right. It amazes me that people who don’t lock their car doors seem surprised to find that someone ransacked the interior.
          Problem is, that’s not what you meant., as demonstrated by the rest of your post:
          “Like your garden – If you haven’t already, please don’t reproduce.”
          The fact that you seem to rely on violence to solve a problem, while openly rejecting other, peaceful methods, says a lot about you as a person.

    • If the view from your house is of a ghetto, that makes sense. My view is beautiful and peaceful, all my doors are glass. And my guns are loaded. You will not imprison me in my home, scared of my shadow.

      • Obviously, there are different risk levels and benefits at various locations. Of course people are willing to tolerate different levels of risk and have different strategies to minimize their losses if those risks come to fruition.

        Sounds like you are happy with your trade-off between risk and security.

        I am happy with my trade-off: I keep a glass storm door locked and I always have a handgun holstered on my hip when I am at home. I keep two shotguns in my home ready as well. If anyone decides to invade my home, they will have to break through the glass storm door first. Needless to say, that makes a lot of noise and removes any uncertainty about their intentions.

      • After hurricane Andrew my idea of a door was one that opens outward and can withstand at least a cat 3.
        If a no knock warrant is ever served at our house they better just go for a window.

        • I love the idea (from a security perspective) of a door that opens out. That creates a significant problem, though: how do you prevent someone from simply tapping out the hinge pins on the door hinges which must also be outside? (Once you remove the hinge pins, you can simply swing the door open regardless of any locks on the opposite side of the door.)

        • Hinge above or below two of them.
          There are also hinges that engage when the door is closed with a tang. The door must be opened a few inches for the metal tang to be clear.

          I lived in a townhouse that had an out opening door. Steel door in a steel frame. Going through the wall would be easier.

        • “…how do you prevent someone from simply tapping out the hinge pins on the door hinges which must also be outside?”

          Spot welds.

        • “Steel door in a steel frame. Going through the wall would be easier.”

          Hilift Jack, cheater bar, 30 seconds or less and the door swings open.

        • GS650G and strych9,

          Oh, I like the steel tang idea which blocks the hinge pin. That would force you to open the door in order to easily remove the hinge pin.

          Clearly, with a large enough crow-bar or a hydraulic device, a criminal can defeat any door in short order. I think there is an interesting factor involved in this approach, though. For one thing, many criminals cannot afford a hydraulic device and may not even be able to afford a large crowbar. Second — and this is surprisingly important — criminals like to “travel light” and not have anything that cops can say is for breaking into homes.

          Let me elaborate on that second point. A burglar or home invader who is skulking around with a large crowbar or hydraulic device in hand is obviously up to no good and gives police a reason to jack him (or her) around. (Pun intended!) On the other hand, a burglar or home invader who has a dull nail in his/her pocket (for tapping out hinge pins) and a small weight in hand (which could be nothing more than a rock or a small, solid piece of steel) does not give police a reason to “detain” him/her for questioning.

          Believe it or not, criminals are not as entirely stupid as many people think and they try to ensure “plausible deniability” during their endeavors.

          • criminals cannot afford a hydraulic device and may not even be able to afford a large crowbar

            They’re CRIIMINALS…. If they can’t AFFORD something and they want it badly enough they’ll just STEAL it….

        • MaddMaxx,

          Your suggestion brings up a chicken-and-egg conundrum. In order to break into someplace to steel a huge crowbar or hydraulic device, a criminal often needs a huge crowbar or hydraulic device. The problem for the criminal is how to acquire a huge crowbar or hydraulic device in the first place.

          Of equal importance: exceedingly few homes or businesses have huge crowbars or hydraulic devices that a criminal could steal even if they found another way to break in. In my entire life — knowing thousands of people and businesses — I have only discovered one person who had a hydraulic device that would quickly/easily defeat doors. (Yes, a few excellent hardware stores stocked huge crowbars — and criminals were extremely unlikely to attempt to break into those stores because they were secured with breach-resistant doors and in highly visible, highly trafficked locations.)

          For this and other reasons, I do not expect very many criminals to be walking around with huge crowbars or hydraulic breaching devices.

          • Stuff like that is laying around body/auto repair shops, the beds of unattended pickup trucks at construction sites and actually in my backyard shed protected by the almighty Master lock and a crappy hasp… A crowbar can be bought really cheap and Tool Warehouse has porta powers for under a hundred bucks… If a CRIMINAL can’t afford a few basic tools of the trade he should probably find a new line of work…. I am of course NOT addressing the everyday junkie just looking for a couple of bucks for a fix, that is a whole different animal… Anyone going after a steel reinforced concrete filled door would be of the more serious professional type who really wants whatever is on the other side of that door…

        • Criminals exist on a spectrum.
          On one end we have the high-end criminals, like those we see in some movies. These guys plan their actions well, and some even have investors who will provide tools needed for a specific heist (for a cut of the action, of course.) The heist (or murder, whatever) actually occurs during a time when risk is at a minimum, and the take is maximized. These people seldom go after a home because the risk is high, and the take is low. Instead, they go after businesses.
          At the other end are people like bored kids going through a neighborhood trying car doors to see if they can find an unlocked one to rifle through.
          In between we find all skill levels, but one thing is a pretty good bet: as we go toward the really organized end, the criminals get smarter. They tend to recognize that it pays to minimize risk while maximizing reward.
          This means that they aren’t going to consider breaking into a home with security doors and/or barred windows, simply because the risk is greater (the more time spent trying to break in, the more time for someone to call the cops). Unless they know there’s a great reward inside (and most home invasions are targeted, meaning the criminals know there’s cash, jewelry, guns or drugs inside to make the risk worth is), they will simply go somewhere else that’s doesn’t pose the same risk.
          This tends to divide the homeowners into three groups.
          The first (and most numerous) doesn’t even think about this much, and does very little, if anything, to provide for home security.
          The second group, after giving home security some thought, plans to make entry difficult, while not making the home look like a prison. A security door, and security bars over street-facing windows really aren’t that threatening to the neighborhood, and do provide some security, especially from the opportunity criminal. Some in this group will go further, putting security bars/door all around the home, figuring someone who really wants in will move around the home to find a good entry point. Whether they sit inside always armed or merely have a gun handy is a personal preference.
          Then there’s the third group, who figures they aren’t going to live inside a prison, always afraid. He is always armed, will often have a dog (large and mean, of course), and brags about his manhood, almost daring someone to break in. In my opinion, it’s this third group who lives in fear; they are sure someone’s out to get them and theirs, and boy, are they ready, but they refuse to take any visible security measures, hoping to sucker one of the less prepared criminals in, so they can unleash their righteous anger on them.
          Anyway, that’s how I see this.
          For those curious, I’m in the second group. I encourage criminals to find lower hanging fruit so I don’t have to deal with them, if at all possible. At the same time, realizing I have one of the tempting ‘fruits’ I listed above (guns), I do keep guns handy, and train so I can end a threat with the least amount of fuss.

          • “He is always armed, will often have a dog (large and mean, of course), and brags about his manhood, almost daring someone to break in. In my opinion, it’s this third group who lives in fear; they are sure someone’s out to get them and theirs, and boy, are they ready, but they refuse to take any visible security measures, hoping to sucker one of the less prepared criminals in, so they can unleash their righteous anger on them.”

            Where in the hell did you get that? My feeling is that my home truly is my castle. Everyone knows or should know that and can enter uninvited at their own peril. This is the way it should be. I don’t carry in my home and I don’t have a dog – although I’m currently watching my daughter’s vicious corgi. I do have loaded guns scattered around since I don’t have kids living here – I did not when my daughter was growing up, the guns were locked up. I’m not “daring” anyone, I’m just not that afraid of a home intruder. You, on the other hand clearly are a bit paranoid and it sounds like either you failed psych 101 or you’re projecting.

            Now I get your response to my earlier post. You were wrong then too, I don’t prefer violence, I prefer just to be left alone. Got it?

        • Most of us prefer to be left alone.
          Some of us just like to tell others what will happen to them if they don’t leave them alone more than necessary.
          Sort of like the kids on social media who brag about just how badly they will fuck up anyone who “messes” with them.

  9. 1. Kudos to the homeowner. He was his own first responder.
    2. Anyone who believes that an armed citizen that comes out on top in a DGU is going to get a fair shake from the media is someone who would buy oceanfront property in Arizona.

    • @Gadsden Flag

      Um, that oceanfront property…is that before or after “The Big One”?

      I might be interested if it has a decent view of the newly remodeled Gulf of LA (tempted to become a snowbird…winters can be pretty harsh up here).

      Let me know when we can arrange a viewing?

      As far as the article…I keep telling people not to pay attention to stray animals, they will follow you home.

      • I live in AZ.
        I can arrange (for a slight fee, of course) for you to purchase some investment property on the western edge of the state, in anticipation of The Big One.
        Just realize that if you wait, this property will become much more expensive. Now’s the time to buy.

        • How can you know where the “WESTERN” edge of Arizona will be? Lake Havasu? Quarzite? Yuma is only about 140 ft above sea level and could easily be under water after the big shake…. Looking for cheap waterFRONT property, not underwater….

        • No investment is guaranteed to pay off.
          You pay your money, and you take your chances.

          • LOL!

            Thank you for the humorous comments.

            Not that I’m feeling under any pressure to purchase immediately…that said, did you, by chance, sell time-shares in an earlier life??

  12. Do I have to say it? Home. Carry. People. Dude had to go upstairs while his woman was being pummeled to get his gun.

    • That’s what I was thinking. The lady’s injuries may make it clearer who’s at fault, but she would not have any injuries if it were me, I’d have dropped him as soon as he stepped through the door. And I would finally know why I’ve been home carrying for 15 years.

  13. I can only hope that when they pass, all journalists will have to get by Edward R. Murrow to be allowed through the pearly gates.

    • I read he was a “visitor” to the state of Fl. staying at a rental home who decided to go for a walk and commit suicide by homeowner… Pretty much what the Sheriffs report stated, but somehow has been turned into the guy being labeled a “visitor” to the home he broke into… I did not get that….

  16. Visitors don’t generally burst through your front door like the Kool-Aid guy…

    • Also, fingers crossed for the wife. If the husband is in his 70’s, chances are she is, too. At that age you don’t heal very quickly, and sometimes don’t fully recover from injuries.

  17. Trying to make sure I Don’t have any home “visitors”! While living within the Liberal “No 2nd Amendment”
    paradise of M–@ssachusetts…(re: MA. LibTARD certified Rape Whistle=✓…MA. DNC/LibTARD certified book of self-defense: Abrasive Whining and Tactical Peeing…✓ Surrender Flag = ✓…)

  19. Witnesses told deputies that Edwards had been walking down the street, “screaming and swearing … acting very aggressively and erratically,” the post stated.

    This sounds like some type of violent mental illness — either that or a really bad acid trip.

    For people of faith who visit this website, it also sounds like a nasty case of demon possession.

      • Works every time — gah-rone-teed!

        (That is supposed to be the word “guaranteed” with a Cajun accent.)

        • There was a show a long time ago “Cooking with Justin”.
          I just heard his voice!

          That, and “put a lil peppah in theyuh “

        • I loved Cooking with Justin! Oooo-eee dat good!

          Justin Wilson passed in 2001 at the age of 87. I still have some of his recipes tucked away in case my local fish market decides to carry mudbugs.

        • Boah, I sure am glad for you to see me today, cause we’re jest gonna giv’ em a little lead pill inuh thea’, and, remember the secret to Cajun cookin’, stir aftr addin’ every ingredients’ what I always say.

  20. When I first scanned the headline, I thought this was going to be another article highlighting the infamous “Florida Man”!

    As it turns out, this article is about a man who righteously defended a woman (his wife?) in his home — and who happens to live in Florida.

    • For the life of me I cannot begin to imagine what was so questionable about my above post (about “Florida Man”) that triggered the website to require me to pass two screens of Captcha before allowing my comment. Sheesh.

  21. when you have a front door like that you have to almost expect some bad guy or guys are going to come crashing through it eventually
    if there would have been a real door there this likely wouldnt have happened at this house

    • Or at least give you a chance to grab a firearm while they’re trying to beat down the door.

    • And the next house down, the gentleman may have not been home/armed, allowing the wife to be beaten to death. I’ll stand like a man, thank you, you may hide if you must.

      • LarryinTX,

        This is kind of getting off on a tangent …

        I hope and pray that I am never the victim of a home invasion. If bad actors are going to invade someone’s home in my neighborhood and happen to choose my home instead of a neighbor’s home, I will stop them and find a bit of solace in the fact that I probably saved my neighbors from a very unpleasant outcome. (I happen to live in the midst of an ultra-liberal enclave in an other wise middle-of-the-road to Conservative-leaning region of the country and many/most of my neighbors would not have the means to stop bad actors from beating/raping/murdering them.)

        As you hinted LarryinTX, the courageous, decent, and honorable mindset is to stop bad actors from harming others if possible.

  22. How does a jogger on the street has anything to do with a violent creep breaking into homes & beating the residents?

  23. Unless I’m misunderstanding Dan’s point I assumed the author meant it to say he wasn’t local to the state, not that he was a visitor to that particular home. It’s an odd detail for the journalist to point out but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.

    • That’s also what I was going to point out. The article states that the perp was a Georgia resident and this happened in Florida. That only means that he was visiting Florida. A better writer would have written something like, “The perpetrator was from Georgia and was visiting {friends, relatives, or whoever} in Florida.” But hey, this is the AP we’re talking about here.

      The sense I get of this was that he was in an altered state of consciousness, likely due to drugs. So his direct motive likely was not to be doing home invasions or beating on people, but that it was the direct result of an earlier bad decision. Someone doesn’t have to be an intentional threat in order to endanger your life and need to be stopped. I’m glad the homeowner was successful at doing so.

    • It’s perhaps just poor journalistic writing. That’s not really all that much better considering it’s from someone who writes for a living.

  24. I’d much prefer a good screened security front door to that peelable pretty glass thing!

    And yes the dead guy there was a visitor so far as his presence in the State goes.

    As for his presence on the floor of that home, he was a crazed home invader who left the elderly homeowner absolutely no choice but to defend his life and that of his wife.

    On the other hand I find plenty of news services showing the AP as the source but all describing the home invader as “a Georgie man”, not a “visitor”.

    It is possible the story was edited after initial release.

  26. Every one missing the point , Uuuuh , never know when , it pays to have a weapon for self defense , in home or on the street , train well , stay well , alert and safe .

    • Naw, main point is to pay more for quality meth, not that bath salts mix your crazy cousin Larry is cooking up in his kitchen.

  27. Anyone who tries to break down my door risks getting popped.

    Well, anyone except my cat. That little sumbitch hates>/i> closed doors, but I’m not gonna shoot him. Probably.

  28. Where are the resident commies Miner and Chief crying that the homeowner was ‘racist’?

  29. I find a lot of posts get deleted, then magically appear later in the day. Sometimes they never show up at all, sometimes they show, then get deleted. Sometimes they are in moderation land and go either way.

    Give it a little time… unless it already posted. If you responded to someone and their post was deleted, all child posts go with it TMK.

  30. The “visitor” must have just knocked too loud and the door broke by “accident” and he came in to help clean up the broken glass. The wife got in his way of his cleaning and he just pushed her away so he could finish. The will probably be the next slant that AP puts on this story. How pathetic that they slant this story as to make it sound like he was a friend of the family who was visiting them and was shot out of malice by the home owner. What a crock!

  32. So, someone here was saying the AP was trustworthy…

    Pretty sure this “slant” proves otherwise.

  33. So, is “a visitor from Georgia” the new veiled way of insinuating “a guy walking down the street minding his business” to make the fella defending his wife and home appear to be the aggressor? Sure sounds like it.

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