California police say a resident used his shotgun to shoot a homeless man who had broken into his home on Tuesday at about 10:30 a.m.
El Cerrito police said in a press release that officers were called to the home on Elm Street over reports of a shooting.
‘This the quietest neighborhood I ever lived in!’
When they arrived, they found a 56-year-old transient man with a gunshot wound. He was airlifted to a trauma center for medical treatment.
Police determined the shooter was a resident at the home and detained him for questioning. After an investigation, police said the man believed the home intruder was armed and feared for his life when he shot at him two times.
Investigators determined the intruder was not armed with a gun but instead was holding a flashlight. Police intend to ask the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office to file a burglary charge against the suspect.
A nearby high school was placed on lockdown after the shooting, but that was lifted after the scene was secured.
Police said the homeless man was from Contra Costa County, and KTVU said he had an extensive history of burglary and robbery convictions. Investigators are trying to determine whether the resident owned the gun legally.
“This never happened in my neighborhood,” said resident Nikkio Hunt to KTVU. “This the quietest neighborhood I ever lived in!”
El Cerrito is a suburb of Oakland on San Francisco Bay with about 26k residents. The average home in El Cerrito currently sells for about $1.144 million, according to Zillow.
Scenes from the neighborhood can be viewed on the news video report from KTVU on YouTube.
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