by Dan Riehl
Riehl World View
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Looked for another source on this. If you were to check an AP related site, it would be under off-beat, or comical news. Howard Buckner opened up pretty good inside his home, though he didn’t hurt anyone. However, had he not been armed, this would likely have ended much worse for him.
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― An 81-year-old man proved to be anything but an easy target when two armed men tried robbing his home.
Howard Buckner, an army veteran who saw combat in the Korean War, opened his front door Saturday night when two men in their 20s said their car broke down and asked to use his phone.
“They pulled a pistol right out,” Howard said. “I knew I was in trouble.”
The suspects searched Buckner’s home, grabbing his wallet and other valuables, such as the wedding ring he hasn’t worn since his wife Betsy died three months ago. As they ransacked the South Sacramento home, they left Buckner alone in his bedroom.
“The deer rifle was hidden in the bedroom, and they left me in the bedroom for just a few seconds,” he said. “In about five seconds, it was firing.”
Howard said he hasn’t fired the weapon since 1960 and bought the bullets for it about 50 years ago, but he squeezed off several shots into his home. One broke his bedroom window, another through his door, a third through his bathroom wall and a fourth ended up in his furnace halfway across his house.
“Yeah, the furnace will work, but I don’t think it’s safe,” Buckner said.
The intruders immediately fled the house, taking some of what was in their hands but dropping some of the rest, including Howard’s wedding ring.
