Cops: Man in His 70s Killed Intruder Who Attacked Wife

Suspect smashed through front door of Florida home
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2020 2:12 PM CDT
Cops: Man in His 70s Killed Intruder Who Attacked Wife
This May 26, 2020 photo made available by the Bay County Sheriff's Office, Fla., shows the front door of a homeowner's residence after a man broke through the glass and attacked a woman inside, in Panama City, Fla.   (Bay County Sheriff's Office via AP)

A Florida man in his 70s fatally shot an intruder who smashed through his front door and attacked his wife, police say. According to a Facebook post from the Bay County Sheriff's Office, the man was outside his Panama City home early Tuesday morning when he was approached by the suspect, who was "acting very aggressively and erratically." Police say the the man went inside, but the suspect broke through the glass front door, knocked the man's wife to the ground, and started hitting her in the head, Fox reports. "The husband stated he felt he could not physically stop the intruder so he went upstairs to get his firearm," the sheriff's office said. "He shot the firearm multiple times, ending the threat."

The intruder, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was identified as Nathan Jerrell Edwards, a 31-year-old from Georgia who had been staying at a nearby short-term rental. Police said in another Facebook post that while investigating the shooting, they made contact with the man's friends "and saw illegal narcotics in plain sight." Police say they seized drugs including LSD and cocaine and arrested Ellecia Bryant, 42; Ashayla Lewis, 19; Ourania Moore, 26; and Khary Johnson, 35, on drug charges, the Northwest Florida Daily News reports. Police say that due to the presence of children in the home, all four were also charged with child neglect. (More Florida stories.)

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