Debi Keeney, 55, is thankful for her gun, which she used to save herself and her sister after a man forced his way into her apartment, and demanded money while holding her sister in a choke hold.
The gun was a gift from a friend but it mostly stayed in a side-table drawer, she said, gathering dust. Then, early Sunday morning, Keeney pulled the trigger again — this time, she said, to save her sister’s life.(Via St. Louis Today)
Keeney says she was attacked after stepping outside her apartment to smoke a cigarette.
“As I was closing the door behind me, this really big man pushed his way through the door,” she recalled. “I started pushing back. ... He put one arm behind my arm and picked me up and threw me over my couch.”
The man then went behind a recliner, where her sister was sitting, and put Carlyle in a choke hold.
“He had her trapped like a rat,” Keeney said.
Carlyle said she was trying to dial 911 with a cellphone in her left hand while fighting for air with her right hand.
“When he was yanking me up, my feet were in the air,” Carlyle said. “It hurt so bad. I couldn’t lean forward. I could feel the air closing off. I couldn’t breathe at all.”
Keeney said she grabbed the gun — the side table is near the apartment door — and warned the man to let her sister go. He was demanding money, but Keeney said she and her sister both have multiple health problems and support themselves with disability benefits.
“We both were saying we don’t have any money,” she said. “If we would have had any money, we would have given it to him.”
Keeney says she then fired what she thought was a warning shot.
“I told him, ‘I’m going to shoot you if you don’t let her go,’ “ she recalled. “With that, I shot him in the back because he moved from behind the chair. He let her go. He took some steps toward me.”
The man fell to the floor, and Keeney stood over him, waiting for police to arrive.
The intruder, name not released yet, is in the hospital being treated for two gunshot wounds and is listed in critical condition.
Ms. Keeney's story is familiar, but not well known, as the main stream media focuses more on stories of tragedy and guns, pushing for a gun control/gun grabbing agenda, yet local media around the country shows how common it is where a gun is used for defense, to save lives.
Just a few examples from the last couple of days below:
Arizona homeowner shot one of four burglars he came home to find in his house.
Homeowner Forced to Shoot Home Invader While Waiting for Police to Arrive
Ex-Boyfriend Shot by Resident When He Tried to Kill His Ex-Girlfirend
One Armed Old Man vs. Three Teen Would Be Robbers
You can find these stories, updated daily at Guns Saves Lives.
