An Atlanta area mother shot a home intruder five times in the face and neck on Friday, in defense of herself and her 9-year-old twins, according to police. The intruder was identified as Paul Ali Slater, who had been released from jail in August, and is now receiving medical treatment.
According to police reports, Slater repeatedly rang the family’s doorbell in Loganville, Ga., that morning, prompting the woman to call her husband. She was advised to take her children and hide in a crawlspace, while her husband dialed 911. Slater reportedly used a crowbar to break into the home, and began rummaging through the house until he made his way to the family’s hiding place.
“He opens the closet door and finds himself staring down the barrel of a .38 revolver,” Walton County Sherrif Joe Chapman told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
The woman fired six times, striking Slater with five bullets. Slater was still conscious, however, and the mother of two ordered him to stay on the ground while she fled with the children. Slater eventually made his way to his car and escaped before police arrived at the scene, but pulled over in a neighbor’s driveway, requesting medical attention. He was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center.
Though the woman chose not to be named in reports of the incident, her husband, Donnie Herman, spoke to Channel 2 Action News, praising his wife’s response to the intruder. “My wife’s a hero,” he said. “She protected her kids. She did what she was supposed to do.”
