An Oakland, California, senior citizen defended herself against two home invaders who broke down her door, put guns in her face and demanded her phone, according to reports.
The 75-year-old woman courageously pulled out her .357 Magnum and fired a single round at the intruders, forcing them to flee and potentially saving her life.
The thieves, who shot back at her before they fled the scene, got away with her jewels and other valuables, according to KTVU. The woman was not injured, and the intruders also appear to have escaped unscathed.
The woman’s daughter shared that it is “absolutely unbelievable” what her mother was able to do to protect herself that morning.
The incident happened on Wednesday, July 26, around 2 a.m. and the elderly woman was the only person home at the time. When she heard the intruders, she secured her weapon and kept it underneath her sheets until the men reached her room.
“She had the presence of mind to reach into her nightstand and get a weapon. And she had it under her covers, and when she saw an opening, she fired a shot,” her neighbor Calvin Walker said in an interview.
The robbers shot back at her 17 to 20 times, according to reports.
“We went over afterwards and we saw gunshots all in the walls,” Walker said. Luckily, the woman was not injured or harmed during the ordeal.
Oakland has been experiencing an uptick in violence, which has the local NAACP chapter speaking out. The civil rights organization has publicly criticized the “Defund the Police” movement that derived from the summer of civil unrest by way of the Black Lives Matter movement, WPDE reports.
In a letter to city leaders, the Oakland NAACP said that the movement to “Defund the Police” was marred by ineffective leadership and a district attorney who showed leniency toward hardened criminals in the city.
“Failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life-threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals. If there are no consequences for committing crime in Oakland, crime will continue to soar,” the NAACP wrote.
With crime at such a high, many think that the woman was lucky that nothing more serious happened to her.
However, some residents believe the intruders were the lucky ones. They left with not just the jewels but their lives. People have resolved to defend themselves.
“I believe that this is a message also for the criminals, that people in Oakland, we’re tired of the lawlessness. People are standing up. People are fighting back,” the woman’s daughter said.
Another senior neighbor echoed the daughter’s remarks.
Lynn Baranco said, “They’re really – they’re playing with their lives because all these people out here are armed.”
