Burglar Shot After Trying to Break into Army Veteran’s Home
February 1, 2012, 6:10 p.m.
39 comments
BALDWIN HILLS (CBS)—Burglars messed with the wrong senior when they decided to break into Jack Goodwin’s Baldwin Hills home.
The 87-year-old retired postal worker was in bed, listening to the Laker game Tuesday night when he heard a rear window in his house breaking. Goodwin got out of bed, picked up his gun, and walked down the hall. When he saw intruders at his window, he raised his gun and fired.
“When I saw them breaking the glass, I was, man. I got kinda — it was either me or them, then,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin happens to be an Army veteran who was a platoon leader for a rifle company stationed in Okinawa during World War II. His discharge papers labeled him a marksman.
When asked if he was a good shot, Goodwin said, “deadly.”
“I’m not bragging, but I was deadly,” Goodwin said, after a chuckle.
Goodwin believes burglars tried to break into his home because he lives alone and they believed he would be an easy target.
“I knew one thing — they were gonna deal with me,” Goodwin said. “Cause if you’ve got enough nerve to break in somebody’s house and they’re home, they’ve got enough nerve to kill you see. There’s no if or ands about it.”
The intruder Goodwin shot was hospitalized in critical condition. A second intruder is still on the loose. Police investigating the break-in and shooting say they have no plans to file charges against Goodwin.
Goodwin says he has no regrets about how it all went down and probably would do it again the same way.
“I could run, run out the front door probably,” he said. “But you don’t know who’s out there either. You just have to go down with the ship.”
39 comments
39 Comments
Johnson
Burglar brutality
February 1, 2012 at 7:44 pm | |
Ervin Schoeppe
EXCELLENT SHOOTING, I know things are probably financially tight being retired and all! But if it happens again, could you please use a couple of extra bullets, and I will send you a box of whatever you are using!!This just saves the county a lot of extra money later on. Penny wise dollar foolish!!
February 1, 2012 at 8:08 pm | |
Greg Stomash
He should have at least shot him in the arm or leg. He didn’t deserve to die.
February 1, 2012 at 8:11 pm | |
Mark
Greg, you apparently have led a very sheltered life and aren’t familiar with this type of situation, nor are you familiar with the difficulty of hitting a moving target with a handgun even at conversational distance. Mr. Goodwin was a Marksman with the M1 Carbine, not a handgun, if I read the discharge paper correctly. When facing a deadly threat, you aim at the largest target presented, which is your opponent’s center of mass, and shoot until the threat stops. It looks like Mr. Goodwin missed at least once, but at least got one effective hit on the suspect, who is reported to be in critical condition, not dead.
February 1, 2012 at 10:13 pm | |
JT
So if 2 guys broke into your house, say….with your family inside you wouldn’t shoot at the easiest/biggest target? You have 10 rounds in your handgun max, less if you have a revolver. How many seconds do you think it will take for someone to reach you running inside your home? 1-2 seconds?
What happens if they incapacitate you? What happens to your family members when they are done with you?
Shoot for the leg Greg, or better yet let them beat you/rob you and wait til a few minutes (at best) for the cops to show up. That is if you get through. The reason people sit on death row for decades sucking up taxpayer money are because of people like you.
February 1, 2012 at 10:37 pm | |
sunwolf
Can you even see an arm or a leg at night with 87 year old eyes?
February 1, 2012 at 10:39 pm | |
John McMahan
Did you look at how proud he looked? Anyone that can kill a man and feel no remorse is a fool. Finely got the chance to kill one of his own and like it.
February 2, 2012 at 7:23 am | |
Tom Ackerton
Why did he have to shoot him? He could have easily fired a warning shot. These gun owners are out of control!
February 1, 2012 at 8:14 pm | |
Fed Up
Totally! If anything, he should have maybe shot him in the leg or arm!
February 1, 2012 at 8:16 pm | |
Pat
Tom your the biggest p-u-s-s-y in California !! Greg you take a close second you mope !
February 1, 2012 at 8:56 pm | |
Armed
If a person fires a shot, he is responsible for that projectile. Where would you like it to go? It is unfortunate that this criminal decided to burglarize an occupied home. Fortunately Mr. Goodwin had the will and capability to defend himself. An 87 year old man wouldn’t stand a chance in a physical altercation with an 18 year old.
February 1, 2012 at 9:03 pm | |
Craig
Well gee Tom, idk why he should have had to defend himself. Things like this aren’t supposed to happened. The police should have never let them in the window and maybe he should have just let them in the house to beat him to death. After all, in California it’s frowned upon to be a gun wielding defender and survivor. Here your expected to be a victim. Anyways, in any self defense course you are told to shoot to stop the threat. Anything else will subject you to a civil lawsuit.
February 1, 2012 at 9:19 pm | |
Darren C. U.S.M.C. Retired
Are you kidding me!!!!! He is alone and scared for his life. The only warning shot that needs to be fired is a head shot.. GAME OVER. As for shooting him in the arm or leg, that is all we need is a convict who is now disabled and we have to pick up his medical cost. Tom, you should be thankful that people like Jack have training in the proper use of weapons. You can only pray that when your life is in danger that someone with this training is there to save your life when your failed attempts to talk to your attacker fail.
February 1, 2012 at 10:11 pm | |
CarlosT
Warning shots are highly irresponsible. If you’re going to use a gun, you’re using lethal force, and you have to know where your bullets are going. Deliberately missing a target means sending a bullet off somewhere to an unidentified target. Either you’re justified in using lethal force, i.e. a gun, or you’re not. If you are justified, take the shot at center mass. If you’re not justified, don’t take the shot.
February 2, 2012 at 10:36 am | |
Don Galley
Are you nuts- shoot him in arm or leg- that BS only happens onTV. When you are confronted and in fear of your life you only get one shot–so make sure it is a good and deadly one!
February 1, 2012 at 8:50 pm | |
Craig
He should have just shot at their feet and made them do the Mexican hat dance.
February 1, 2012 at 11:17 pm | |
Wayne Barricklow
Ackerton, Fed Up, Stomash. you seem like open minded people. Why not talk to a law enforcement officer about this issue sometime. Next time you see a cop who isn’t too busy, ask how they’re trained. Ask if they’re trained to shoot for an arm or a leg, and ask why.
And it wouldn’t hurt to put yourself in the shoes of an 87 year old man. Would you be willing to let these guys in and wrestle with them? You guys might be big, tough guys at your age, but at 87, maybe not so much.
February 1, 2012 at 9:13 pm | |
Tommy Delves
Some of you people need to stop attending Code Pink rallys. Seriously. You DON’T shoot to mame, you shoot to kill. Just like the Police are trained to shoot center mass, so should a homeowner who’s life is in danger. The burglar, well he made that decision to invade someones home. If he dies, it;s HIS fault, NOT the homeowners. It’s great seeing these stories as MOST of the time it’s the homeowner ending up dead……..
February 1, 2012 at 9:15 pm | |
Donald
Why did he have to shoot him? He could have easily fired a warning shot. These gun owners are out of control!
Lmfao!
February 1, 2012 at 9:16 pm | |
Alpha Kenny Juan
I think he should have shot the burglar’s hat off his head. (Burglars wear hats, don’t they?) Then he should have given the burglar a stern lecture.
February 1, 2012 at 9:19 pm | |
John McMahan
LOL
February 2, 2012 at 8:00 am | |
Arondos
Being a criminal should be a dangerous occupation. BRAVO!
February 2, 2012 at 1:13 am | |
Great story!
Seems the tide is turning towards the law abiding citizen’s here in California.
I like that more and more stories are written about robbery suspects being shot dead and or seriously wounded. It’s to bad for those that feel the wild west has returned, guess again. It never left and will become worse due to moonbeams cuts and forced early releases of convicted criminals. The numbers are stacked against the liberal who thinks that they will not fall victim of a robbery/home invation. At that time you will wish you had a gun to protect yourself and family!
Good luck and practice on your aim!
February 2, 2012 at 7:25 am | |
Greg with common sense
Warning shots are more effective when you hit the target. Thats why the other guy left.
February 2, 2012 at 8:40 am | |
MolonLabe
You shoot to hit your target, that means in the center of whatever target is presented. Just so happens many of our most vital organs are located in the central area of our bodies.
Msg to the old man: glad you came through alive and in one piece.
Msg to the bad guys: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Bad guys should be in fear of victimizing the innocent, fear of force is what prevents crime. Law only punishes after the fact.
February 2, 2012 at 10:04 am | |
GR0WAPAIR
If the a$Shole is on the outside fire a warning shot, inside shoot to kill. Guess who is now on the hook for the for the sh!thead’s medical treatment.
February 2, 2012 at 11:19 am | |
Youth Justice Coalition
This student came to my school.My prayers go to the student and his family. This student would dance around my school making everyone happy, his positive energy would shine light in my school. he made everyone laugh and smile. God’s gonna take him in his arms and make him the angel he’s meant to be. He didn’t deserve to get shot in this manner its not fair. He was a youth organizer, an intelligent student,a warrior, and church going student. he was in the choir and an usher. We don’t need guns in our homes, we need justice, we need love. Guns aren’t the answer to everything. Where’s the dialogue? this man who shot him did a lot of harm not just a family that’s grieving, but a whole school and its community.
February 2, 2012 at 12:15 pm | |
Astonished
Uh, your kidding, right? This kidd doesn’t sound like such an angel to me! Church going usher; singer AND, youth organizing burgler. That’s a new one on me!
So, by your account, it was more fair for your friend to break into and rob or burgerize this homeowner, than for the homeowner to defend his life and prperty.
Boy, do you need a reality check!
February 2, 2012 at 12:45 pm | |
Anonymous
You didnt know him, so who are you to talk?
your one of the ignorant people out in this world. hope you decide to change that.
February 2, 2012 at 8:06 pm
Other Greg
Guns arent the answer to everything, but they are the answer when someone is breaking into your house. We need justice? Justice was served.
February 2, 2012 at 4:02 pm | |
other greg
Oh…sorry we do need justice, the kid should pay for the broken window
February 2, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Ross
The family of the bundle of positive energy should be paying for the broken window and for the ammunition Mr. Goodwin used to defend himself and finally for the counseling he should get after using his gun to defend himself. Having to kill someone is usually quite harmful to the person who did the killing.
I am prepared to defend my family, but I sincerely hope that I am never in the position that Mr. Goodwin found himself in.
February 2, 2012 at 9:27 pm | |
Greg Stomash
YJC,
I couldn’t agree more! Jamaar made some mistakes in life, but he is a great boy. I mean he just graduated from UTI and got his GED. Jamaar is an angel and did not deserve to be treated so inhumanly. Gun owners are out of their minds….
February 3, 2012 at 2:09 am | |
YJC
RIP lynnard baker he went to my school he didnt deserve to die good kid in a bad situation and that old man should be ashamed of his self for killin my boy and our youth!!
February 2, 2012 at 1:09 pm | |
LAFightBack
Shame on him for not lying on the ground and cowering in fear of a gang of “good kids”
You really ought to get some help. Your outlook is sadly skewed towards enabling young bangers like Lynn-Dog Baker.
February 2, 2012 at 1:28 pm | |
TR
It’s sadly ironic that whenever a young person is killed while engaging in criminal activity; they were always the good ones. Here’s a bright idea. How about if all you good kids stay home or in church instead of running around doing questionable deeds. If a burglar is bold enough to choose a target where someone’s at home, they are desperate enough to harm or even kill it’s occupants.
I’m sorry that all these folks lost a bright and gifted youth. However, that “good boy” was lost to you all long before he was shot while engaging in a criminal activity.
February 2, 2012 at 1:24 pm | |
PRO-2A
But but but he was a good kid? A good kid with complete disregard for someone elses property.
He didn’t deserve to get shot!
Breaking and Entering, the gateway crime to armed robbery, car jackings, murder, rape, the list goes on and on. Sometimes I wish the criminals would go after the liberals exclusively.
February 2, 2012 at 10:42 pm
[Thanks to reader-researcher RC for this story.]
LA's the place
Bravo, Jack Goodwin, you are my hero. Both for your brave service to our country and for taking aim when your life was threatened.
February 1, 2012 at 7:33 pm | |
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