When Elzie Pipkins was robbed a few weeks ago, she decided she needed a handgun for protection.
Sunday evening she put it to use during a second break-in. She fatally shot the teenaged intruder that she said was also the intruder who broke into her Shreveport, La. home the first time.
The 63-year-old great-grandmother killed Devon Antonio Young, 16, who was armed with a shotgun and demanded money from the safe.
"And as I was unlocking the safe and I prayed to God to give me strength, to get through this, it'll be me or him," Pipkins told KSLA-TV. "And that's when I fired my gun and hit him with the first round."
Pipkins was baby-sitting her granddaughter and great-grandson at the time.
After Young was shot in the chest, he ran from Pipkin's home with $55 worth of coins. He collapsed and died just a short distance away.
Pipkins had a gun that was stolen during the earlier robbery, but Sunday's shooting was the first time she ever fired a gun. She had no previous firearms training, according to BayouBuzz.com
Shreveport police said they were able to confirm her story and link Young to the previous robbery at her home, DreamInDemon.com reported.
The shooting is still being investigated, but Shreveport Police spokesman Marcus Hines told the Shreveport News that it is unlikely Pipkins will be charged.
However, the traumatic incident has shaken the great-grandmother. .
“I haven’t slept at all, I have not been asleep at all,” Pipkins said. “Every time I close my eyes I just see him.”
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